Independent Scuba Technician...worth It?

[desert diver paul]

One of my thoughts to offset some of my diving costs is to try and set myself up as an Independent Scuba Technician. Now I have found the course to become an ASSET Qualified Engineer, thing is, what ELSE would I need to do.

Q1: Can I service and make or regs after this course?
Q2: Where do you buy service kits and spare parts from?
Q3: What equipment other than basic tools would I need?
Q4: Is there work out there? Would you use an independent tech, or only someone attached to a dive shop?

Remember, this isn't a plan to make me rich, just hoping it may offset some of my own diving costs!

As a background note, I am an aircraft engineer, so am happy with the technical side of things.

 

[claymore]

1 You MAY be qualified to service regs.It depends on the course and your abilities
2 Service parts for some regs are difficult to get unless you are affiliated with an authorized dealer. Some manufactures sell to the public others do not. If you have an in with a LDS then you MAY be able to get parts until they find out you are poaching their clients.
3 Basic tools plus tools that are regulator specific or scuba specific, you can find work arounds for most but if you are doing it regularly it pays to have the correct tools to save time and effort. Megaholic for adjusting regs. Plus misc sup pies.
4 Maybe there is work out there. It depends on where you are, If you are good at it, is there a way to get the word out that you are doing it, are you insured/bonded. If there are no shops around maybe. You will not be able to do warranty services for most of the major manufactures unless you are affiliated with a authorized dealer/service center

There are probably other things that I can not think of now.

 

[BoltSnap]

Becoming an "ASSET Qualified Engineer" doesn't mean that you are a qualified regulator service technician without taking the respective manufacturer authorized service course and even doing an internship with a dive center to work on these brands. You will have a very difficult time getting parts, manuals, update bulletins or any other type of support from the majority of the known brand names. With this lack of support and "authorization," you will open yourself for liability and you would ruin your reputation because you are unable to source needed parts and/or have the "inside" knowledge on certain service issues because you don't have the latest update bulletins from the mfg. Due to economic difficulties now, authorized dealers will be very protective of their "territory" when it comes to service and selling parts to somebody who will "competing" against them in this area.

It is one thing to be able to work on your own regulators and do service on your own, but it is a different game when you want to do it on a professional/commercial scale especially when you need to do it with high enough volume to generate the income and cover your business expenses.

 

[desert diver paul]

thanks for the responses, gives me food for thought. I do have a LDS, maybe I should see if they're after another tech on their books!

 

[KDAD]

A little more food for thought. You are allowed to service your own hog regulators. There is a course that they offer to train you on servicing hog regulators. One thing you can do is go through the list of required tools for that course and then you will get an idea of what you will need to rebuild regulators. I started to price out the tools and it quickly got a little pricey to the point that I am holding off on the course. Even though many of the tools are something that you may already have some are very specific tools and they're not cheap.

Price out the bare minimum tools that you will need and then decide if you want to service regulators.