Choosing equipment, and maintenance

[Graveyarddiver]

As divers that pursue more challenging dives, we are required to acquire new skill, through training as well as equipment, and maintain proficiency with both.

Is the ability to conduct all the maintance and service on your gear a determining factor in making a purchase? Who do you trust more when your life is on the line, your attention to detail, or that of a technician who just sees another regulator across his table for an hour?

And if you do maintain your own gear, where do you gain the skills to do so?

 

[bakodiver391]

Particularly with regulators, I don't buy any that I cannot easily get parts for. I trust myself much more than a faceless tech, and my regs are always tuned perfectly. I did essentially an apprenticeship at a local dive shop, but every service is a learning experience

 

[michael-fisch]

If I haven't made it myself, or in the worst case perform 3rd level maintainance myself, I don't own it. which gives me the freedom to improve the reliability and performance of things that can be improved.

Case in point, all 3 of the Bauer compressors I have owned, were completey stripped including removal of the crankshafts and then rebuilt.
Of course they now work better than they did when they were new, and I now know everthing about them.
the only exceptions are my 4 Sherwater Computers, although I can wire Fisher cables, I don't trust myself to disassemble a Pursuit or Petrel2 computer (and so far haven't ever had the need to).
Michael

 

[PfcAJ]

I buy regs that can be serviced worldwide. I have no problems taking them to a tech. As much as I like to tinker, I simply don’t have the time or inclination to personally maintain 20+ regulators. If a reg comes back borked (which has never happened with my current tech, thanks Mac’s Sports in Clearwater Fl) it’s pretty obvious.

 

[tbone1004]

everything I have I can service myself and it's mandatory that I can do so.

Now, do I choose to do it all?

No. I just got 5x MK25's that I couldn't be bothered to rebuild myself, especially with as finicky as they are, so I had my buddy service them for me. He works for Air Tech in Raleigh and is a full-time, salaried, with-benefits regulator technician. He knows what he's doing.
When my Kraken needs service? Let's be real, I'm bringing a case of beer to @herman 's house and begging him to do it for me. Mainly so we can have a beer together in his shop, but he prototyped the thing so no one knows it better than he does.
I do my own compressor maintenance, do all of my own Poseidons, all of my own second stages, but they don't need anything that often.

I am lucky, just like @PfcAJ where we have good shops and techs that we can trust to actually work on our gear just as well if not better than we can *I know my buddy does a better job on the Scubapros that I ever will*, but too many people don't have that luxury

 

[herman]

Beer is nice.....but we need to talk about compressors.....I have some stupid idea I "need" one.

 

[kensuf]

Small fixes (replacing a hose) I'll do myself, big fixes go to the guy that has the work bench with the magnehelic.

 

[rhwestfall]

I have no reservations about dealing with my gear on my own....

Specific pieces (my Poseidons) get shipped to AirTech, and if I am jammed up, I can go to my LDS with others, but I have the ability to swap out gear and service when I have time...

 

[LiteHedded]

reg maintenance gets outsourced.
thanks Red Sullivan the scubapro magician

 

[tbone1004]

oh, another really weirdly interesting point that I've seen from most of my tech buddies. There is a balance point where you have too many regulators to pay someone to do them for you so you DIY, but it then flops over to where you have too many of them to do and then you end up paying to have them done because you couldn't be bothered... It's a weird thing that happens. By the time that happens though, you're usually not paying full shop retail prices on reg rebuilds and get a "costco sized" rate for rebuilding them when you drop 2 dozen regulators off or the guy rebuilding them is one of your dive buddies