Servicing your own regulators

Would you take a Manufacturer Approved Class on regulator servicing if offered?


  • Total voters
    91
  • Poll closed .

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

I use scubapro and Poseidon plus Vance Harlow regulator maintenance and repair so problem solved.
 
There are two approaches to maintenance: practical, and theoretical.
Vance Harlow is practical
Pete Wolfinger is theoretical
Vance Harlow gets you going quickly
Pete Wolfinger makes you think

When you finish VH, you know what you know, you can repair a regulator as described, but you don't know what you don't know.
When you finish Reg Savvy, you have an appreciation for why things happen the way they happen and can fix an unexpected problem.

I read Vance Harlow once and thought, "cool info!"
I've read Pete Wolfinger's book over and over and have gone back to it when presented with a novel problem.
I briefly went back to Vance Harlow's book recently, and thought, "Meh! Doesn't matter that it's out of print."

If you have a tiny leak from your ambient holes in a piston reg, why will tilting it one way or another in the sink tell you what's wrong? Reg Savvy will teach you. Vance Harlow won't.

How you approach reg service will point you to one book or the other.
 
don’t know that buying all the tools
If you have a normal kit of tools, with screwdrivers, a good set of wrenches, and Allen wrenches, in both imperial and metric, then you really don't need much more. Here's the minimal list with links embedded in their name:

O-ring pick(s) $10.75
397_1_.jpg



IP gauge $31.50 You can pick any inflator hose fitting you want HERE
500.jpg



1st Stage Handle $26.50
465.png



Hook spanner $16.25 for one or $62.50 for the whole set
534.jpg



Yoke Nut Socket and extension for your reg @$35 That's -IF- you have a yoke regulator
20-158-500.jpg



A vise. The Parrothead Vise is my favorite for rebuilding @ $64.95. Mount it with two ears next to the edge of your bench and it can be used upright or sideways. It's truly a versatile vise.
81se3dz%2BaUL._AC_SX679_.jpg


Sure, you can add a lot of tools, I certainly have, but these usually what the average Scuba diver really needs. www.ScubaTools.com also has plenty of brand-specific tools as well. Some are solutions to problems I've yet to see, so only buy what you need. Yeah, and take loads of pictures. I'm not sure I stressed that enough. Vinegar (not simple green) is an excellent cleaner and while I do use a heated commercial ultrasonic: it's probably overkill unless you have loads of regs to do and a lot of verdigris. For what it's worth, I think every diver should own all these tools, know how to use them, and except for the vise, they go on every dive trip with me.

[B]@rsingler[/B] might have additions to this he might want to share.
 
So the polls show 39 yeses, we need two things.

1. Scubaboard to become a non profit educational company so we can get cheaper rental room cost and discounted rooms.

2. COVID to end so we can travel reasonably well.
 
If you have a normal kit of tools, with screwdrivers, a good set of wrenches, and Allen wrenches, in both imperial and metric, then you really don't need much more. Here's the minimal list:

O-ring pick(s) $10.75
View attachment 643425
IP gauge $31.50 You can pick any inflator hose fitting you want HERE
View attachment 643426
1st Stage Handle $26.50
View attachment 643427

Hook spanner $16.25 for one or $62.50 for the whole set
View attachment 643428

Yoke Nut Socket and extension for your reg @$35 That's -IF- you have a yoke regulator
View attachment 643429

A vise. The Parrothead Vise is my favorite for rebuilding @ $64.95. Mount it with two ears next to the edge of your bench and it can be used upright or sideways. It's truly a versatile vise.

View attachment 643430

Sure, you can add a lot of tools, I certainly have, but these usually what the average Scuba diver really needs. www.ScubaTools.com also has plenty of brand-specific tools as well. Some are solutions to problems I've yet to see, so only buy what you need. Yeah, and take loads of pictures. I'm not sure I stressed that enough. Vinegar (not simple green) is an excellent cleaner and while I do use a heated commercial ultrasonic: it's probably overkill unless you have loads of regs to do and a lot of verdigris. For what it's worth, I think every diver should own all these tools, know how to use them, and except for the vise, they go on every dive trip with me.

@rsingler might have additions to this he might want to share.

Are those picks steel? If so it seems to me that a softer material would be better to help prevent damaging the reg surfaces.

One of the videos I saw the guy was using something he attached between the hose and the second stage to tune the second (it was on a second with user adjustable breathing difficulty)
 

Back
Top Bottom