Servicing Regulators

[Sh0use]

There are some Hollis closeouts floating around where you can get a first and second for $200. You can buy parts from NESS.

That's a great deal for the Hollis regs. However I don't much about them so I'll try to do some reading about how they compare to HOG and also about servicing difficulty as well. Thanks for the heads up though. Currently trying to find a place that may give me a "student discount", haha.

[ams511]

That's a great deal for the Hollis regs. However I don't much about them so I'll try to do some reading about how they compare to HOG and also about servicing difficulty as well. Thanks for the heads up though. Currently trying to find a place that may give me a "student discount", haha.

Hollis is the tech line of Oceanic. I would think they would breath similarly but I have not used them.

[midway]

Good points. I think partly the magnitude of savings is influenced by how frequently one dives. And how much time one has for servicing regs. I have found that there is a significant learning curve to becoming efficient at servicing regs and achieving the savings you mentioned. Attaining this know-how is time consuming, even with all the information floating around SB. Oftentimes the information is partial/incomplete. As a novice you don't know what you don't know, and find this out the hard way. Resulting in backtracking, ordering additional parts, time delays, etc. If one services regs once or twice a year, it will take a while before the benefits of practice, build-up of know-how kick in. So, in my case, and it'll differ for others, I justify servicing regs not by its cost savings but quality control. Although I'm slow, I know what I'm getting and that removes the uncertainty factor of sending to technician who may not be sufficiently competent or is sloppy due to workload.

I am not sure how you can say this. I recently started a thread asking about how many regulators are necessary for cave diving, the consensus was 6 (give or take). At a dive shop the average rate is around $25 per stage plus parts. The parts on average will be around $20 for a first stage and $30 for a second stage. So to service one stage it is $50 for labor and $50 for parts. If you multiply this by 6 then you are looking at $300 parts and $300 labor.

As far as the tools go you could go as crazy as you want or as reasonable. Many tools a person usually has, such as wrenches and hex keys. Some regs such as Scubapro require special tools while others do not. For a regulator like an Apeks you really only need a hook spanner and a torque wrench additional. Many of the other tools are only necessary to save time and frustration.

As far as parts go, there are several threads on Scubaboard discussing parts. As far as second stages the seats are largely interchangeable and the o-rings standard so you could service a second stage using aftermarket parts for about $5 a stage or $30 for six regs. If you have first stages that can use aftermarket seats (such a SP MK-10) then you could service them for about $5 a stage also. However other makes would require factory service kits so you wouldn't save anything there.

So for six regs the saving on just one service is about $400.

[Sludge]

The parts on average will be around $20 for a first stage and $30 for a second stage.

The most expensive second stage parts kit I know of is $19 retail. Most second stage kits are around $6.

[Sludge]

Oh, and I have over a thousand dollars' worth of regulator repair tools.

[OFG-1]

Oh, and I have over a thousand dollars' worth of regulator repair tools.

Thats a lot of money for a couple of crescent wrenches, channel locks, screwdriver, and a hammer. Must be Snap On.

[MORGAN]

Thats a lot of money for a couple of crescent wrenches, channel locks, screwdriver, and a hammer. Must be Snap On.

Don't forget the vise-grips, cold chisel, crowbar, and sledgehammer. There's another thousand dollars from Snap-On! Though I shouldn't tease them too much; I got a catalogue today of Japanese woodworking tools offering chisels that cost over $700.00 apiece. Needless to say I won't be buying one.

I've thought about doing my own regs, since I'm a dedicated DIY'er and hate to spend money. One of the ideas that I was raised with is that you don't spend money to hire something done that you could do yourself. But some things are best left to people who do enough to be good at it. Between Tracy and I we have 14 or 15 regs. I would never do enough of it to develop anything more than basic competence. Basic competence is fine when I'm painting my house, working on my tractor, or remodeling my bathroom. But for life support equipment I have higher expectations than I would ever be able to meet myself.

One of the things I've learned over the years is the difference between somebody who has basic competence at something and somebody who is truly expert, with the knowledge, skills, and judgment that comes from long experience. It's the latter guy that I want working on my caving regs. So I don't do them myself, and I don't have them done by a part-timer college kid at the LDS who learned how to rebuild regs six months ago and is still working toward his first dozen.

Over the last 10 years our dive gear work has migrated to Florida. Dive Outpost is our LDS, Wayne Schreiber does our regs, and Steve Gamble does our drysuits. The only thing I go to a dive shop in Vermont for is fills, VIP's, and hydros.

Well, Forrest upgraded our canister lights, but when you're looking from Vermont, Georgia and Florida are about the same place!

Mike

[Sludge]

Here are the scuba-specific tools I carry in a tool bag. It's about $800. These are in addition to the wrenches, pliers, ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers, torque wrench, and other general tools that I also carry. But that's not including the stuff in my workshop in Georgia, such as two ultrasonic cleaners, bench vise, hammers (yes, some people don't rinse their gear and a hammer is needed) and duplicate tools that I occasionally use.

[rddvet]

Here are the scuba-specific tools I carry in a tool bag. It's about $800. These are in addition to the wrenches, pliers, ratchets, sockets, screwdrivers, torque wrench, and other general tools that I also carry. But that's not including the stuff in my workshop in Georgia, such as two ultrasonic cleaners, bench vise, hammers (yes, some people don't rinse their gear and a hammer is needed) and duplicate tools that I occasionally use.

Pfft. I watched a youtube video and it said I only needed like 3 or 4 tools and some "grease". Maybe that was an s&m video.

Anyway, I've spied on this thread and find the two different camps on reg repair interesting. I like to save money, but I like to save it smartly. I know with all the regs between two of us I would save a ton of money, but I see it as a skill that anyone can learn but only years of experience can make you excel at it. I dont want to go into a cave and have to think about the service I just did. It would be different if I was rec diving.
I'm in the camp that I'm better off finding a tech I can trust and know is doing an excellent job. Unfortunately thats the hard part.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[OFG-1]

Here are the scuba-specific tools I carry in a tool bag. It's about $800.

Look, its nice, but isn't that a lot to pay for a tool bag?