Everyone says we must have our equipment checked every year, even if we don’t dive for the year. Some of the people I meet say they do it every three years because they don’t dive much. Is it really necessary to get it checked each year if we only do 2 or 3 dive trips a year and take VERY good care of our equipment?

personally I'd always play it on the safe side...

I think it depends on which equipment you are talking about, but I'd never leave it too long with 1st/2nd stages. You need to check manufacturers recommendations really.

Things can still rust/ decay when they are not being used and if you are trusting your life to these things why take the risk. I'm doing the Padi Equipment spec in a few weeks just to get a better understanding of what goes on and what I can check myself.

Please let me know how your course went and if you recommend it.

Maybe it’s something I can do.

Is the PADI equipment check course you’re taking the same as the PADI Equipment Specialist course?

www.padi.com/scuba/padi-courses/diver-level-courses/view-all-padi-courses/equipment-specialist/default.aspx

If so do you think after you finish the course you will be able to service your own equipment? Or will you still need to bring it in for maintenance?

Equipment specialty classes are not designed to teach you how to do annual service on your stuff ... just to take care of it while you own it.

As for yearly service, that really depends on the quality of the regulator parts used last service, the quality of the service guy and the quality of the care you gave it after your dives and before putting it away and the quality of the diver using the stuff.

O-rings take a set, salts can corrode metals, sediments/silt can turn to concrete in storage.

Most importantly, someone that only does 2 or 3 dive trips per year usually doesn't have the experience to handle a problem with equipment underwater.

Just get the service done.

yes I agree rcontrera, that is PADI equipment spec I'm going to do and no I'm not expecting to do the servicing myself. I just want to know more about the workings and anything I can do to extend life times of equipment as well as get a better understaning of the internal workings. I know if I start taking anything apart I will always have a peice left over when I put it back together anyway

As far as I am concerned the more I can learn the better at the moment

Well I've done my PADI equipment spec.

got to dismantle and put back together 1st and 2nd stages along with a few other bits and pieces. I found it very interesting and would definitely recommend it. I'd will not be doing any servicing (as I said before, not the reason for doing this), but think I could do some more basic inspections and repairs now. I did have a good instructor though.

Thanks for keeping me in mind and letting me know how your course went.

What other equipment did you manipulate “bits and pieces”?

Did your instructor say if you can purchase parts for your regulators or do you need to be a service approved center by the manufacture to do this?

One more question.

Do you need specialized tools to inspect your own equipment?

Apart from the 1st and 2nd stages, we took apart:
2 types of low pressure hose (fun searching for the little ball bearings that come flying out lol)
dry suit inflator and deflators
BCD inflator/ deflator hose
Tank valve.
we also looked at the connection between pressure gauge and high pressure hose.

Lots of O-rings..


He did show us what comes in the service kits, but you also need to inspect other parts that can be replace outside a service. I think you can purchase the service kits, but wouldn't recommend doing it yourself. The big thing with this I think is that if you have any minor leaks you can probably work out what it is and if you can do a simple O-ring replacement or you need to get it fully serviced.




Yes, is the short answer..
Regs and first stages need equipment to properly calibrate the air pressures (along with pressurized tank)
regs can also require other calibration and valve tool (depending on manufacturer)
inflators and deflators can have their own removal tools (depending on manufacturer)
there are some other bits I know I have not got in my tool kit for valve removal and split ring removal pliers for example.


I think some of the guys on the course were wanting to do there own servicing, but they were going to try it in the shop with supervision.(not sure if this would end up being another course lol)


In the end I think the course was good to get an understanding of what they do and gave me the confidence to do some simple repair that could save a dive. Also a couple of things to keep in mind to inspect on a regular basis.

Thanks for all the info.

I now have a very clear picture of this course.

I will talk to my local dive school and see how they teach it and if it’s like your course I will take it.

Yes! This is quite useful to me as well

I'm planning a trip to a proper scuba dive place, and definitely I have to learn more about equipment and begin to familiarize with these tools and concepts.

I'm a newbie as all of you can realize but I've really wanted to be more experienced!

Cheers!

Komodo wrote:

'O' rings go out of shape over time i.e. flatten, especially if they are not being used. This can cause problems with regulators, hoses, cylinders and inflators/valves as the 'O' stop sealing.

'O' rings will crack up if they dry out, Silicon or an Oxygen Service Grease is used to lubricate the 'O' rings to stop them drying out.

You are dealing with 'Life Support Equipment' and it's your life that's at stake.

this might sound bad but remmember your life and your buddys life depend on your equipment. not so expensive when you think of it that way.

I'm starting the PADI Equipment Specialty course on the 19th of November. I hope I get to do all the things you did in your course.

The school I'm going to has broken the course into 4 different days of 3 hours each. Was something like this done for you? Because I was not anticipating to go in 4 times.

If you want to avoid accidents...maybe you really need to check your equipment every now and then... "safety first" It's better to be sure than to do scuba diving with unsure equipment condition...

The PADI equipment course will be more useful to keep aware of all scuba equipments. It is compulsory that to check the equipments if you are not going for any dive in nearest days. I would say that keep aware of certain thing prevent the accidents and you feel safe in scuba diving.

ansi safety glasses