Weird issue with Reg after service

[Angelo Farina]

When I later learned that those tech classes and certifications were obtained over the course of a couple of hours, over doughnuts and Nescafé, at a local Sheraton, that was all I could take . . .

Well, not that in that day at Scubapro Italy I did receive much more than 2 hours of training...
But at least I was in the factory where the regulators were really assembled, and after the explanation I had to assemble and tune 4 or 5 myself.
Then the technician dismounted one of them for checking that everything was fine, asked me to dismount and remount another, then I was asked to service my own MKV+109, replacing all the parts contained in the service kit, and that was all...
As I did perform well, the technician made me a gift, the special tool for opening the MK5 first stage.
I was very sad when I did loose it, years later...

 

[Bigbella]

I did receive much more than 2 hours of training... I had to assemble and tune 4 or 5 myself.

As I did perform well, the technician made me a gift, the special tool for opening the MK5 first stage.
I was very sad when I did lose it, years later...

A similar experience -- troubleshooting, disassembling and rebuilding a few regulators; and the late, lamented shop that I worked for, while at university, gave me a couple of tools, in a cool little wooden box, which I then almost lost with some checked-on baggage. Thankfully, still have them . . .

 

[cerich]

Ok, so I have 2 Apeks Black Sapphires, I just had them both serviced prior to a trip to Coz and noticed something strange. When I am at shallow depths (10 to 15 feet) one of the two makes a strange howling sound on inspiration. Also, this part could all just be in my head, but I can't seem to adjust the cracking effort. I have all the way in either direction, doesn't seem to make a difference. Any thoughts?

harmonic, not lubed somewhere or a spring inside just needs to be re-positioned is the most likely

 

[Aaron Harmon]

The alternative is to learn servicing them yourself.
I was instructed doing so at Scubapro Italy back in 1977, and since then I had not allowed anyone to access my SP regulators, except me.
It is my life, if something has to go wrong, I cannot accept this happens for the negligence of someone else.

I began doing the same, years ago, through a local shop, after some particularly shoddy work, in which two successive diaphragms were torn during rebuilds; and they had the gall to want to charge me for the replacements, entirely due to their negligence. They even managed to lose one of my blind plugs.

When I later learned that those tech classes and certifications were obtained over the course of a couple of hours, over doughnuts and Nescafé, at a local Sheraton, that was all I could take . . .

I would like to learn it. I like and trust the guys at my LDS, but I'd rather be self reliant. The truth is, that I would need someone to teach me and help me understand the various principles. I have the manuals, but reading them feels akin to putting together Ikea furniture. I don't always do that right either. but mistakes are not life threatening.

I think that I need to be affiliated with a dive shop to take the Apeks class, don't?

 

[Bigbella]

I would like to learn it. I like and trust the guys at my LDS, but I'd rather be self reliant. The truth is, that I would need someone to teach me and help me understand the various principles. I have the manuals, but reading them feels akin to putting together Ikea furniture. I don't always do that right either. but mistakes are not life threatening.

I think that I need to be affiliated with a dive shop to take the Apeks class, don't?

I would heartily recommend Vince Harlow's Scuba Regulator Maintenance and Repair and Scuba Regulator Savvy by Pete Wolfinger; both excellent, in their own way. On the subject of classes, inquire at your local shop. Some shops are even willing to allow you to attend, under their name . . .

 

[buddhasummer]

3 Apeks threads in row, the horror.

 

[Khrissi]

My Scuba Pros honk loud on surface, underwater they are fine ( new bought last year ) k

 

[Angelo Farina]

On the subject of classes, inquire at your local shop. Some shops are even willing to allow you to attend, under their name . . .

Which is exactly how I landed at Scubapro Italy factory for being trained. I was sent there by the local shop, of course I was not affiliated with them, nor working for them. But for Scubapro I appeared to be coming from one of their best resellers, hence they were happy to train me for free.
I must also say that, albeit the owner of the shop was a very experienced diver and a good repair technician, he did always suggest to all his customers to learn servicing themself their regulators. He did not like to take responsibility for repairing a malfunctioning device, he always preferred to send it back to factory. And so, when it was time to train me, he also preferred to send me directly at the factory, for getting first hand information.
Of course some training is required for understanding how the regulator works and how to repair it. The technician of the local shop is not always a good instructor, better to learn from the source, if possible, as I did more than 40 years ago.

 

[Nutterbutter]

I had my older Apeks setup serviced. Loud toots underwater from the first stage, mostly during the early portion of the dive. On land, you could really feel the vibration/fluttering inside the first stage. Got a little better after a couple dives.

I went back, and watched the service tech open and inspect the first stage. Everything looked fine. I mentioned that I'd read flipping the spring can help. Anyhow, all that done was open, inspect, wipe and re-lube. It's been fine since.

Fixing resonance and noise is hard and weird. I always think of it this way: It's very difficult, if not impossible, for a tech to purposely make your first stage make these noises.

 

[Scuba Lawyer]

I learned how to service my own regs after I paid a bunch of $ to have a fairly well known dive shop (now out of business or going out of business) service my USD reg. Got it back with a clean bill of health and a little baggie of old parts. Took it straight to Farnsworth Bank, Catalina. Attached it to my tank, hit the purge button a few times, all good. My bad, but I did not test breathe it, figured if the purge button worked all was good. Splashed off the boat and inhaled copious amounts of ocean. The dufus at the dive shop forgot to put in a 2nd stage diaphragm. Yes, I am fully aware a proper pre-dive check would have revealed the problem (a problem that shouldn't have been even possible IMHO.) End of rant.