HOG Equipment service class report

[buddhasummer]

HOG regulators aren't intended for the recreational diver and neither is their service course. This is quite clear if you'd read through their website, or the interview posted on TDI's site.

As Peter mentioned, if you showed sincere interest and need you would probably be allowed to take this class.

Of course, if you were seriously interested in learning regulator service, you'd be spending your time taking actual steps towards learning this skill instead of whining on the internet about one manufacturer's policy as if it's some sort of real barrier to acquiring this knowledge. People learned how to service regulators before this course and there are plenty of other options out there.

The only limit is you.

And Bubbletrubble is one of them.

 

[buddhasummer]

For some of us that are not into tech diving, it may still be easier to obtain Scubapro parts and manuals than those from HOG.

...ditto Apeks...

 

[highflier]

I am showing my seriousness to the sport, I am buying 2 sets of the hogs, I'll dive them a year before I start looking more seriously into the service class. If I run into people that are servicing hogs themself I may learn from them, But more then likely I would like to take the class, Requirements aside I will be sure that I did not learn bad habits from myself or another person.

I wish that the requirements were stiff for a service tech. That way If we choose to not self service then we are likely to get good shop service.

Looking foward to trying some of my own dive gear in the ocean

Highflier
PS. Selecting gear that will have a path to self service is also part of the serious commitment. If you were not serious about it you would select based on price or some other attribute that was important to yourself.

 

[Griffo]

I do get the requirement to have a way of screening out people before the course. As we are divers, you can only really try to relate people's general competence with their level of scuba training, and Chris has decided on Tech certs as being a natural filter to keep out the complete idiots.

I remember when I was doing my Mechanical Engineering degree, we were requried to do some 101 courses in an actual workshop, learning to actually make things with our hands. I'd spent my youth tearing down and rebuilding cars, and felt confident in the workshop, but I still learnt a lot. Most of the people doing the degree had suprisingly never lifted a wrench before, and it was actually quite comical and scary watching these same people attempting to use lathes and milling machines to create a functioning product.

The same with servicing your regs - i'm sure there's plenty of people with the technical nouse and only an OW cert, but we all know the level of capability required to get an OW cert is not exactly that high in a lot of places. At least people with tech certs should have proven some kind of ability to read a book, follow instructions, and apply logic. Can you imagine the results if some once a year vacation diver serviced his own regs after doing a course 2 years earlier and died?

Now personally, i would love to do the course as there aren't even any HOG dealers in Australia yet, but until I pass my Fundies course, i'll just have to suck it up and rely on my shop (which charges over $200 for a service!) or friends network. Having done the SSI Nitrox Course and spent a lot of time studying books like "Deco for Divers" combined with what I believe is a generally pretty good mechanical ability, i think i'd pass the course easily, but I can understand why Chris feels the need to set a higher bar for entry.

 

[tzetzo]

I do get the requirement to have a way of screening out people before the course. As we are divers, you can only really try to relate people's general competence with their level of scuba training, and Chris has decided on Tech certs as being a natural filter to keep out the complete idiots. I remember when I was doing my Mechanical Engineering degree, we were requried to do some 101 courses in an actual workshop, learning to actually make things with our hands. I'd spent my youth tearing down and rebuilding cars, and felt confident in the workshop, but I still learnt a lot. Most of the people doing the degree had suprisingly never lifted a wrench before, and it was actually quite comical and scary watching these same people attempting to use lathes and milling machines to create a functioning product.The same with servicing your regs - i'm sure there's plenty of people with the technical nouse and only an OW cert, but we all know the level of capability required to get an OW cert is not exactly that high in a lot of places. At least people with tech certs should have proven some kind of ability to read a book, follow instructions, and apply logic. Can you imagine the results if some once a year vacation diver serviced his own regs after doing a course 2 years earlier and died?Now personally, i would love to do the course as there aren't even any HOG dealers in Australia yet, but until I pass my Fundies course, i'll just have to suck it up and rely on my shop (which charges over $200 for a service!) or friends network. Having done the SSI Nitrox Course and spent a lot of time studying books like "Deco for Divers" combined with what I believe is a generally pretty good mechanical ability, i think i'd pass the course easily, but I can understand why Chris feels the need to set a higher bar for entry.

OzGriffo, don't you think you have proven enough of those skills by obtaining your Mechanical Engineering Degree?

 

[mdb]

It is a non issue sell parts and show parts drawings. It is no problem. Regulator repair is easy. A few o'rings and some minor adjustments. No big deal.

 

[Aqua-Andy]

It is a non issue sell parts and show parts drawings. It is no problem. Regulator repair is easy. A few o'rings and some minor adjustments. No big deal.

Finally some honesty!!! Can someone remind me why we are not all going out to buy Apollo regs? I do love my Bio Fins (even though if you read the DIR threads they say they will kill you) they just don't fit my drysuit boots.

 

[Centrals]

I remember when I was doing my Mechanical Engineering degree, we were requried to do some 101 courses in an actual workshop, learning to actually make things with our hands. I'd spent my youth tearing down and rebuilding cars, and felt confident in the workshop, but I still learnt a lot. Most of the people doing the degree had suprisingly never lifted a wrench before, and it was actually quite comical and scary watching these same people attempting to use lathes and milling machines to create a functioning product.

The same with servicing your regs - i'm sure there's plenty of people with the technical nouse and only an OW cert, but we all know the level of capability required to get an OW cert is not exactly that high in a lot of places. At least people with tech certs should have proven some kind of ability to read a book, follow instructions, and apply logic. Can you imagine the results if some once a year vacation diver serviced his own regs after doing a course 2 years earlier and died?

1. What happened to those students at the end? Did they finish all the courses required or got chuck out from the Uni?
2. What make you think that non-tec divers could NOT read a book, follow instructions and apply logic? How many related books that tec divers have to read compare with a Mechancial Engineering Degree graduate from OZ?

 

[Griffo]

1. What happened to those students at the end? Did they finish all the courses required or got chuck out from the Uni?

Most of the finished, but I certainly would not let some of them anywhere near my reg. They might be good at maths, but many simply couldn't translate theory into hands-on work.

2. What make you think that non-tec divers could NOT read a book, follow instructions and apply logic? How many related books that tec divers have to read compare with a Mechancial Engineering Degree graduate from OZ?

I didn't say non tec divers weren't capable. I was trying to say that some kind of barrier to entry is probably needed, and you can't assess every individual individually. We scuba dive, therefor how do you relate mechanical competence into scuba skills?

 

[Centrals]

I didn't say non tec divers weren't capable. I was trying to say that some kind of barrier to entry is probably needed, and you can't assess every individual individually. We scuba dive, therefor how do you relate mechanical competence into scuba skills?

I fail to correlate mechanical competence into scuba skills, two distinctly different topics.
Completed trimix training 12 yrs ago and DO NOT recall ever reading anything on mechanical skill but plenty on mathematical calculations.
Technical diver is not any more mechanical mind than recreational or non-diver.

BTW, if you decided to pursue on GUE training, you will need mathematical skill to work out your decompression obligation under water in the future.