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

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NC Air Hog

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
125
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48
Location
Raleigh, NC
# of dives
I just don't log dives
I have noticed over the past few days that more and more people seem to be considering servicing their own regulators. While the industry has determined that only authorized / certified technicians should be allowed to perform this task, I believe in personal responsibility. If you are an adult and can take care of yourself, then who has the right to tell you what you can and cannot do with your own gear? In the coming days, I will be positing service kits for sale through the webstore. I will add a disclaimer of course.

So why should you?
Saving money is always the "go to" answer for this. Everyone knows that the dastardly dive shops want nothing more than to rip you off. This is especially true if you are talking about your local shop. All they want to do is pad their pockets so they can go out on their SCUBA yachts and keep banging their 20 year old girlfriends (riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight). The other reason individuals want to learn how to service their own regs is to find out just how they work. The first step is to get a copy of Regulator Savvy and just read the thing. From there, everything will make a lot more sense. Once you learn more about your regs, you might just find that you are able to notice minor breathing differences as time goes by. It is just like you can always tell when your car or truck is not right somehow I guess. While there are many out there that will tell you that servicing your regulator is easy, anyone can do it, all regs are the same (my personal favorite), or that you are just stupid if you actually pay to have that done; please keep in mind that you should seek training and at least take your set to get tested after your first service prior to jumping into the water.

So why should you not?
There are a few reasons why servicing your own reg set might just not be for you. Here is, in my mind, the top three reasons:

  • You do not want to purchase the tools needed.
  • You do not mind paying to have someone else do it for you so you are just not bothered with it.
  • You just don't feel like learning because you have better things to do with your life and SCUBA is a hobby that you do for fun, and you are not consumed by it with every waking moment.

If you fit into one of these categories, then you might not want to service your own regulator set. While there is nothing stopping you from learning, there is certainly no requirement to do so. Believe it or not, some people are very comfortable with just saying, "you do it and in return I will give you this Federal Reserve Note you call money".

No matter if you do it yourself or not, just dive safely and be happy doing it. Also next time someone tells you that you are stupid for letting those greedy dive shops take all of your money for something that you could just do yourself, remind them that some guys pay good money to hookers for some of the same reasons.

Norris, out
 
While the industry has determined that only authorized / certified technicians should be allowed to perform this task

While in many places, the "industry" can and does get away with this, there are a few places, like Germany, where consumer protection laws require that repair parts be sold to end users.

It is not so much that you save money as that you just get to spend it differently. When you are spending less than $50 a year on parts to support 4 divers, it is quite a potential savings. Unfortunately, there are so many scuba things to spend it on, like more regulators, since maintenance is so inexpensive. The really great aspect of DIY is knowing that the guy who serviced your regulator is just as concerned about your having a good experience as you are.

Reg Savey is a great book but much more detailed (and focused) that Vance Harlow's SCUBA Regulator Maintenance and Repair. This book covers a wider range of topics and is probably a bit more useful for the DIYer.

Also, if you can't imagine doing a brake job on your car, maybe you should leave regulator servicing to the tech and hope he is a good one.
 
I've serviced my regs in the past because I was the only person I trusted.

I did this because I had delivered my regs (Sherwoods) to the local shop and had them delivered back non functional..... twice.

It turned out that a well informed amateur could service these regs better than the shop where I sent them. In the intervening time I've discovered that trying to service my own regs is a bit foolish.

R..
 
I do not think saving money, paranoid thoughts about dive shop conspiracy, or lack of social life adequately explain why people choose to service their own regulators... from what I have seen on this board, most folks who choose to go down this road believe in self-reliance, and wanting to be able to service your own equipment is simply the next natural step on this path. I enjoy the fact that I understand how my equipment works, and can check, readjust, repair or clean it any time I want, even if I might sometimes choose to let someone else do that.
 
You ask why? It is a combination of a few things one being that I just can't stand paying someone to do something I can do, sometimes better. Another is money. Yes I spent a good some of money on tools and training to take the HOG reg repair course but I think in the long run it will be cheaper. The last is trust. Who else can I trust when the main bread winner and father of my children is under water? What bothers me is almost all the largest players in the industry "in the US at least" are feeding us a big lie about why they don't sell regulator parts to the public. They will tell you it is for our own good and to also prevent litigation against them if you are hurt because they sold you the parts. This is all total bull crap, they know it and we know it also, we let them lie to our faces and still keep purchasing there products. The manufacturers could at least tell us the truth which is that they want to keep the public going back to the dive shop for service and for some it is also to keep up an image. If they would come out and tell the truth I would have some respect for them but I don't see that happening anytime soon. I'm sorry but no one can convince me that there is more liability in selling parts than restricting part sales and telling a customer that we have to do the repairs for you. If you sell me the parts and I screw up, I am responsible for my own actions. If a dive shop employee works on my equipment they are responsible if a screw up causes an issue. I really don't think there would be many people doing there own repairs even if all the manufacturers started selling parts open to the public, I just don't think most people want to be bothered with the work. I forgot one last reason, I just HATE when someone tells me that I can't do something!
 
If you want to then you should and if you do not want to then you should not.

N

...except if your fingers are like frozen sausages, then you should not, regardless... it seems awfully easy to damage something.
 
I am pretty sure plenty of us servicing our own cars, electrical appliances etc etc without any proper training. If I can buy spare parts for my car then why not for the regs. If anything happen to my reg then I am the one who is going to pay for the price but if something happen to my car while I am driving the outcome could be completely different.
I am not saying I am doing a better job than someone who is properly trained. It is my choice.
 
saving money would be at the bottom of the list.

getting a known level of service quality would be at the top. (reminds me of a bank survey where they actually asked if I thought accuracy was important? WHAT?)

I swapped LDS due to the continually rotating circus of regulator clowns. I took my "it's a sherwood and it is supposed to leak air, but it does not anymore" regulator in for service. The service tech told me that i was just a "stupid diver" and that no reg should ever leak air. Have not been in that shop since...
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/peregrine/

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