Regulator servicing; do it yourself?

[CODMAN]

Hi all, I am relatively new to diving, and happen to be pretty mechanically inclined. And I like doing things myself... And I was just wondering if it's realistic to think that regulator servicing could be done yourself, if you have the right tools and parts?

I've never seen the inside of a regulator, so I have no idea wether it's very complex or not, or if this is realistic or not. So I wanted your input? Are regulators magical things that really need qualified technicians to look after? Or not as complicated as they seem, and with a good service manual, the right tools abnd parts, and lots of patience, serviceable ourself?

Just for your reference, I do all my Mountain bike maintenance myself including dissasembling hydraulic brakes and suspension forks. And I always work with a torque wrench...

Thanks in advance for sharing your oppinions on this!

 

[redacted]

Most are surprisingly simple. A great place to start: http://www.airspeedpress.com/newregbook.html

Parts were my most challenging aspect and even they are becoming more readily available. What regs are you planning to work on?

 

[CODMAN]

Probably only Mares regs... My girlfriend has them and I'm ligning up towards Mares also...

The book looks cool! Do you know if there is a lot of specialised instruments or equipment needed? Because buying a compressor to do this would certainly be out of the question...

Thanks for the link and the input!

 

[redacted]

Probably only Mares regs... My girlfriend has them and I'm ligning up towards Mares also...

The book looks cool! Do you know if there is a lot of specialised instruments or equipment needed? Because buying a compressor to do this would certainly be out of the question...

Thanks for the link and the input!

I'm not very familiar with Mares, but I doubt if much is required in terms of special tools. Most "special tools" can be worked around if you are not in a hurry. Your compression guage will convert into a good IP guage. A good source for tools: http://www.scubatools.com/ Harlow's book will adress tools.

 

[blatter]

Agree with above posts - most regulators are very simple to service if you have a little mechanical aptitude. The links to airspeed press and scubatools are very useful and you can do a search for service manuals on the internet.

I would sugget that when buying a new reg make sure you can get manuals and, most importantly, service kits/parts for them first - maybe negotiate this with the dive shop when buying the reg - or buy a brand such as Dive Rite or Apeks that you can get parts for relatively easily online.

 

[reidman]

But remember they are life support. I test all my regulators and gear out before trusting them on a dive. I have mine serviced by repair shop and they still fail after a repair.

 

[CODMAN]

Thanks for your input guys! Much appreciated!

 

[captain]

But remember they are life support. I test all my regulators and gear out before trusting them on a dive. I have mine serviced by repair shop and they still fail after a repair.

"I have mine serviced by repair shop and they still fail after a repair"

Perfect example of why you should service your own and not trust someone who's own life is not endangered if they screw it up.

 

[CWMurf]

"I have mine serviced by repair shop and they still fail after a repair"

Perfect example of why you should service your own and not trust someone who's own life is not endangered if they screw it up.

HERE HERE!

(and here we go again, just wait for all the die hard "it's life support, you're gonna die you fool" posts)

If you're mechanical, meticulous, and thorough GO FOR IT!

 

[reidman]

I have to agree you probably do a better job yourself I have watched as they so call rebuild regulators at more then one LDS. They dont replace a lot of the O-Rings if they look good even the ones in the kit that you pay for. I was just stating that even though I have mine serviced I still have trouble. So Always test before you splash. The last time I spent $125.00 on my reg I went to the pool at the dive shop, the regulator free-flowed and the hose to the gauges leaked at the o-ring. I got this (we dont replace the hose o-ring story) and the reg just needs tweaking. If I had not had a pool to go to, I would have been in trouble on a dive. I would rebuild my own except I looked for a month for a Mares kit and no-one would sell it to me.