happy-diver
Skindiver Just feelin it
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Servicing your own regulators
- Thread starter Rick Warren
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I read the manual and then took the class. Not that there's huge differences, but there are a lot of little tips and tricks, real world vs manual type thing you learn during a class.
If I had it to do over again I'd still take the class. I probably won't take another class for similar regs though. In my opinion hands on or at least watching someone who's done it a million times trumps a manual any day.
I would do an online study or whatever hosted by @rsingler. I don't own a piston reg, but still have found myself going through some of your older posts just for some insight. Always learning something.
The Chairman
Chairman of the Board
Auto manufacturers are required by law to provide parts for only ten years. However, there are so many aftermarket options that it boggles the mind.
if you read the fine print, some of the manufacturers are only replacing soft parts every other year. You're still paying the same labor every year.
I wrote the bit just before I read your post.
If you're practicing, just use old parts. I alluded to this earlier, but my first class on Scuba was in 1969. The Master Cheif had a bunch of Voit Swimaster regs the Navy was tossing. So Brian and I had to pull a number of these guys apart, being careful with the soft parts, and assemble two working regs from the bunch. The Master Cheif gave us insight into our lineage as well as what we were doing right or wrong. I don't think I did another thing to that reg for the next ten-plus years. Well, there was always some percussive maintenance required from time to time.
We get it: it's too complicated for you. That's OK, I don't see much has changed in either first or second stages since that Voit Swimaster back in '69 except that the mechanisms have gotten more robust and simpler. I was fed the same line of scary BS by many shops who simply did not want to lose the business. "Ohhh! It's life support!" "Ohhh! It's so complicated!" "Ohhh! You have to be certified!" "Ohhh! You'll kill off the shops!" "Ohhh! You're gonna die!" I've heard all these and more and think they are tired and petty. It reminds me of the scare tactics about diving NitrOx or solo before they became mainstream.
People: It's your reg. It's your dive. It's your decision. Whether you want to service your own regs or not, getting a bit of learning about how regulators work is a plus. It doesn't have to be a mystery to you how it works. I worked for years as an automotive mechanic and I used to have the same attitude in regards to automatic transmissions. We had a Nissan come in with a problematic one and we ordered the rebuilt. It was going to be a month before it got to us (backorder), so I pulled it apart. Didn't have a digital camera back then, so I paced myself. Ordered the clutch packs as well as the one part that was broken. I was only doing this to learn about the trans, mind you. It was done off hours and if we were slow. I was done in less than a week, and with permission from the shop manager installed my rebuild into the car. Walla. Automatic transmissions stopped being a 'black box of mystery' to me after that. Boy, did my reputation soar after that too, which was kind of nice. My zero-turn mower's transmission on the left side went out after the warranty expired. They wanted a lot of doe-re-me for a new one as repairing them is just too complicated. Meh. I ordered the seal kit and jumped right in. Sussed out the issue and it's worked great ever since. Mind you, it was a completely different animal compared to the Nissan, but the physics remained the same. You're probably not ready for that right now. But you'll never get ready by not starting out on the easy stuff now. Regs are easy. You probably don't need a class, even, but they are nice if you're a bit nervous about it. Fixing a reg might lead to fixing other things. Maybe you'll even figure out how to make a few things. It's not just about the money: it's about the power you'll find in the knowledge. Need a push? Find a makers movement in your area. I am part of the Gainesville Hackerspace where I have access to all sorts of things. 3D printers, CNC lasers, lathes (wood and metal), mills, saws of many types, welders, torches, sewing machines, and most importantly: THE PEOPLE TO SHOW ME HOW TO USE THEM ALL. It costs me $35/month to access all the hardware and the talent. They might not know how to service a reg, but they'll help you learn some of the motor skills you'll need to develop. (Sorry for the rant!) (Not really) (
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it is true that for practicing you can just dismount and remount the same reg a number of times, using the old parts.
But one very important point which was taught me during the course at Scubapro is that when you mount new "soft" parts, such as the seats, the regulator will be subjected to some "break in" before it can be tuned in a stable way.
Hence, one of the skills to be practiced is how to deal with new soft parts, after installing them.
If you just mount them and tune, after a few hours of work the regulator will need to be tuned again: so, at least once, a new DIY serviceman must learn how to deal with this initial adaptation of the soft parts.
It could seem a waste of money, but one has to sacrifice a couple of new seats for learning how to "break in" them properly.
It is not a big money investment, indeed, and it is useful to learn what changes in your reg after replacing the seats with new ones. Tuning with the old seats is quite different...
With Poseidon, at least a few years ago, I had to show proof of their training in order to order parts. Now the problem is trying to find parts at a reasonable price.
Some dive shops do good service, others are really bad. A splash of silicone spray and $65 thank you very much. Servicing regs is hard to make money on for sure, especially when the owner doesn't like to take care of their gear. They will spend more per hour on non-life support equipment e.g. cars, than their regs. I have had a reg grossly under-perform at depth and it was no fun. (1st stage problem) So, yes I now do all my regs.
Some dive shops do good service, others are really bad. A splash of silicone spray and $65 thank you very much. Servicing regs is hard to make money on for sure, especially when the owner doesn't like to take care of their gear. They will spend more per hour on non-life support equipment e.g. cars, than their regs. I have had a reg grossly under-perform at depth and it was no fun. (1st stage problem) So, yes I now do all my regs.
CycleCat
Contributor
Great idea! I'm getting ready to dive into my Apex XTX 100s for the first time as soon as my kits arrive from @buddhasummer . Anyone got some beat up old Apeks for cheap that I could take apart first?
For the timid and first timers, get a pony bottle to test you fresh rebuild, provided you do have another reg (it’s just weird if you don’t have more than one, isn’t it?) take it diving a few times and breath it down to 500, you’ll learn to trust yourself with minimal risk.
In my (admittedly limited) experience, a halfway taken care of reg you are replacing the soft seat (because it will no line up the same again, and the groove/set in it will become a leak), replacing O-rings that were usually good until you removed them, and tuning. Cleaning is an incidental that may be a big deal (poorly rinsed regs) or a quick matter of principal (well rinsed/soaked regs). One of my pony regs is a Conshelf VI, that I replaced the second stage diaphragm, seat, and exhaust valve due to them being made of rubber (not silicone), but the first stage is still going strong (and god knows when it was serviced last, but the second having a crumbling rubber mushroom valve tells me it's been a hot minute!).
Respectfully,
James
Depends entirely on how you feel about said family member! Just kidding
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