If you're not mechanically inclined, or if it's just to save money, don't do it. But otherwise there are reasons to learn how to rebuild yourself including doing a more reliable job. I know there are very good regulator techs out there, but I also know there are a lot of hacks. The right tools don't ensure a proper job. The only two reg failures I've had were on the first dive after someone in a shop rebuilt them. Now there are two things I refuse to trust anyone else to do: mix and test my gases, and rebuilding my regs.
Self Servicing Your Regulators
- Thread starter H20Bubbles
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HenrikBP
Contributor
whoa Nelly ... being a newbie to DIY regulator service does not necessarily mean being unfamiliar with good tool and shop practices
Henrik
captain
Contributor
whoa Nelly ... being a newbie to DIY regulator service does not necessarily mean being unfamiliar with good tool and shop practices
Henrik
So true, I have been rebuilding my own regulators for 40+ years and am yet to put a torque wrench on one or strip any threads.
Buying a cheap used regulator to play with is a good way to start learning.
halocline
Contributor
Oh yeah? How do you know this? I service my own regs, and I use a torque wrench. It's a ridiculous blanket statement to make about DIYers. It's also ridiculous to say that DIYers won't do a good job on their regs because they don't do it all day, every day.
There are hundreds of DiYers that do excellent work on their own regs, probably thousands. Why do you think there's a market for a place like scubatools and a thriving grey market for parts? Regulators are just not that complicated, and many divers have plenty of ability to work on their own. And it's not like there is any thorough licensing exam or training for the "professional" reg techs at the LDS.
R
redacted
Guest
Where do you come up with this nonsense. I have always use torque wrenches when I service my regs. I had 3/8ths and 1/2 inch drive torque wrenches before I started doing regs. I added a 1/4 inch dive torque wrench for some of the lighter torques required with regs. Yet I know of local shops that don't have torque wrenches.
It is not hard to screw a reg up but generally, it will either leak or just not deliver gas worth a damn. About the only way to make one really dangerous is to over or under torque connections.
Ed Palma
Contributor
As a DIYer, I think I can trust my own skill when rebuilding my reg, as well as those of my friends. I know what actual care went into each part, and how clean they are.
Blanket statements just aren't cool.
Blanket statements just aren't cool.
No torque wrenches? I own 4.
beanojones
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Did any of you torque wrench owners post a thread asking if it was OK to work on your own gear? (I know the answer to that question already, but maybe you should think about it. The first answer in this thread was probably the best: If you have to ask about working on gear, the answer is: "No, you should not work on your own gear.")
And, yeah, generalizations are always stupid. (!).
I do wonder how people who work on their own gear know that they are doing it well though. Anecdotal evidence is not evidence, it's just gossip. If you work on your own gear, then what do you have to compare it with? Even if you alternate between doing your own overhauls annually one year, and having a shop do them the next, in order to compare them, you still have to wait twenty years to have ten instances to compare. And that's not enough to know.
The scuba industry is run by liability and liability insurance. If the stories that seem to get trotted out about gear failure, every time this discussion comes up, from stuff worked on by dive shops were true generally, then we would have had some legal rehabilitation underway by now. It is why things like recalls get issued. Liability, liability insurance, and liability exposure.
And, yeah, generalizations are always stupid. (!).
I do wonder how people who work on their own gear know that they are doing it well though. Anecdotal evidence is not evidence, it's just gossip. If you work on your own gear, then what do you have to compare it with? Even if you alternate between doing your own overhauls annually one year, and having a shop do them the next, in order to compare them, you still have to wait twenty years to have ten instances to compare. And that's not enough to know.
The scuba industry is run by liability and liability insurance. If the stories that seem to get trotted out about gear failure, every time this discussion comes up, from stuff worked on by dive shops were true generally, then we would have had some legal rehabilitation underway by now. It is why things like recalls get issued. Liability, liability insurance, and liability exposure.
R
redacted
Guest
The OP did not ask if working on his own regs was OK. He asked what was involved and how to get started. And with some of the crap that is "taught" by some shops, I could understand if some newer diver came out with the impression it is not OK.
I got into DIY after 3 different shops left me with poor performing or damaged regs in my first 3 "professional" technician services. Now my regs perform like I want them to within their capabilities or they get more work done.
Disassembling, cleaning, inspecting, and reassembling a reg with new annual parts, and final tuning is fairly simple. It does not take a lot of knowledge and understanding to accomplish that which is probably why some marginal professional technicians are still working in some local shops. It's when you get the problem reg and have to troubleshoot those problems that the marginal tech is really challenged. This is when you have to understand the inner workings of your regulators, what each component does and how it interfaces with the rest of the regulator. The marginal tech just throws in another kit or replaces more parts until he stumbles onto the solution (or thinks he did anyway) or gives up and sends it to the manufacturers service center for repair.
Seems to me that folks who work on their own gear know they got it right when all connections are properly tightened, the reg holds vacuum, it does not leak at operating pressures, and IP and cracking pressure are within spec and it performs satisfactorily through the range of operating conditions. Actually, the DIYer can do a much better job of making that last check than the professional shop technician. The DIYer probably does not have a well equipped professional work bench (a few do) so he just has to make due with an IP gauge and a sink full of water, and then actually dives the regs and monitors their performance. The professional tech rarely if ever takes his work for a proper test d(r)ive.
I asked about working on gear when I first got started. And I'll always be indebted to the folks on boards like this and some LDSs that helped me work through some of the problems one encounters in finding documentation and parts. That's why I try to return the favor whenever I get the chance with both new and experienced DIYers.
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captain
Contributor
I have torque wrenches but those are for race engine building. If you are a "mechanic" you develop a good feel for what is tight enough and what is too tight. About the only place on a regulator that a torque wrench is of some value is the retaining bolt on first stages with a swivel turret. You don't want to over stress it because if it breaks you are SOL.
People should also know their mechanical limitations, a regulator is a relative simple device but if you can't replace an O ring and seat in a water faucet maybe regulator service is not your calling.
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