If you are mechanically inclined and know a fair amount about tools and how to use them, it is possible to learn how to repair your own regulator.
A book like Pete Wolfinger's (the former tech/training guru at Scubapro) Regulator Savvy available from
www.scubatools.com is virtually a neccesity. I like this, particularly for Scuabpro regs as many of the diagrams used to illustrate the book are of Scubapro regs and Mr. Wolfinger used to write the training and tech manuals for Scubapro. The book covers regulator theory, repair and maintence procedures and well as adjustment theory and the various tools you may need to do the job right.
Oxyhacker has a similar book available through Airspeed Press, but I have never had a chance to read a copy so I am not cure how it compares. Both are $50.00.
The cost of tools is a potential issue as even if you already own basic handtools and a torgue wrench, you may still need $100-$200 in specialty tools and an IP gauge to do the job right. And that is not counting a magnahelic gauge to properly set and test the second stage inhalation effort.
Formal training is hard to come by. Most companies offer training seminars, but only to current dive shop sponsored employees. Plus, in most cases, much of the trianing occurs after the seminar in the shop under the guidance of an existing experienced tech as you cannot learn all that much in a one or two day seminar. So it becomes something of an on the job training or apprenticship program where the shop makes a fairly hefty investment in you.
Scubapro used to offer seminars provided by their tech reps at no charge usually at a dive shop within a few hours drive from other dealers in the area. However they recently stopped doing this and are now requiring techs to pay $160 each for a seminar from a specific trainer holding seminars only in larger metropolitain areas. This may or may not improve the training, but this unfortunate change in policy will make it far less likely for a shop to sponsor a diver willing to do part time tech work on the side in exhange for the training.
Parts are also fairly tightly controlled by Scubapro (and other manufacturers) and while some new parts and annual service kits are available through e-bay, they are often older parts kits that have been discontinued. Scubapro has an evolutionary design philosophy and they fequently change and upgrade parts used in their regulators as better technologies develop. Parts availability is also spotty and usually consists of liquated parts from out of business dive shops discontinued SP dealerships. Due to the resulting supply and demand issues on e-bay, parts tend to sell for 2-3 times their normal cost.
The average labor rate for a reg is about $25.00 per stage and parts tend to run $4-$12 for a second stage and $5-15 for a first stage depending on the models involved. So for a first and second stage only, $60-$80 is a reasonable charge and an octo could add another $30-$35.00 to that. Some land locked shops in smaller markets offer less expensive labor (locally we charge $10.00 per stage) so you may be able to get a slightly better deal.
But $100 is not unreasonable for an annual service, especially when you start totalling the costs of servicing your own regs. If you are a technical diver with several regs, the high initial investment needed to do it yourself and do it right makes sense, but if you are a recreational diver needng only 1-2 regs serviced per year, it would take you a few years to break even.
The specific reg in question is also an issue. Older Mk 10 G250's, Mk 10 Balanced Adjustables or Mk 10 D400's for example, are superb regs that are better in some ways than anything you can buy now and are well worth restoring/servicing. However a Mk 7, or early Mk 5 is a lot less desireable and a lot less useful to a modern diver. Similarly, second stages like the Pilot and Air 1 were excellent second stages in their day but are no longer supported by Scubapro and they can be difficult or impossible to obtain service for from both a parts and liability perspective.
