Yet another happy DIY'er

[8thElementDiver]

Serviced my regulator (Zeagle 1st and 2nd stage, Aqualung octo) over the weekend with an Aqualung technician. He was great. I learned a ton, and am very happy I finally did my own servicing.

First, it was much easier than I expected. If you have some proper tools and have the mental capacity to take 20 pieces out of a completed jigsaw puzzle and put them back in properly, you can service your own regs.

Second, ScubaTools.com rocks. All the special tools I needed.

Third, small wooden dowels that you can whittle to the correct size worked much better than most of the specialty tools required by Aqualung.

Fourth, if you do any salt water diving, having an ultrasonic cleaner is critical. I can't imagine getting some of that crud out without it.

Fifth, Aqualung pisses me off, the way they so tightly control their parts--especially considering the next point.

Finally--surprise, surprise--I discovered what an incompetent job my previous servicers had been doing. My previous servicing was always done at one of the largest dive shops in the Seattle area. They return all of the replaced parts to you in a little baggie after servicing. None of my previous baggies contained the poppet bearing from my Aqualung octo, which probably explains why it looked 5 times more crusted over than any other part in that reg.

Aqualung says they have such tight controls over parts and gear to ensure the quality of their life support equipment. Then how about some quality control over their service technicians? As an instructor, I use my octo a lot and the last thing I need is for it to fail during a class with a panicked student because a "qualified" service technician was too frickin lazy to replace all the parts that Aqualung says need to be replaced every year!

Anyway, I am a total convert to the DIY gear repair philosophy. Just wish companies like Aqualung would pull their heads out and realize what a disservice it is to their customers to restrict access to parts.

And a big thanks to Zeagle and Scuba Toys for making access to Zeagle parts easy. You can bet my future regs will all be ones I can easily service myself.

 

[ToddK]

Congrats on your first time! I started about a year ago with my Scubapro regs. On the poppet bearing for the octo, your saying that this is a part that is mandatory to be replaced every year, but wasn't?

 

[8thElementDiver]

ToddK,
That's correct--the poppet bearing is a mandatory part to be replaced each year, but it was not replaced when the Seattle dive shop serviced it.
The service manual, dated 1999, states "discard the poppet bearing and do not reuse." A new poppet bearing was included in this year's parts kit, so I'm assuming that step hasn't changed since the manual was written.
It seems that the Seattle shop also didn't change the locknut for the poppet, even though the manual states "Discard the locknut and do not attempt to reuse."
The only reason I know the Seattle shop actually did service the regulator is because they did change out the LP assembly.

Maybe the technician just forgot to give me those old parts. I'm willing to believe that's what happened to the locknut--it's a tiny piece that could easily roll away. But the poppet bearing is much bigger, and given how bad it looked in comparison to the other parts when we serviced the reg a few days ago, and how difficult it was to remove, I'm betting that they never bothered changing the part.

 

[dave4868]

Serviced my regulator (Zeagle 1st and 2nd stage, Aqualung octo) over the weekend with an Aqualung technician. He was great. I learned a ton, and am very happy I finally did my own servicing.

It feels pretty good doing it yourself, doesn't it? Good for you!

I'll bet you have more confidence in your regulators now.

Anyway, I am a total convert to the DIY gear repair philosophy. Just wish companies like Aqualung would pull their heads out and realize what a disservice it is to their customers to restrict access to parts.

And a big thanks to Zeagle and Scuba Toys for making access to Zeagle parts easy. You can bet my future regs will all be ones I can easily service myself.

Being able to service my own regulators is a high priority for me, too.

I'm fortunate to have great people at my LDS who are happy to provide me with Sherwood regulator parts! If I ever move away, I'll be contacting Scuba Toys, for sure!

So, did you take good enough notes to do the next servicing without a tutor?

Yearly schedule or as needed? (A sign of confidence perhaps....)

Dave C

 

[sunkarm]

i wish i can do the same with my apeks regs. by the way how much would the tool costs for servicing the reg?

 

[redacted]

Anyway, I am a total convert to the DIY gear repair philosophy. Just wish companies like Aqualung would pull their heads out and realize what a disservice it is to their customers to restrict access to parts.

I believe I see the source of your confusion. You and I are not the customers that Aqualung (and Scubapro) are focused on servicing. Their customers are the dive retailers who buy their gear.

Congratulations. There is a real comfort in having confidence in the service of your gear.

 

[8thElementDiver]

Tool cost depends on what you need--some regs need more specialized tools than others. The only special tool I needed for my zeagle (1st and 2nd stages) was a 6" pin spanner. Most of the others (hex keys, etc) I already had.

Dig up the service manual first (search for different threads about them), to determine the tools you need.

The hardest part for me was getting access to an Aqualung service tech willing to work with me who had access to their parts. If I can get the parts again, I'm definitely doing it myself next time. If I can't get the Aqualung parts easily I might just sell it and buy a Zeagle octo.

The service manuals were extremely easy to read and follow--sometimes overly so (e.g. Aqualung using 6 sentences when a simple "disconnect the LP hose from the 2nd stage" would probably have sufficed.)