Do You Service Your Own Regs?

[CincyBengalsFan]

I work on my own Reg. I have for 6 yrs. now. That is because I'm a dive shop owner. 50/50 mix has been out for yrs. Shoot, just this past Tuesday I went thru a refresher for Sherwood/Genesis and now they truely recomend almost diluting 1/100 and keep it in for up to 30 minutes. There are certain parts in certain 1st stages that CAN NOT be placed in the sonic cleaner. If at all possible, if you guys decide to work on your own reg., do what ever you can to get yourself a repair and service manual. Be careful please.

 

[newton]

Originally posted by bengalsmgtsucks
If at all possible, if you guys decide to work on your own reg., do what ever you can to get yourself a repair and service manual. Be careful please.

FWIW, service manuals (as well as repair kits) can be had fairly easily on Ebay. I got both the repair kit for my MK1 (it was for a Mk5, which means I have extra parts for the swivel), as well as the repair/service manual for less than $30 + shipping last year.

Also, if you cozy up to your LDS and show that you're competent, they *may* be willing to give you access to both equipment, parts, and service information.

In addition, the net can be a great source of information (as well as disinformation). As you can tell, I'm a big Apeks fan. All of the Apeks service manuals are available online if you look hard enough, and you can get official repair kits from overseas online shops.

Finally, I was able to get parts for my SP from a well-known regualtor repair company by simply talking to the service tech, who allowed me to buy parts for my regulator after I explained to him my situation.

With a little bit of persistence, you'd be suprised at what's available to the average diver.




Nate

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

No wonder there are more diving deaths now than ever before.

 

[gadget]

Ok this thread is getting a little cold but let me throw a few thoughts out.

For those of you servicing or considering servicing your regs ask yourself the following questions and see if you truly know all the answers:

Some service considerations in no particular order.

1. Do you have the proper service manual and are you following the assembly and disassembly procedures exactly as laid out in the manual?

2.Is the manual up to date? Many manuals have multiple revisions or addendums. Often these are hard to keep up with even if you are on the manufacturers distribution list.

3. Do you have the proper tools or are you making do? Many times the tendency is to make do with what you have or use a tool that will do, however what damage are you causing.

4. What type of cleaning solution is being used, is it compatible with your reg and is it OK with the manufacturer. Oh by the way last year your reg's manufacturer mailed out an update (which you don't have) saying not to use a certain type of cleaner as it has now been found to cause severe brittleness in the plastic parts.

5. Are you using factory supplied service kits and o-ring's or are you "cross pollinating between species" ( also known as the dogs breakfast).

6. Are the O-rings you picked up at the industrial supply exactly the same? It might not matter in a static application such as a hose end but in dynamic parts small differences can cause problems. ( do you know the difference between static and dynamic o-rings and why it matters?)

7. Are you cleaning your parts in the sink or do you own an ultrasonic cleaner ( strongly recommended).

8. Experience is a valuable thing, do you service regulators more than 10 times a week? Some shop technicians do many, many times more than that a week and could literally do it with their eyes closed.

Remember all those marine boot camp movies where the recruits became experts with service of their weapons because it could save their lives. (Remember when your instructor mentioned that your regulator is "LIFE SUPPORT".)

9. Is your motivation to your service because you need to save money? Once you buy all the tools and go through multiple hours of running around getting parts and reading all the wonderful hearsay and disinformation on the Internet you should honestly look at what you have invested (time and money). It will probably add up to enough $$ to get you LDS to service your regs for the next 10 years.

10. Is your motivation to service your regs because you don't trust your LDS? Maybe you should find another shop or consider telling the store owner your concerns, you might be pleasantly surprised or at least confirm your thoughts.


So how did you score?

:doctor:

 

[Stone]

I scored quite well

7. Are you cleaning your parts in the sink or do you own an ultrasonic cleaner (strongly recommended).

Thanks for the ultrasonic cleaner endorsment. When the "It cleans jewelry, too!" ploy didn't sway my wife, I knew I had to go with the "strongly recommended" approach. She's on board now, so I just have to find the right ultrasonic cleaner for the right price.

9. . . . It will probably add up to enough $$ to get you LDS to service your regs for the next 10 years.

I would say 5 years. I really enjoy the time I spend learning about this stuff, so I don't count that as a bad thing. As I said earlier, I service 5 regs so I broke even the first year. The ultrasonic cleaner will put me behind the curve for another year, though.

On another note:

As NetDoc said, this thread was started for people who already service their own regs to share information. The folks who don't service their own regs (and are reading these posts) should know the pro's and con's, so some of the disscussions here have served a purpose, just not the original purpose of this thread.

 

[newton]

I think I scored pretty well.

1. Yes
2. Yes
3. Mostly (I borrowed the tool, but am in the process of getting my own).
4. Simple Green, and yes
5. Factory supplied
6. See #5
7. Sink
8. I know of *very* *very* few technicians that do that many regulators. Only very large shops service that many regulators. I'd venture to gues that less than 25% of all shops service that many regulators in a week, or even a month (except in the winter time). One LDS services about ~50 sets/year (most of them rental units) the other even less than that.
9. My motivation is because I trust myself to work on it, and because I like to understand how things work. Besides, I can't get any 'official' service for my regulators locally, since there are no local shops that carry the brands I use. Without the ultrasonic cleaner, I'm ahead of the game, but it's really close. However, I need to buy my own tools, so by the time that's done, I'll need another couple of years before I can break even, at which point I'll probably get another reg set, which means more tools and repair kits, and the cycle will start over. So, saving money is a nice excuse.
10. My LDS guy is in a big hurry, and even though I trust him, I believe I do a better job than he does. He doesn't have time to really look at things, and instead does a cursory inspection and hands my regulator back to me. His attitude is if it ain't broke, then why try to fix it?

I'd also disagree with the point that you have to perform a task hundreds of time to get good at it. I really don't buy the 'life support equipment' argument. I don't consider my regulator any more life support than the brakes on my car. If I screw them up, someone in my family could die just as easily as if I screw up a regulator.

Just like a bad brake job, if you screw up a regulator, it's fairly obvious. (Assuming you do it properly). Even if yo u screw up *really* badly, you've got your buddy there to bail you.

If you have skills, you can apply them to any sort of job, regardless of how many times you've done it. Changing an engine in a truck is *far* more complicated than servicing a regulator, and I know of very few mechanics who have done it more than a hundred times, which according to your situations, is less than a good regulator tech would do in 4-5 months.

Finally, there's one additional advantage to servicing your own regulators that I've not seen or have missed, although NetDoc has hinted at it. When you go on a dive vacation and something happens, if you come prepared with the proper tools and parts, you can service you own regulator and continue to use your own equipment, instead of relying on the remote dive shop to have the necessary parts, or worse yet get stuck with crappy rental equipment. There is no problem with my regulators I can't solve using the stuff in my save-a-dive kit, short of physical damage like someone dropping a tank on it and bending the metal or cracking the plastic housing.

* Apeks TX100 regulator from DiveInn - $300
* Apeks tool from scubatools.com - $80
* Parts kit from overseas supplier - $30
* Peace of mind knowing you can fix any problems on your Cozumel dive trip - Priceless.


Nate


Nate

 

[The Chairman]

I wholly agree with Nate... If a guy *IS* doing 10 plus regs a week, then I really don't want him to hurry through mine as well so he can get home early Friday! As some of you already know, I put in 30 years as an automotive tech/service manager. ASE Master certified too... I will put an E2SE carb up against the gnarliest of regulators anyday, and would still come out WAY ahead when it comes to complexity. I get it now from some in the automotive business... that I should let the "pros" do it. Hmnnnn, how did they get to be pros? They practised on my and your cars until they finally figured it out.

Compared to autos, regulators are cake.

Tools??? I put Tim the Tool man to shame... I have more invested in tools than I have in my house... not a boast, simply true. I have no problem spending the jack on speciality tools... in fact I like it!!!

Don't know if the O-Ring is static or dynamic? Can't identify your HP port from a hole in the wall??? Get Vance Harlow's guide to regulator maintenance and repair... the zen of breathing easily... and LEARN about this. This is not voodoo technology, it's not even fuzzy logic. Even if you don't plan on servicing your regs, you ought to get and read this so you can tell if your reg tech has done their job correctly. You learned how to SCUBA, you can learn how to overhaul your reg correctly. AND WHATS MORE... unlike your LDS, you can probably concentrate on JUST your reg and not all of them like they have to.

 

[deepocean]

Hi list;

can anyone provide me of the latest atx100/atx200 maintaince manual? I have downloaded the Apeks tx100 maintaince manual from www.deeperstuff.com. But is this the newest manual?
or does nt that matter? Oh yes, look also for the Apeks interactive course. Nicely done! :mean:Good job!
thanks all, Apeks Rules!
xerxes

 

[newton]

Originally posted by xerxes
can anyone provide me of the latest atx100/atx200 maintaince manual?

My Apeks dealer has assured me that the ATX series stuff uses the same parts as the TX series, so that the manual for it is similar enough that it can be used.

In particular, the ATX100 first stage is the same as the TX100, and the ATX second stages are virtually identical to the TX second stages. The only difference would be the ATX200 first stage.

However, I have not (yet) had a chance to verify this. If/when I get my ATX second stage, I will. If they are not the same, I'll see if I can get a manual for it.
[/b][/quote]

I have downloaded the Apeks tx100 maintaince manual from www.deeperstuff.com. But is this the newest manual?

It's the same version I got from an Apeks dealer. The only thing that I've got in addition to the stuff on deeperstuff is the service bulletin from AquaLung where they discuss the 2nd stage balance chamber switchout, which keeps the regulator from freezing up in freezing-cold (0 C/32 F) water.



Nate

 

[CincyBengalsFan]

Can anyone explain why more SCUBA related deaths are at an all time high? The majority are not Reg. related but Regulator related deaths are up. Most importantly LDS are not at fault.

I own a NISSAN pickup. I thought I would overhaul my Transy this weekend. I surely didn't want to pay for a "Professional" to do it. They are to expensive and they never do an adequate job. Not to mention I don't want the warranty they offer nor do I want the liability to be on there shoulders. Does anyone have a service manual or know where I can get one. Thanks