Reg Maintenance - My God it's easy!

[Dominic]

I figured that the best way of making sure you can fix something when it goes wrong is to be able to take it apart and put it back together again.

But I'm too much of a chicken to start in on my own regulators without a bit of practice first..

So for the grand sum of £20, I bought a clapped-out old set of regs off ebay, a few weeks ago - only has two LP ports, and the HP port is the same size as the LPs.

Last night, I finally got around to taking tools to it.

Two adjustable spanners, some pliers, and a swiss army knife later, and I'm done.

My God, regulators are simple things!

Okay, it's an unbalanced piston first stage and a classic downstream second - about the simplest regulator type in existence.

But even so... it only had three O-rings in the entire first stage. No specialised tools necessary. And no instruction manual either, it was so obvious how it all worked.

No wonder shops try and build up the mystique about "Don't try and work on regs yourself, they're hideously complicated" - if anyone actually looks, they'll wonder how anybody can charge £30 for a reg service...

I almost feel ready to start breaking up my TX100...

[Dominic]

And a helpful link to anyone interested in Apeks first stages:
http://www.buex.org/articles/apeks.htm

[simon]

Dom

You are the typical british shopper.

"anyone actually looks, they'll wonder how anybody can charge £30 for a reg service..."

I have my own computer business, and we get people like you in every day, its not the building of the computer that is hard (my daughter is nearly 3 months old and has built her first &nbsp, its the time taken and the knowledge over heads.vat, tax ,insurance...........

It may be three "o" rings and a nut, do you know how much it costs for an ultrasonic cleaner ? testing panell, ETC.

Stop moaning and leave it to the experts


Simon
)

[Dominic]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]You are the typical british shopper.

Nicest thing anyone's said to me all day

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ](my daughter is nearly 3 months old and has built her first)

Pfft. I bet it's Microsoft

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]do you know how much it costs for an ultrasonic cleaner ?

Yes. I also know you don't actually need one, tho they are nice to have..

But hey, I never actually raised any objection to the prices they charge, if you look. It was purely reinforcing my point that there's a world of difference between the image of a reg that dive shops put across (massively complex, don't even look, it's beyond you mere mortals) and what they really are (one moving part and a few O rings)

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] ]Stop moaning and leave it to the experts

Where's the fun in that?
Who's moaning?
"The bastards won't sell me the parts to do a service" would be a moan. "The bastards over-charge me" would be a moan. "It makes you wonder" is not by any definition a moan.
Besides, since when did attending an unfailable course make someone an expert..?

FWIW, I could easily get my regs serviced cheaper that the £30 I currently get them done for when I send them in for their annual service (Which they've had every year since I bought them). I don't because the shop that charges it does a good job of it and I consider it worth the price. They've never yet had any complaints from me, especially about the prices they charge.

I've had to endure a lot of bitching off them often enough, tho. Especially when I've taken in cylinders to be filled that they know I bought from somebody other than them. You want to pi$$ them off, just mention that you're going to the next dive show and watch them burst into flame.

But then, you know all about that attitude, I'm sure, your post being a perfect example of a typical british shop-owner complaining about bad customer attitudes...

Ciao

[tom]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (Dominic @ Aug. 04 2003,11:19)]Besides, since when did attending an unfailable course make someone an expert..?

Padi Open Water?  

[Dominic]

Smart-arse

[Chris Hall]

<font color='#728FCE'>I've had to service regs whilst working as an instructor, and as an ex RAF vehicle technician they are easy things to service. But with all things in life someone has to make a living, this is why the UK is becoming more of a massive service industry.

If the cost of getting your gear serviced bothers you, consider your car, do you service it and do the MOT. As yet there is no mandatory requirement to get your kit serviced, so be happy to play.

And now the punchline, it is life support equipment!

[jasondrake]

I've done two service technician courses, both run by the manufacturesrs in question. Guess what I learned - nothing. A few hours pulling them apart and putting them back together is all a qualified service technician has in terms of expertise. The tools needed are minimal, simple and cheap. And it really is very, very easy to service a regulator. Actually I did learn that ultra posh regs share the same cheap materials and poor build quality as the cheapo ones, and share &nbsp;most of the same components. If you've never looked you might be surprised at how flimsy and cheap the components of say an apeks atx200 are co mpared to an old spiro. But then they are shiny and cool.

[kramynot2000]

I've thought about servicing my regs as well but decided it wasn't worth it for me. &nbsp;Over here in the US if you get your regs serviced by a qualified tech every year, you get the parts for free. &nbsp;Now I know that's not much, but since I can't find the parts anywhere, I really don't have much of a choice. &nbsp;My regs are older Aqua-lung conshelf regs.

Anyway, the labor really isn't that much so I decided to forgo doing any of my own reg. service work.

With that being said.... I did locate a copy of a service manual for my regs so maybe I'll just tune them a little...

Tony

[daz]

Originally Posted by [b

Quote[/b] (kramynot2000 @ Aug. 04 2003,14:18)]I've thought about servicing my regs as well but decided it wasn't worth it for me. &nbsp;Over here in the US if you get your regs serviced by a qualified tech every year, you get the parts for free. &nbsp;Now I know that's not much, but since I can't find the parts anywhere, I really don't have much of a choice. &nbsp;My regs are older Aqua-lung conshelf regs.

Anyway, the labor really isn't that much so I decided to forgo doing any of my own reg. service work.

With that being said.... I did locate a copy of a service manual for my regs so maybe I'll just tune them a little...

Tony

&quot;Parts are cheap, it is the labour that is expensive&quot;

This is an actual quote from a dive store opening in the Southwest.

They are looking to offer &quot;Free servicing for the life of any equipment purchased from them for the duration of the original ownership&quot;.

Value added service? &nbsp; &nbsp; YES

There is much moaning in the retail industry about the internet business ruining the local dive shop industry. &nbsp; &nbsp;Sorry but that's competition. &nbsp;I don't mind paying a bit more at a local dive shop if they are offering additional value to the sale but gone are the days when I will let them take the piss on their prices for no additional benefit.

Daz