Why you should, or should not, service your own regulator

[Nemrod]

We go from repairing your own regulator to lawsuits for being sold parts and then on to brake jobs gone wrong and all manner of anecdotal examples that I fail to see any connection.

Does anyone actually have an example of an actual lawsuit resulting from being sold scuba regulator parts and then that person then wrongly installing them and then suing the retail dive store that sold them to him/(her)?

N

 

[Scubagolf]

Anybody married to their dive buddy on this thread? If my wife's reg is not in perfect order and I did the work, I am in the doghouse. If the LDS screwed it up, they take the sh$t storm. Guess which option I take?

 

[kr2y5]

I will first dive a regulator myself before I let my wife put it in her mouth.

 

[letterboy]

Her reg is just like the car, I ain't allowed to touch it...

little does she know . . .

 

[AfterDark]

Actually, no, it's not. Generally speaking, serious injury or wrongful death actions based on another driver's negligence are usually not barred (e.g., Michigan, Hawaii, etc.). And if the negligence occurred at home in the garage rather than out on the public road, so much the better for arguing against the law's application. I'm aware of one NJ case where an uninsured motorist lost out on a wrongful death claim because as an incentive to purchase insurance they've gutted tort availability for uninsured motorists...guess you can hope your muddled brake job only takes out an uninsured driver in a state like NJ?

It would have to be a death because any non-fatal accident will NEVER be investigated to the degree required to discover and prove a negligent brake job by a DIY'er. I know I was a cop in MA a no fault state. Unless there was a death we we're even required to measure skid marks.

 

[redacted]

Anybody married to their dive buddy on this thread? If my wife's reg is not in perfect order and I did the work, I am in the doghouse. If the LDS screwed it up, they take the sh$t storm. Guess which option I take?

If they can do a better job than you can, then you should have them do it.

 

[Peter69_56]

Anybody married to their dive buddy on this thread? If my wife's reg is not in perfect order and I did the work, I am in the doghouse. If the LDS screwed it up, they take the sh$t storm. Guess which option I take?

I am married to my dive buddy, and I service all her gear as well as mine, no problems.

 

[scubafanatic]

For the most part, I've had a pretty good (if not perfect) regulator service results at assorted LDS's over the years. I don't view most dive shops as being part of an evil conspiracy to rip me off, and overall they seem to do a pretty good job. I try to do business with shops where I actually meet the individual servicing my regs, so I'm seen as an individual as less as just a 'number', plus I can ask intelligent questions, and express my personal preferences with respect to things like IP settings and how 'hot' I like the 2nds tuned. I also like to deal with individuals that have a well established reputation and expertise in my specific regs, for example I was introduced to a SB member last yr who specializes in trouble-shooting/servicing my new 'vintage' toys (SP MK 5's, 109's, 156's) and I had him to a bunch of work for me last year, because he had both experience with, and 'love' for, the same vintage stuff as me and understood any little quirks these units may have, and a strong interest in seeing me succeed in returning these 'beauties' back to as close as 100% original or upgraded condition as possible.

I have dipped a toe into the DIY world (learned how to tune 2nd's with an inline adjustor tool and measure IP, for example) but don't have the room/tools/experience to go whole-hog into DIY servicing, so I do what I can, and delegate the rest.

 

[tbone1004]

no offense to the OP at all since this shop competes with him, but if you're paying to get your regs serviced, you really can't beat places like AirTech scuba in Raleigh, literally all they do is service regulators, not some guy that happened to take a reg service class and services a set once every few days, all these guys do is service regulators, those are the types of guys that are worth going to and I haven't had an issue with them ever, it's usually the guys that don't do it often enough but are still "certified" and think they can do it without the service manuals in front of them that are the problem children

 

[NC Air Hog]

Awesome shout out bro. Thanks for all of the support