Free reg servicing clinic?

[JamesK]

You can be sued for anything ay anytime. If you live your life in fear, the terrorist win

Yes, but the lawyers lose! Lol

I would come to a gathering of folks hanging out, swapping dive stories, and working on regulators.

[TONY CHANEY]

Jordon, thanks for the offer and was really forward to seeing if a few of us from NC could put it into our plans while in cave country or heading to Ga for a day. So do you, "demostrate" how to rebuild Poseidon reg? That is the ones I own.

[Skorpiov]

If you are only going to rebuild one or two regs a year, its worth it to pay someone. If you dont do it often, you tend to forget the little tricks and tweaks. And as someone posted, you'd need to invest in some brand specific tools and it really helps to have a bench station setup so you can test intermediate pressure, have a vice handy, etc. Parts for some are tricky to find, but if you look hard enough, they are out there. The manuals will get you 90% of the way, but you'll really need to sit with someone to show you the tricks and adjustments.

I found that initially I spent something like $300 to set up a station with guages, compressed air, special tools, lubricants, cleaner...

***Disclaimer***** No one should ever ever ever, for any reason work on regulators unless they are properly trained and certified to do so. (there you go, you lawyer schmucks)

[Mark Vlahos]

Many years ago when I was still just a simple recreational diver I got curious about regulators. It was time for my regs to get serviced, but before I took them in I sat down at my workbench and took them apart. I took careful notes so I could put them back together in the right order. I found it interesting, but then I took them to the shop for a full service. These were US Divers Micra second stages with SEA first stage.

A couple of years later I got into technical diving and eventually got trained as a cave diver. I purchased Apeks regs for back gas. Same general idea, I took them apart before a service and put them back together. Eventually I found a slide show presentation on the web for my Apeks. At the next service I did it myself, but was prepared to take them to a shop if things looked even the slightest bit wrong. Fortunately for me it was all good. The first few dives were in a quarry to keep things safe just in case. To accomplish this service I purchased a few more tools.

Fast forward a few more years and I purchase some HOG regulators. This was part of a plan that included formal instruction so I could service my own regulators. The class was great, and I feel comfortable doing work on my own regulators. As part of this class I actually had to read a text, and spend more money on tools.

I don't work on other peoples regulators for free or for money.

The problem with the proposed class detailed in this thread is that it opens you up to being sued. Sure, I think you would probably win. The defense that you can buy brake parts for your car would probably support your position. Unfortunately the time and expense of defending yourself, or at least the potential of needing to defend yourself is the risk. It would be great if people took responsibility for their own actions, and there are lots of people who do. The problem is the few that would rather sue than admit that they made a mistake themselves and take responsibility.

Mark Vlahos

[jcook]

Because a lot of the shops hire college students to work part time. Yes I know I'm fixing to get flamed by that statement but I'm too old to care. A few years back when Mark had Fill Express he offered a course on regulator repair and what he found out was that when the students saw what was involved for a complete rebuild, they opted to pay the price of the shop doing the job with a better understanding of how the regulator worked. For those that are mechanical incline and you have a lot of regulators then it would be to your advantage to learn how to repair them. I am factory certified to work on Atomic, DiveRite, and Shearwood products and I know for a fact it is NOT rocket science. All it takes is practice, which you CAN'T get by rebuilding two or three regulators a year.

Fred Summerlin

Fred, you are entirely right. I just happened to be a tech diver that was going back to college, so I got a job as a service tech. The large majority of service techs are college kids, that way the shop can pay them minimum wage and if something happens to the reg, they can blame the college kid who probably shouldn't have been working on the reg in the first place.

Not sure why a lot of you guys are complaining about me giving advice to people who probably will eventually rebuild their own regs at some point. I would rather them know how to do it properly than just wing it. For those of you wondering where to find service manuals, here you go.

http://scubaadventures.eu/index.php/...-owner-manuals

http://frogkick.dk

If anyone needs clarifications I would be more than happy to assist. I will say I don't know some of the older regs that well and I will never touch another Poseidon for as long as I live after my last rebreather had them for the 1st stages and ADV. It does look like there will be a get together in Atlanta. We need 4-5 guys with completely different types of regs, just so everybody gets a taste of different brands and how they work. I will NOT be able to get you service kits, you will need to find your own (not very hard in cave country or online).

[Sludge]

I need to get around more. I don't think I've ever seen a shop tech who was in college. All of them I know are old geezers like me.

[Jont]

I certainly would like to learn a little more about the inner workings of my regs.

Well Jordan if Tracy's going so am I and yes there's liability but not as much as the public thinks, but please remember the GOLDEN RULE:

"Your chances of acquittal are ALWAYS better if you leave no witnesses"

[jcook]

I need to get around more. I don't think I've ever seen a shop tech who was in college. All of them I know are old geezers like me.

Sad thing is, there was an old geezer who would come in and pick up some regs at the shop I used to work at (the asst. manager was good friends with him). He did the WORST job imaginable, I taught another college kid that worked with me how to work on the regs that we got from the old guy, since they were always screwed up.

[stickydeco]

I need to get around more. I don't think I've ever seen a shop tech who was in college. All of them I know are old geezers like me.

And me! haha Also need to add sick and filthy to the list of required qualifications. I'm sure that Red would agree with that.

Look, if any of you folks are really serious about wanting to play the regulator servicing game, suggest that you read this first, if you haven't already: http://www.safecavediving.com/docume..._Regulator.pdf

Cheers

[jcook]

Look, if any of you folks are really serious about wanting to play the regulator servicing game, suggest that you read this first, if you haven't already: http://www.safecavediving.com/docume..._Regulator.pdf

Really? That is common sense stuff. If someone doesn't know that, they shouldn't be diving to begin with.....or driving a car for that matter. This gets brought up all the time, it isn't hard to service your own regulators. It is always people who work at or own shops, that try to scare people from servicing their own equipment.

So it is okay for someone who doesn't know what they are doing to tinker with a 2 ton car or truck and drive it on the highway. Possibly endangering people other than themselves. I have seen many "competent and motivated" service techs that had no place being in a service area. Just because you went to a seminar and have the proper tools and parts in front of you, doesn't mean you know what you are doing or are doing it correctly.