Servicing your own regulator.

[Teamcasa]

.. The dive industry is afraid to loose any more income. ... the only thing left that the local dive shop has to offer is air fills...

The fear of loosing market share/money is common to most everyone I suspect, including me.

However, dive shops thrive based more on their customer service than the products they sell. I use a shop that's has a small inventory but makes me feel comfortable and that even an air fill is important to them and as a result, I buy most of my stuff from them. Could I get it cheaper online? More than likely but saving a few bucks is not worth the hassle of dealing with the problems that may arise from even one bad online purchase.

As for servicing my gear - I don't do it to save money. I do it because I can, I trust myself to do it better and more importantly, I love working in my home shop.

 

[scarefaceDM]

A little hyjack..or sort of...Ihave XTX 200's and I am looking for
A. - The parts
B - the manual for the first stage

any leads?

And yes I am capable of servicing my own gear. I also want to know how this sucker is put together. Why because I like to know how things work. So I can understand what the dive shop is talking about and know if they are BSing me or not. Plus the service tech is a door knob at the dive shop I deal with. They screwed up one of my regs last year when I brought it in for a service....never replaced the damaged orings and I had a major free flow on a cold dive....darn good thing I had a pony...

To each his own.

 

[Jimmer]

Scareface,

http://www.frogkick.dk/manuals/apeks/

As for the parts, maybe someone else can help you out there. I've never had a need to purchase Apeks parts.

 

[scarefaceDM]

They do not seem to host the XTX200 first stage...is the ATX200 the same...I know a dumb question but what the heck.

 

[Bubbletrubble]

They do not seem to host the XTX200 first stage...is the ATX200 the same...I know a dumb question but what the heck.

@scarefaceDM: For all intents and purposes the FSR first stage provided with the XTX200 is the same as the one that comes with the ATX200. The only substantive difference is that one of the LP ports on the ATX200 FSR is a size 1/2" UNF, whereas the XTX200 FSR has LP ports that are all size 3/8" UNF. This difference does not affect servicing at all. FYI, cosmetic differences between the first stages in question include: the handwheel, yoke clamp screw, and the molded logo ring that sits on the diaphragm clamp. Download this PDF. Enjoy.

 

[scarefaceDM]

Thank you.
Now for parts.

@scarefaceDM: For all intents and purposes the FSR first stage provided with the XTX200 is the same as the one that comes with the ATX200. The only substantive difference is that one of the LP ports on the ATX200 FSR is a size 1/2" UNF, whereas the XTX200 FSR has LP ports that are all size 3/8" UNF. This difference does not affect servicing at all. Download this PDF. Enjoy.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

I'm not sure what you all have in mind as to what it takes to service a reg but it is a bit more than having "a IP gauge, the proper grease and a rebuild kit with the reg rebuild manual." But fear not, it is not much more than that. Many divers with no formal factory training successfully service their own regs. BUT they do so after getting some kind of education on just how regulators work, how they are designed, and knowing what tools to get. And then you have to get the parts. For some models it's easy. For others not so much.

If you really want to do this then before you even start looking for tools or manuals get copies of "Regulator Savvy" by Pete Wolfinger from Scubatools and Vance Harlow's "Scuba Regulator Maintenance and Repair". The first goes more into the actual theory and the latter the nuts and bolts so to speak.

Read and study them. Short of taking a factory course these are the best siurces of info for the do it yourselfer. Then you need to get a manual. They are out there. www.frogkick.dk - / has many on line and downloadable for free. You may find that you need specialized tools for some regs. And if it calls for it get it. Don't try to make do with stuff from ace or even sears. Scubatools can again meet most if not all of your needs for this.

Then find the parts. Some dealers will not sell you parts unless they really know you and know you won't kill yourself and others will tell you to go pound salt. Most are prohibited from selling you kits by the manufacturers they represent. Some allow sales to individuals.

Servicing your own regs is possible, can save you money in the long run (very long if you only have a couple regs by the time you invest in the books I noted and the tools) but if like me you have 8 regs then servicing them myself is just smart money. I am a factory authorized tech for one major mfg but not being affiliated with a shop I need to get parts for some of my regs on the downlow. Which is why I am switching them out for ones that will sell me parts,

But keep in mind that if you do screw up and die you have no one to blame but yourself. You need to ask yourself if you and your buddy are ok with that. If so have fun. It is very saitisfying for me to take a reg that I worked on and dive with it. Knowing who serviced it and that it was done right by me is a good feeling.

THIS is a useful post.

 

[AbyssalPlains]

sure save that 30 dollars and dont have a guy with years of experience rebuild your life support equipment and should it fail due to negligence and you die your family will have no way to collect the money due them from the service guy or mfg that have millions in insurance for that reason. should you dive for the next 20 years you will only have 20 rebuilds under your belt and i would not want someone that in experienced working on my life support equipment. is it safe? does it make sense? will it work in the worse case senerio? but look on the bright side we in the fire service are lucker than most lol PS would you rebuild your scba

And this is not.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

The whole idea that you could screw up and die is a bit mysterious. Afterall you can measure where you start before servicing and again afterwards. Keeping good records is part of the process. All that happens outside of the water. The chances of anything suddenly happening at 100 fsw is pretty remote. And afterall most of us dive with people we trust if it does.

Also the idea that someone earning a tad over minimum wage in a dive shop is more concerned about my safety than I am seems absurd.

 

[redacted]

The whole idea that you could screw up and die is a bit mysterious. Afterall you can measure where you start before servicing and again afterwards. Keeping good records is part of the process. All that happens outside of the water. The chances of anything suddenly happening at 100 fsw is pretty remote. And afterall most of us dive with people we trust if it does.

Also the idea that someone earning a tad over minimum wage in a dive shop is more concerned about my safety than I am seems absurd.

Gross torquing errors are the only thing I can think of off hand that might cause a serious unpleasant surprise UW.