becoming a service tech for regs

[baggins_69]

apologies if this is the wrong forum for this...

getting ready to retire from my main gig in a couple years and thinking about what I can do to keep busy.

started thinking about getting trained as a multi-brand regulator service technician and wondering if anybody knows what all is involved. I assume I will have to take a course and pay a fee to each company, but I am wondering what the costs, time commitments and etc are...

thanks!

 

[Brand86]

1st I recommend going to Airtec in NC they do an overview class to teach you 1st and 2nd stages. You don’t get certified in anything but it gives you the base knowledge you’ll need going forward.
2nd being a multi brand technician is tough. You have to be a dealer for most to have access to training and most won’t let you deal there products if you deal others. So you would need to be a part of several shops to go to service tech class for every brand.
Once you get access to website most are E-Learning and cost around 25.00 each stage. At least that’s how it was for Aqualung and Apeks which I’m a tech for

 

[pisauron]

I recommend you take the @rsingler wonderful course!
Nothing else like that.

 

[PDodson]

I'd imagine you'd work through a shop, if you do that they may cover the cost and what they carry will help inform which brands to focus on. When I did the Scubapro class it was a couple days, I think ~$200. It might have technically been two separate classes so it could have cost more. Atomic was just a day, but that wasn't their formal class I was working with a brand rep at our shop.

 

[rsingler]

Regulator repair is a guild profession. It doesn't pay much, because shops don't make much money on service - it just gets customers back in the shop buying a new thingamajig when they drop off or pick up their gear.
"Service-only" shops like Air-Tech or Malibu are rarities, but have comprehensive organizations.
Manufacturer courses do not teach basic technique. They assume you work at a shop where the supervisor will teach you the basics and oversee your development. Once you are hired, the shop may pay the $250-350 to send you to a course at DEMA, but you'll likely pay for your own meals and lodging.
As noted above, other courses are online, but for your first certification, you may need to do a one-on-one Zoom as well as watch the video (Huish). Others, like AquaIung, are video only with just a quiz.
This system perpetuates errors in technique that give rise to all the horror stories about LDS service. I even see manufacturer videos with frank errors in technique that confirms "normalization of deviance". They've gotten away with certain practices for so long that they even teach it that way.
In contrast, the Deep6 course, among a very few others, starts with the basics and goes from there to include the parts-changing that characterizes midday mfr courses.
If you're lucky, you'll have a good mentor, but acquiring four certificates (Scubapro, Huish, Aqualung/Apeks, Mares) will cost you $1000 and many months.
Working a couple of days a week at a shop, in two years you'll probably have run across enough disaster regs to get good at service.

 

[OTF]

dry/wet suit repair is worth looking into as a side gig as well.

 

[DavidFL]

+1 recommendation for @rsingler 's regulator course if you decide to go forward. I am not servicing for money, but after Rob's course I am now doing my own servicing on my US Divers/Aqualung, Scubapro, Deep6, and even the old SpareAir that I sometimes take on dive trips where the air baggage is severely restricted. You may still need to take some manufacturer's courses but you will have a solid technical underpinning that doesn't apparently happen with most manufacturer's courses. You will also get a lot of help in selecting tools; a lot of help and practice in understanding 'tricks of the trade', and access to a wealth of links and materials and people.