Self Servicing Your Regulators

[Thalassamania]

Do you maintain a rental fleet? I am striking out on my own, and I wonder how hard it is going to be to get parts for it (on a regular consistent basis in quantities of ten), once I am not directly at a shop.

I used to maintain a dive locker with 50 sets of regulators: Sherwood, Poseidon and Oceanic primarily. Oceanic and Poseidon were very cooperative and Sherwood was available on the open market. You'd do well to check with each manufacturer before you buy and to see if you can get a deal on ten sets. Explain to them what you want to do and go with whom ever welcomes you with a sweet deal.

 

[H20Bubbles]

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.")

Actually, as the original poster of this thread... I do happen to own a torque wrench. I also do maintenance on by bicycles (all maintenance) and motorcycles (most things except major engine work).

I wanted to know this information to have a better understanding what is involved. It seems that my regulators worked really well until I took them to a "certified" shop and technician to have them serviced. Since that time (and multiple servicing) I have had a regulator freeflow at depth, leaky regulators... and this is all within less than 20 dives of having the regs serviced.

I don't know that I will do it, but I guarantee that I could be proficient at it. Do it well, and likely be a whole hell of a lot more comfortable with my gear than I currently am.

 

[halocline]

I don't know that I will do it, but I guarantee that I could be proficient at it. Do it well, and likely be a whole hell of a lot more comfortable with my gear than I currently am.

I think the best part about self servicing your regs is that you become more comfortable with trusting the gear once you know how it works and can personally verify that it was done carefully and thoroughly. I would recommend it; once the servicing becomes a hobby (apart from simply doing it to support your diving) you'll be hooked on learning more about the function and on getting better at diagnosing problems, etc. It's fun in a geeky sort of way.

 

[Jimmer]

Hey H2O, what brand of regs do you use anyway? There are probably some people on the board that are very experienced with whatever specific brand you have.

 

[H20Bubbles]

I have a Mares Proton and Scuba Pro Mk-25

 

[Jimmer]

Well Greg Barlow, among others seems to be pretty well versed on the Mares stuff, and there are A LOT of people on here that know SP. DA Aquamaster, Mattboy, Couv, all know there stuff there.

 

[tfsails]

tfsails= PMEL

couv

You ain't far off, Couv. I was originally in the Aircraft Instrument Shop before cat IV PMELs came into being. I got absolutely SICK of calibrating torque wrenches! In 1981 when we converted from F-105s to A-7s I went to the INS shop. Our unit got the cat IV PMEL in 1991 when we converted to the F-16. We are now the first ANG F-22 unit in the country, but I'm retired now!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I have a Mares Proton and Scuba Pro Mk-25

H2OBubbles: I have heard, but not yet confirmed, that ScubaToys will sell rebuild kits for all of the regulators they are dealers for, which includes Mares. If they do, that may be a very good starting place for a reliable part's source. They also service Mares regs, and Greg Barlow has recommended them as Mares techs in another post recently.

Oh, and I was the one that posted "if you have to ask, the answer is no" (regarding whether to self-service your regs). That was meant as a tongue-in-cheek comment. When I re-read my post, I realized that statement might very easily be taken the wrong way, and I'm sorry if that sounded offensive.

Good luck!

 

[beanojones]

I used to maintain a dive locker with 50 sets of regulators: Sherwood, Poseidon and Oceanic primarily. Oceanic and Poseidon were very cooperative and Sherwood was available on the open market. You'd do well to check with each manufacturer before you buy and to see if you can get a deal on ten sets. Explain to them what you want to do and go with whom ever welcomes you with a sweet deal.

Good advice I wish I had heard, and listened to, two months ago before I started buying for my rental fleet. I have never been 'on the outside' so to speak, and it is frustrating.

That dive locker sounds like it was at a university. Would manufacturers actually hesitate to sell a university parts? Dive shops, at least in my experience, seem to be able to order anything from anyone (other than SP parts if the shop is not a SP dealer). But even then, at least on Oahu, you could get the stuff from the on island warehouses direct.

But I really never had trouble getting parts (or product) at cost before being on the 'outside'. So I never knew how much of a pain this was.

 

[Thalassamania]

Do you get the feeling that someone does not want independent instructors out there?