Servicing your own regulator.

[MXGratefulDiver]

sure save that 30 dollars and dont have a guy with years of experience rebuild your life support equipment and should it fail due to negligence and you die your family will have no way to collect the money due them from the service guy or mfg that have millions in insurance for that reason. should you dive for the next 20 years you will only have 20 rebuilds under your belt and i would not want someone that in experienced working on my life support equipment. is it safe? does it make sense? will it work in the worse case senerio? but look on the bright side we in the fire service are lucker than most lol PS would you rebuild your scba

I've heard this argument before. Some thoughts ...

- If I'm going to service my own regulators, I'm going to put some effort into figuring out how it works, what it takes to service it, get the documentation, and acquire the requisite tools. I'm also going to either take a class or work with someone else who knows what they're doing until I'm comfortable that I do. That gives me essentially the same "expertise" as the guy at the dive shop ... in some cases, more.

- When I work on my own regs, I'm taking responsibility for my own safety ... rather than trusting that someone else is going to work on my "life support equipment" appropriately. I don't care about who to sue ... I care about knowing that I can trust them. How is trusting a dive shop mechanic to keep you safe any different than trusting a dive shop DM to keep you safe? Whatever happened to personal responsibility?

- Regs cost approximately $30 per stage ... that's $90 for the reg set, plus the cost of the kits. My regs run between $135 and $180 per set if I take them to a local reg tech ... and I own 11 sets. That's about $1500 a year.

- I'm working on my regs, not yours ... so why should you care?

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[Aqua-Andy]

I'm working on my regs, not yours ... so why should you care?

The problem lies with who the "you" is. The dive industry is afraid to loose any more income. From listening to all the "dive professionals" on this board the only thing left that the local dive shop has to offer is air fills. I am sick of hearing the "if you don't purchase all your gear, training and service from us" where are you going to get your air fills from. I would love to see one dive shop owner that has never bought a song, t'shirt, GPS, or anything else off the internet. How many dive shop owners while remodeling there shops purchase lumber and drywall supplies at Lowes or HomeDepot instead of the local mom and pop lumber yard in town. It all boils down to money and them not getting enough of it. There are a lot of local dive shops that have embraced this devils spawn we call the internet IE Scubatoys, Dive right in in scuba, Divesports, to name a few. I would say that if the local dive shops do not get with the times and realize that the internet is not a fad or you are doomed like the dinosaurs.

Sorry for that, I just had to rant and get that off my cheat.

 

[paddler3d]

The problem lies with who the "you" is. The dive industry is afraid to loose any more income. From listening to all the "dive professionals" on this board the only thing left that the local dive shop has to offer is air fills. I am sick of hearing the "if you don't purchase all your gear, training and service from us" where are you going to get your air fills from. I would love to see one dive shop owner that has never bought a song, t'shirt, GPS, or anything else off the internet. How many dive shop owners while remodeling there shops purchase lumber and drywall supplies at Lowes or HomeDepot instead of the local mom and pop lumber yard in town. It all boils down to money and them not getting enough of it. There are a lot of local dive shops that have embraced this devils spawn we call the internet IE Scubatoys, Dive right in in scuba, Divesports, to name a few. I would say that if the local dive shops do not get with the times and realize that the internet is not a fad or you are doomed like the dinosaurs.

Sorry for that, I just had to rant and get that off my cheat.

If I could buy a compressor so I didn't even have to go to my LDS's, I would. Not a second thought about it.

I use the Internet to shop what I would almost call an LDS. I've ordered a lot of stuff from John and Northeast Scuba Supply. I've been to his shop, it is an hour and half drive. He has good prices and he has the stuff I'm looking for. I don't mind paying for the shipping. It is cheaper than me driving there anyway! Guys on this board love Scubatoys. I've ordered from them, when they have what I want. I've been told they have a pretty solid shop as well.

There are good shops out there. There are also a lot of bad ones as well.

Seriously, if I had the money to drop, air compressor, no problem.

 

[redacted]

The problem lies with who the "you" is. The dive industry is afraid to loose any more income. From listening to all the "dive professionals" on this board the only thing left that the local dive shop has to offer is air fills. I am sick of hearing the "if you don't purchase all your gear, training and service from us" where are you going to get your air fills from. I would love to see one dive shop owner that has never bought a song, t'shirt, GPS, or anything else off the internet. How many dive shop owners while remodeling there shops purchase lumber and drywall supplies at Lowes or HomeDepot instead of the local mom and pop lumber yard in town. It all boils down to money and them not getting enough of it. There are a lot of local dive shops that have embraced this devils spawn we call the internet IE Scubatoys, Dive right in in scuba, Divesports, to name a few. I would say that if the local dive shops do not get with the times and realize that the internet is not a fad or you are doomed like the dinosaurs.

Sorry for that, I just had to rant and get that off my cheat.

How many dive professionals pay MSRP for a car or are happy with a 10% discount?

 

[Aqua-Andy]

How many dive professionals pay MSRP for a car or are happy with a 10% discount?

Exactly, do as I say but don't do as I do.

 

[paddler3d]

How many dive professionals pay MSRP for a car or are happy with a 10% discount?

Exactly, do as I say but don't do as I do.

I worked outdoor retail for years.

This is how SCUBA vendors can become a bit more mainstream.

Vendors would let us 'pro deal'. It could be wholesale, cost +10%, or whatever. It was between the vendor and the employee, no shop envolvement except for verifying employment.

If you work for a shop, you should be able to pro deal, removing the shop. There were disadvantages to the pro deal, but that was life.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I am sick of hearing the "if you don't purchase all your gear, training and service from us" where are you going to get your air fills from.

... my buddy's garage ...

But to be honest about it, I have a great relationship with my local dive shop. I get my fills there mostly, and we have a nice arrangement where I pay a standard monthly fee for fills. It works out well for everybody.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[superstar]

Medic, if you are still with us on this thread, I suggest you foat over to the DIY section and start surfing around the threads over there. You will find good supportive info on the reg's without the debate. Good luck.

 

[Medicdiver0125]

Thanks superstar..

 

[vip-diving]

I am a formed technicien to do maintenance on regulators for all brends except for posidon. I dont suggest any divers to do the maintenance on their regulator them self if they dont have the training for it. It really looks like easy but its not only having the low pressure guage. What is the brend of your regulator ? Do you know what his the intermediate pressure it need to be adjusted, do you know how to adjust the second stage ?

My suggestion his, just do the courses for the brend of the regulator that you have first you will have the diploma has technicien in this brend also you will have discount for the parts and you can even offer your services of technician in regulator. The courses cost around 30 usd and most of diveshop offer technicien courses. Dont get the regular padi equipment specialist specialities that wont give you the permission to do your own reg or to buy the parts. If you have a scubapro you need the certs scuba pro if its mares you need mares etc etc.