The PADI Equipment Specialist Course

[Phil_C]

Hi Boardndave,

I think the thing is basically I don't like being sold a pup. It's the misdescription contained in the title of this course that I didn't like. I want to know more about servicing and maintaining my kit, and I am a fairly competent engineer and mechanic, but I would not attempt to service a regulator unless I had been shown how and had the pitfalls, processes and tolerances explained to me. That is why I looked out the details of this course. If I went on a course and was given a certiicate which said I was an equipment specialist my expectation would be that I have been given this level of detail, not to have simply been told how things work and given a refresher of what I had already done.

Clearly someone is not a specialist when they finish this course, and are probably positively dangerous if they started to tinker with critical equipment like a regulator.

What do the manufacturers do for people servicing their regulators and first stages, do they give training? - in the car industry the major players offer certification for mechanics working on their cars. Mind you this sort of thing is probably aimed at professionals, and would be prohibitively expensive. - Phil

 

[knowone]

I woud refund admission if you
found this not 100 times the value

SCUBA REG MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR Excerpts

much the same recommendation about

SCUBA:
A Practical Guide for the
New Diver

Welcome to UDM Aquatic Services

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Currently there is one mfg that offers reg service courses to the consumer. That's HOG. I just completed the technician crossover and technician instructor courses for it at DEMA. I'm waiting on paperwork and then an instructor crossover to TDI that will be done very shortly to teach the course to divers QUALIFIED to take it. Those divers must be nitrox certified and hold a technical certification and are required to purchase the book Regulator Savvy by Peter Wolfinger, own a HOG reg, and purchase or own a number of specialty tools to even begin the course. It qualifies the user to service their own personally owned regs. It does not authorize them to service regs for others. Only a dealer is authorized to do that.

The expense of the course can be considerable depending on the what the instructor charges, the tools that must be purchased, the text, and the cost of traveling to the instructor or bringing the instructor to you. That needs to weighed against being able to fix your reg when and where you need it, not having to wait on a shop, knowing that it was done right, and having the satisfaction of knowing that it was you who did it right. Is it worth it if you own only one reg? Perhaps not, perhaps it is. But the HOG is marketed to the tech diver and it is likely that they own 3, 4, 5, or more regs. That can make it well worth it over the course of a couple years.

 

[ppo2_diver]

The course can be a good course depending on the instructor. While it is not intended to teach you how to rebuild a reg, it does teach you how a regulator works, in detail hopefully. I've also added a few extras to the course I teach.

 

[Max Speed]

utterly useless course. buy the book noted above instead.

Sent from my SPH-P100 using Tapatalk

 

[Boardndave]

Phil_C,

Wasn't knocking ya! Just was suggesting that your run of the mill, recently certified diver is more likely to take that course than someone looking to get into servicing regs.

Another thing to consider is that you may have to be affiliated with a shop that is a licensed distributor in order to receive free parts (if they're included in the warranty of a particular reg).

 

[Phil_C]

Hi Boardndave - sorry if it sounded defensive, I hadn't meant to, I didn't think you were knocking me at all. Have fun _ Phil

 

[mselenaous]

As with any course, it boils down to what the instructor brings to the table. I watched several instructors teach this course. The 2 best ones not only addressed maintenance, different types of gear configurations (rec gear as well as a bit of tech gear awareness) and some basic "how stuff works" and what it looks like inside, but they opened up their "save-a-dive" kits showing useful-vs-useless tools, and recommended small supply of spare parts. They spent plenty of time on diagnosing, trouble-shooting & simple field repairs that can be done on a boat or at the dive site. The course is not about service, rebuilds, or warranty work that needs to be done by a tech trained to manufacturer's specs. If you are mechanically curious and inclined already, then you might not get as much out of it as there are several good books on the subject. But for someone like me who lacks the "mechanical" gene (and hence I refuse to service anyone's life support equipment), I was better prepared to deal with minor issues on-the-fly like changing an HP spool.

 

[TMHeimer]

As with any course, it boils down to what the instructor brings to the table. I watched several instructors teach this course. The 2 best ones not only addressed maintenance, different types of gear configurations (rec gear as well as a bit of tech gear awareness) and some basic "how stuff works" and what it looks like inside, but they opened up their "save-a-dive" kits showing useful-vs-useless tools, and recommended small supply of spare parts. They spent plenty of time on diagnosing, trouble-shooting & simple field repairs that can be done on a boat or at the dive site. The course is not about service, rebuilds, or warranty work that needs to be done by a tech trained to manufacturer's specs. If you are mechanically curious and inclined already, then you might not get as much out of it as there are several good books on the subject. But for someone like me who lacks the "mechanical" gene (and hence I refuse to service anyone's life support equipment), I was better prepared to deal with minor issues on-the-fly like changing an HP spool.

I see what you're saying. A course that covers trouble-shooting and simple repair tips could be OK. I can also see some benefit to the brand new diver in that some basic knowledge could be picked up before learning as you go along. "Tricks" per se, that there just isn't time for in OW class. Probably the more experience you get the less valuable this course would be.

 

[freewillie]

In regards to the OP's question, if you took the class would you learn enough to use your save a dive kit to maybe change configuration on first stage or change the mouth piece on your reg? Do you actually need a class to learn this? I had thought about taking the class as well but not sure exactly what I would get out of it I couldn't learn on my own.