Advanced/Technical diving and mechanical aptitude

[PfcAJ]

I feel that it is very important for a techical diver to be able to work on some of his/her own stuff. Knowing how it works allows you to know what to look for before a dive, and fix it if you can with the resources available.

 

[denisegg]

Based upon your experience what source of training is recomended for general knowledge and repair of regulators?

I was thinking the same thing. This is a very good question.

 

[Cave Diver]

Based upon your experience what source of training is recomended for general knowledge and repair of regulators?

I took a class at DEMA a few years ago on the regs I use and got the repair manual for them. Obviously, not everyone has access to DEMA so that's not a perfect solution.

I think Oxyhacker also has a reg manual out that is a good starting point for people.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

I do not service my own gear, but would be glad to do so, if allowed. In addition to personal dives, I also dive on university projects. The scientific diving standards require proof of annual service by factory qualified technician, so I don't have much of a choice. I would do so myself, but the rules only allow factory qualified techs. My instructor even offered to show me all the specifics for my gear, but since I wouldn't be factory qualified, it wasn't worth it.

I consider myself mechanically minded. I work in experimental science building and using custom equipment, programming computers and micro-controlers, and analyzing the performance of all of it. As an aside, when we were doing some repairs on a $250k laser I noticed a questionable o-ring on a cooling line and suggested it be fixed before we proceeded. Log story short, they didn't replace it, it leaked. We spend a month without the laser and a had $20k repair bill.

I also think a basic course in differential equations would benefit the technical diver. That way you could understand all the deco algorithms much more easily.

 

[divad]

I thought you were refering to aptitude. (Re OP's question)

 

[Sas]

I do not service my own gear, but would be glad to do so, if allowed. In addition to personal dives, I also dive on university projects. The scientific diving standards require proof of annual service by factory qualified technician, so I don't have much of a choice. I would do so myself, but the rules only allow factory qualified techs. My instructor even offered to show me all the specifics for my gear, but since I wouldn't be factory qualified, it wasn't worth it.

This doesn't make a lot of sense... Sign up for a factory course if it is required. And even if you can't, I think it would still be worth it to see how things work as then it is easier for you to fix things (even if you don't service your regs other things can go wrong in the meantime). I would love to learn how to service my own regs and the ones I just bought should allow this easily at some stage (service kits easily available, seller will assist in learning how to service them).

Anyway, I'm not a technical diver but I would really love to learn more about how my gear works as I think it is a very useful thing to know about. I'm slowly picking things up. I definitely have close to zero mechanical aptitude but I am teachable When I was away on a course last week, my SPG started leaking and I also had a leaking first stage. If it hadn't been for my instructor being around with the right tools (and knowledge) to fix things I wouldn't have been able to fix them and would have had to miss dives. They were easily fixed in the end and it would have been a shame to have missed out on diving because I didn't understand how to do a simple adjustment to my regulators + SPG.

 

[D_B]

I feel that it is very important for a techical diver to be able to work on some of his/her own stuff. Knowing how it works allows you to know what to look for before a dive, and fix it if you can with the resources available.

Not that am a tech diver, but I am mechanically inclined ... something I was thinking about while reading this post ..
Knowing how it works may allow you to understand what's happening during a failure, and maybe sooner

 

[AndyNZ]

So I'm curious. How many of you doing advanced dives (including deco, overhead, multiple gasses, etc.) rely on someone else for basic mechanical upkeep and repair and trust it's right and how many of you do it yourself and double check any "professional repairs" that you have done before diving?

Whilst I can service my own regs, it's not something I do fast enough to justify doing it! What would take a service technician 2-3 hours would probably take me all day, as I double check everything, re-refer to the manual and then panic about the three parts in the service kit that I didn't use, before remembering that the service kit covers two different regs and those parts are there for the other model!

But I am quite happy taking a second stage apart and doing little fixes, changing o-rings, checking batteries, cleaning OPVs, servicing BC inflators etc.

 

[M_Bipartitus]

This doesn't make a lot of sense... Sign up for a factory course if it is required. ...

I'm thinking of getting a HOG regulator and taking the new service class for myself.

Not to get off-topic, but I have looked into getting trained to service our gear myself and was told it would not be acceptable as the university legal department would consider us training our own members or servicing our own gear a conflict of interest. They're a bunch of backwards bureaucrats.

 

[redacted]

Based upon your experience what source of training is recomended for general knowledge and repair of regulators?

This is a great resource. In layman's terms, it can get you started servicing your regs. Even if you decide that DIY is not for you, it still give you a great understanding of how your regs work.

SCUBA REGULATOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR by Vance Harlow