Best certification/training for equipment specialist and scuba technicians

[Musicgirl]

Hi y'all,
Now that I'm an instructor, I am looking to learn more about equipment. And as I was researching courses I found that I happen to live in the only city in Asia that offers the ASSET technician programme. It was brought to my attention by one of my own instructiors. Any way, so... I am thinking about getting technicians certification too. I was not impressed with the PADI equipment course.

I'm sure there are other courses, with TDI for example. I'm unaware of, or simply am not familiar with what else is out there, so I'm hoping for advice from seasoned technicians/shop managers. What training would you recommend, both in terms of good education/training and recognition in global diving industry as I want it to be an asset when applying for jobs.
Thanks

 

[oly5050user]

PADI equipment specialist is not designed for you to be able to call yourself a repair tech. It is designed so that you can simply maintain your own gear with some idea on how things work. You need to take seminars from equipment manufacturers and a the only way it usually is to be able to is thru a LDS that you work thru

 

[Neilwood]

AFAIK the equipment specialist cert is not designed to do anything other than give a basic understanding of the mechanics of the gear (basic regulator function, valves in BCDs etc) not to give any detail on servicing.

Technician level certifications AFAIK have to come from the manufacturers (apart from tech diving where certain manufacturers will allow people to maintain their own gear and provide service kits etc).

 

[Mustard Dave]

The rules about who can service what depend on where you are in the world. Here in the UK, there is no legislation that covers it, but certain industry compliance schemes make it difficult for non members. For example, in the UK, there is no law whatsoever that says my cylinders have to be inspected or tested, but as soon as I take them to a shop for a fill, the Pressure Systems Regulations kick in as it is an 'at work' situation, and they say such equipment must be inspected and tested by 'competent persons'. There is no definition of a competent person within the regulations, so certain organisations create standards and ensure compliance. IDEST is the accepted standard in the scuba industry, but there are other organisations that can do it (and probably cheaper). Watch the face of the pump monkey if you turn up with anything other than an IDEST sticker though!

Things like regulators can be serviced by anybody with a bit of engineering nous and a service manual, however, most manufacturers will only sell service parts to authorised servicing technicians. A mate of mine who runs a dive centre in Malta is an agent for a certain well known manufacturer. He was complaining that he has to get his staff to attend refreshers, meaning he has to pay them while they are not making money. He does not have an issue with this, but complains these refresher sessions are more about selling than servicing.

You need to research what the local rules are, and how the industry manages servicing in your part of the world. A dive shop offering this service is probably your first port of call.

 

[Musicgirl]

Thanks for the replies. I think maybe I wasn't clear. Although I want to learn about my equipment and maintaining scuba gear in general, I'm interested in the tanks, analysing them, compressor operation, filling tanks, Gas blending, etc.

So would the PADI technical gas blender be good? Is it enough? It doesn't seem to be in depth, but then again maybe there's more to it than I'm finding online. TDI has both a visual inspection course and a nitrox gas blender course. It seems like the ASSET internship is a decent choice, but wondering if there are others and which would be the best. Would any or all of these be recognised globally?

 

[Mustard Dave]

If you want to bland gas, the PADI gas blending course is fine.

 

[Subcooled]

I am looking to learn more about equipment.(...)What training would you recommend, both in terms of good education/training and recognition in global diving industry as I want it to be an asset when applying for jobs.
Thanks

[edited after feedback from thread]

The PADI equipment specialist course is a joke [edit: a joke if you want to become a regulator servicing technician, which is a job]. [opinion removed] Why don't you do a search: "Vance Harlow oxygen hackers guide" if you want to learn about reg servicing? For a career, you will need some courses by reg manufacturers, but that happens once you are employed.

[irrelevant text removed] The PADI courses are nothing but a means to generate profit for the instructor/dive center. Some gas blender courses might be useful, though.

 

[tursiops]

The PADI equipment specialist course is a joke.

ALL courses from ALL agencies are a joke if taught by someone who knows little/nothing about the subject, and/or doesn't care about the subject or the students. PADI is not unique. A good (yes, it can be from PADI) Equipment Specialist course will help someone understand how their gear works, how to select what to purchase, what some useful field repairs are and how to do them, how to put together a traveler's tool kit and use it, and (importantly) what NOT to try and fix in the field. Even at best, it is NOT a servicing class, so it is both incorrect and unfair to denigrate it for not teaching how to service regulators, for example.

 

[Musicgirl]

Thanks again for more feedback. But I'm guessing no one here knows much about ASSET (Association of Scuba Service Engineers and Technicians)? I'm looking at an internship that includes courses and hands on experience. I believe it's a British association.

 

[bl6394]

Thanks again for more feedback. But I'm guessing no one here knows much about ASSET (Association of Scuba Service Engineers and Technicians)? I'm looking at an internship that includes courses and hands on experience. I believe it's a British association.

First addressing the PADI Equipment Specialist Course. That course does NOT certify an individual to do regulator repair, Fill Station Operation / Service, Visual Inspection, etc. While I am individually certified to do each of these functions, and do demonstrate each of these functions in summary when I teach the Equipment Specialist course, certain elements of each may be omitted for brevity. The Equipment Specialist Course can be useful for some Dive Professionals who have minimal experience with gear - but you are looking for more thorough training.

Reviewing the syllabus of the ASSET, their Dive Industry Technician Course is an amalgam of several training opportunities that would exist in my market / region. I found that some manufacturer training was thorough - and other time it was pretty poor. Scubapro's training was the best - a two day hands on seminar on regulator repair that was well presented. For Visual Inspection - I took the PCI VCI course. TDI also offers a similar course. VCI would also teach you enough about Fill Station Operation. Hyrdostatic testing in the US is regulated by the Department Of Transportation - and this would again be a separate certification process to become a hydrostatic testing facility.

Eddy Testing is also a PCI specialty - as would be Oxygen Cleaning Technician and Valve Repair Technician.

Finally, both TDI and PADI have Gas Blending / Advanced Gas Blending courses. I took the TDI courses and teach the PADI courses. Both are adequate - and include oxygen cleaning techniques, safe mixing procedures, etc.

Much of what I've dicussed is based upon local industry practices in the US. You should seek training appropriate to your region.

Regards.