Juank
Registered
Any experiece with Scuba Max Regs. DIY service? Kits? Any suggestions? Goog for Octos. It will be for the tropics.
Scuba Max Reg Advise
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I have done a lot of research on regulators and have watched some of the best regulator service techs work on gear. From that experience I would never think of servicing my own regulator. This is gear that is designed to save may life. I have seen lots of cases where only years of experience and high quality testing equipment have caught a dangerous issue that is not in the manual. I am even "certified" to work on Scubapro and DiveRite regulators. But again I would never do it without the hands on oversight of a pro. I agree with one instructor that says you need to service at least 150 regs a year just to be competent. A professional tech only charges $25 per stage which is cheap insurance. I hope this helps. Be safe.
ams511
Contributor
OP, I would disregard this post because it is pure BS. Anyone can be a "professional" reg tech by working for a dive shop and taking a 1 day course in regulator repair. Most people have regulator problems immediately AFTER having it serviced not before. If you want to work on your own gear then you can check out the DIY forum on SB. As far as Scubamax regulators go they appear to made by Ocean Diver Supply from Taiwan, the same OEM that makes HOG and others. Personally, unless you are getting a good deal I would go with a HOG, Zeagle, or Dive Rite for ease of purchasing parts.
I have a 2nd stage ScubaMax regulator. I've had it for over 100 dives and it seems to work fine. It was my primary until I rebuilt my ScubaPro 109A. I can't tell the difference in breathability. I haven't serviced mine yet, but if you need to buy service kits contact Bob3 here on SB.
Scuba regs are not designed to "save your life",they are designed to reliably supply you with breathing gas. Fact is they are simple devices that are very tolerant to abuse. They almost never fail in such a way as to not provide any gas at all and most of the reg failures that do cause a no air situation were recently "professionally" serviced. If you are not competent to work on most regs (there are a few exceptions) after doing 2 or 3, much less hundreds a year, you really need to find a different line of work. There is no "high quality testing equipment" required to test or diagnose reg problems with the possible exception of a microscope. Reasonable quality gauges are fine, lab grade precision is not needed, just a reliable, repeatable readout, it's exact value is not really important. These excuses are made to keep people from discovering that reg repair is actually a fairly easy job that most people can learn easily. I will agree that years of experience and more importantly, an in-depth understanding how a reg work is needed to find and resolve those really tricky problems in a regulator but even the difficult problems show up while doing normal testing and adjusting of the reg. Even the idea that you need to take it to a professional tech is flawed. There are few truly "professional" techs, ones who service regs 40 hrs a week, every week. Most work part time at a dive shop or do service work when no customers are in the shop. If you are certified on SP and DR regs then you should have witnessed some of the "techs" that got certified when you did. I one took one such cert class from a major brand. It consisted of 4 hrs in a hotel room, where we took 1 reg apart by hand, looked at it and put it back together by hand....no adjustment, no setting anything, no testing of any kind. 6 of us walked out of the room as certified techs on the entire line of a major brand and judging from some of the blank stares and stupid questions ask in the room, it was obvious that most in the room had no mechanical ability at all..somewhere today, they are "professionally trained techs".
KD8NPB
Contributor
Random branded Ocean Diver's Supply regulators out of Taiwan.
Second stages are available in an downstream demand valve, or downstream balanced valve format.
Their balanced piston is a Scubapro knockoff. Their balanced diaphragm regulators are Apeks knockoffs.
Second stages are available in an downstream demand valve, or downstream balanced valve format.
Their balanced piston is a Scubapro knockoff. Their balanced diaphragm regulators are Apeks knockoffs.
80 Proof Divers
Registered
As a former dive store owner and thus a certified repair technician for several brands and have worked on thousands of regulators, I would say stay away from the Scuba Max regs. I even refused to sell them in my stores. Now some of the other Scuba Max products are very good, regulators are not one of them. With the regulator being the heart of your life support system, take great care in you decision as your very life may depend on it.
Now for the subject of servicing your own regulators. If you have good mechanical aptitude and take a course or two on how to work on them then assist with a seasoned repair technician, go for it. I work on my own regs, but I also have a full service repair shop with all the tooling and equipment. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on setting up my repair shop. I know there are some so called "Certified Repair Technicians" out there that can't even glue two rocks together due to those four hour motel courses. I believe the instructor that conduct those courses need to me shot and buried in the south forty. Just start by learning regulator theory. It's not difficult, then take a course. Most of the stuff is quite simple, the real stuff is in diagnostics and adjustments, which is only also not terribly difficult either.
BTW: Be sure to purchase the correct tooling for your regulators. It will make working on them so much easier.
Indy
80 Proof Divers
Now for the subject of servicing your own regulators. If you have good mechanical aptitude and take a course or two on how to work on them then assist with a seasoned repair technician, go for it. I work on my own regs, but I also have a full service repair shop with all the tooling and equipment. I have spent tens of thousands of dollars on setting up my repair shop. I know there are some so called "Certified Repair Technicians" out there that can't even glue two rocks together due to those four hour motel courses. I believe the instructor that conduct those courses need to me shot and buried in the south forty. Just start by learning regulator theory. It's not difficult, then take a course. Most of the stuff is quite simple, the real stuff is in diagnostics and adjustments, which is only also not terribly difficult either.
BTW: Be sure to purchase the correct tooling for your regulators. It will make working on them so much easier.
Indy
80 Proof Divers
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