Looking to learn equipment maintenance

[Octopusprime]

I am looking to learn equipment maintenance. I am planning on taking PSI inspection course this winter. But I want to learn how to rebuild a reg, maintain a BC. I talked to a couple dive shops about interning for free to learn and I understand their reluctance. Other than buying old reg set off ebay to practice any ideas ?

 

[WarrenZ]

TDI and hog regulators have a class.

 

[Scubatude]

Out by you Dive Right In Scuba offers equipment service, regulator service (HOG) and Visual Inspection courses, just like we do out on the west coast.
They are good folks.

 

[herman]

Buy, read and UNDERSTAND "Regulator Savvy" ( www.scubatools.com ) and "Maintainance and Repair of Scuba Regulators" ( www.airspeedpress.com ) plus every regulator service manual you can find. Then buy several different types of regulators and service them. It's best if you start with those that you can get parts for, the Scubapro MK-2 and 5 and Sherwood Brute and Magnum are excellent piston regs, USD/AL Conshelfs are perfect diaphragm choices and if you can add a HOG, Zeagle or Apeks you have see almost all the different basic designs used for the last 40+ years. Not only will you have seen most all the current designs but you will also have several excellent regulators to dive. And finally, ask questions in the DIY section of SB, there are a lot of very good techs here.
None of the so called technician classes will make you "authorized" to service any particular brand. The manuf require you to take their own course and most of them you can not take unless you are working for a shop so to be an authorized tech you will still need to work for a shop. My experience with these classes is not good. At least the ones I have attended as quick overviews with little hands on and almost no theory so unless you are already a good tech, taking them is a waste of time....or worse yet you come out thinking you actually know how to work on regs.

 

[OtherHalf]

I just downloaded the manual and pulled mine apart when I had an issue. Getting over the fear of actual "doing" is normally the biggest hurdle. Between the DIY section here, the manuals available online (reg service manuals for several brands are available for free DL on several sites, luxfer posts their recommendations for cleaning on their website for free, etc.), and your own gear you already have all you need. I didn't find a regulator any more complicated than a carburetor. Different cleaning procedures, but no more complicated, IMO. If you're mechanically inclined you shouldn't have any problems. If you're not mechanically inclined, well, I'm not sure a class would help.

 

[LowDrag]

Buy, read and UNDERSTAND "Regulator Savvy" ( www.scubatools.com ) and "Maintainance and Repair of Scuba Regulators" ( www.airspeedpress.com ) plus every regulator service manual you can find. Then buy several different types of regulators and service them. It's best if you start with those that you can get parts for, the Scubapro MK-2 and 5 and Sherwood Brute and Magnum are excellent piston regs, USD/AL Conshelfs are perfect diaphragm choices and if you can add a HOG, Zeagle or Apeks you have see almost all the different basic designs used for the last 40+ years. Not only will you have seen most all the current designs but you will also have several excellent regulators to dive. And finally, ask questions in the DIY section of SB, there are a lot of very good techs here.
None of the so called technician classes will make you "authorized" to service any particular brand. The manuf require you to take their own course and most of them you can not take unless you are working for a shop so to be an authorized tech you will still need to work for a shop. My experience with these classes is not good. At least the ones I have attended as quick overviews with little hands on and almost no theory so unless you are already a good tech, taking them is a waste of time....or worse yet you come out thinking you actually know how to work on regs.

Is it safe to say that these two books compliment each other? I have been looking into regulator repair as well and would like to get both books to read and learn from. At the very least, I would learn some good info on how reg's work.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

Most manufacturers have classes, and PADI offers ( last I recall) and equipment specialist class to teach you the basics. Lots of books out there too, from manufacturers and other. If you can read, you can learn.
DivemasterDennis

 

[Octopusprime]

Thanks for all of the great info... I will start looking at manuals site and the two books as for the Padi class I paged threw the book and looked like a waste of money.

as the the mfg classes do they cost anything? Do you have to go to them? Do you have to be a distributor?

 

[Nemrod]

The courses taught by the various abc agencies are probably a waste of time. There are a variety of downloads on vdh. The equipment itself is largely very simple. The bigger problem is finding suitable parts sources. Most people who have dived for years and who have ALWAYS maintained their own gear have collected up parts stashes over time. A lot of parts can be substituted or sourced from other brands or models or even manufactured yourself. Again, vdh does have some service kits for popular single hose classic regulators.

A Conshelf XIV is a good starting point as is the SPR109 with MkV. This stuff is not rocket science and is frankly less intimidating to me than tuning the Shimano derailleur on my bicycle.

Key concepts; Pliers are not a tool and neither are Channel Locks and while on the subject, neither is a Crescent Wrench.

N

 

[herman]

Is it safe to say that these two books compliment each other? I have been looking into regulator repair as well and would like to get both books to read and learn from. At the very least, I would learn some good info on how reg's work.

Sorry for the slow response, missed the question. IMO, yes they compliment each other. Reg Savvy is more technical and written in a more technical manner, it digs deeper into the physics of how and why the reg works and less into the DIY information. M&R of SR on the other hand is written in more laymans terms with a greater focus on servicing the regs. RS goes way past what you need to be able to rebuild a reg however and this is where many "techs" fall short, when you must troubleshoot a reg that is not acting correctly, you must understand the physics of how the reg works, otherwise you will just be guessing at how to fix the real problem. Shop techs have the luxury of just throwing parts at the problem (and charging you for them), DYIers for the most part don't. Plus, I want to understand and see the problem, not just make it go away.