Equipment Specialty Class?

[saying]

How did you determine what LP uses?

LP parts are actually carved out of balsa wood. How else do you think they could sell everything so cheap?

 

[bug]

Well I really didn't want to start anything.. Honestly. But I will answer your questions. I am not saying that I was able to tell the difference between o-rings and I wasn't shown any valve seats. But the instructor showed me a piston from a ScubaPro MK25 1st stage and then he showed me the piston for that same regulator sold by LP.

The knife edge part of the piston that makes contact with the valve seat was the only thing that I was really able to see that was different. The ScubaPro part was sharper and was the same color as the rest of piston (I am NOT saying that color has anything to do with it). The LP part seemed dull and was a brass color, while the rest of the piston was black/silver.

The piston from what I saw had no marking saying that it was a LP part. My instructor was the one that pointed out that the parts were different and I spotted the knife edge. He said the dull one was a LP part.

 

[DEEPLOU]

Ditto, except mine wasn't PADI. I thought it was very worthwhile. I also didn't bother with the card. I don't know how extensive any individual course is, but we stripped a regulator right down to the bare springs and put them back together. We patched some neoprene, ran through some compressor stuff, broke a tank valve down and put it back...

All in all, it was well worth my $100 or whatever it cost, just to play around with stuff that I didn't have to worry about breaking, and dissolve the 'mystique.'

The course I took was not given by a regular PADI instructor, but the local regulator technician. Who cared if got a card from it or not. Now I don't worry about doing a field "tweek" (not using the word repair).

 

[perpet1]

I hardly learned anything. Whipped off a couple regs, peered inside a cylinder, and futzed with various metal objects. I was very disappointed.

My experience leads me to believe that this is yet another case of finding an instructor that:
a: cares about teaching
b: knows how to teach
c: has the facilities to teach properly

I agree!

This is one class that you NEED to find a good instructor. My advice is to find an instructor who services a lot of equipment and is very outgoing. Remember any instructor can certify to teach this speciality even those that really do not know a lot about equipment. If you find the right instructor you will learn an incredible amount. I personally do not teach this class because I do not do the topic justice but there are those that can and do even if they are not equipment specialists. I am not saying that there are instructors that are incapable of teaching this because I think most instructors can present the base equipment speciality but if you get a good instructor you will get soooo much more for your money.

 

[scubasean]

But the instructor showed me a piston from a ScubaPro MK25 1st stage and then he showed me the piston for that same regulator sold by LP.

I'm not sure I get this....

First you were talking about replacement parts, and now it appears you are talking about a reg purchased from LP...

Or, are you saying that a second Scubapro reg was recently annual'd by LP and came back that way? Just curious how the LDS got ahold of a reg that had been serviced by LP...Was it in for service by the owner?

Back on topic, I've recently had an opportunity to open a few regs at the equipment bench of a local shop and find that the insides of the regs (first and second stages) I saw are incredibly simple...heh...Now, if I could only find a source for Apex service kits.

 

[LUBOLD8431]

Well I really didn't want to start anything.. Honestly. But I will answer your questions. I am not saying that I was able to tell the difference between o-rings and I wasn't shown any valve seats. But the instructor showed me a piston from a ScubaPro MK25 1st stage and then he showed me the piston for that same regulator sold by LP.

The knife edge part of the piston that makes contact with the valve seat was the only thing that I was really able to see that was different. The ScubaPro part was sharper and was the same color as the rest of piston (I am NOT saying that color has anything to do with it). The LP part seemed dull and was a brass color, while the rest of the piston was black/silver.

The piston from what I saw had no marking saying that it was a LP part. My instructor was the one that pointed out that the parts were different and I spotted the knife edge. He said the dull one was a LP part.

FYI-- Scubapro has used a few different pistons in their regs. So, just because the reg came from LP doesnt mean that they are in the back room and switching out SP pistons with something else. They all come from SP originally. The pistons are different, but they are both SP. SP has a habit of changing parts in a reg over the life of the reg model.

 

[redacted]

Well I really didn't want to start anything.. Honestly. But I will answer your questions. I am not saying that I was able to tell the difference between o-rings and I wasn't shown any valve seats. But the instructor showed me a piston from a ScubaPro MK25 1st stage and then he showed me the piston for that same regulator sold by LP.

The knife edge part of the piston that makes contact with the valve seat was the only thing that I was really able to see that was different. The ScubaPro part was sharper and was the same color as the rest of piston (I am NOT saying that color has anything to do with it). The LP part seemed dull and was a brass color, while the rest of the piston was black/silver.

The piston from what I saw had no marking saying that it was a LP part. My instructor was the one that pointed out that the parts were different and I spotted the knife edge. He said the dull one was a LP part.

Original Mk 20's had a brass piston which was changed over to a composit piston after a couple years. I believe the problem was that the brass was more susceptable to corrosion (and resultant IP stability problems) than the SS edge. I'm not sure what is in current Mk25's but I thought brass was gone before the 25's appeared. You may have been looking at an upgraded Mk20. (Change knob & seat retainer and, presto, it's a Mk25.) I guess if it works to scare folks away from LP, it accomplishes what some LDS's set out to do. But I think I'd be looking for a shop with a bit more integrety.

 

[Curly]

I took the Equipment Specialist course at our LDS, and found it very helpful. At the very least, it will enable you to troubleshoot. Learned a lot about reg guts (dismantled, overhauled and reassembled all manner of regs), tank valves, tore apart BCs, etc. It was well worth the $90 and ten hours.