Laura,
What most people fail to realize is that diving is more than just a recreational activity, it is a lifestyle. Most people dive an average of 3 to 4 times a year when they are away for vacation. On the average I get wet at least twice a month. It has become my one and only hobby for the past three years.
I see where Lee is coming from; suggesting a course on proper maintenance on your equipment, but there are certain things that are best left to professionals. Yes, I maintain all my gear. I service my own regulators and I service my own tanks. The only things I don’t do are my drysuit and my computers. I dive with Zeagle regulators and Halcyon tank hardware so I took the courses necessary to work on my own equipment. However there is a dark side to this. Maintaining SCUBA equipment and maintaining SCUBA LIFE SUPPORT equipment are two different things. I can show a chimp how to properly rinse and flush, but when the tools come out and regulators are taken apart it’s a totally different ball game. If a guy wants to rebuild the engine on his car, but ends up over tightening a set screw or leaves a spring out, the worse that will happen is, his car won’t start, engine might blow, etc. Costly yes, is he alive? Most definitely. If the same guy is working on his regulator and makes an even smaller mistake (say all the parts when in properly, all screws and nuts properly secured) and a small piece of hair (the size of an eyelash) fell in, he would have a leak that can result in an uncontrolled free flow.
When I first started diving I had the same mentality. I wanted to do all the work myself to learn how things worked and also to save money. Now I do it because I don’t trust anyone else. At 190 feet, my stuff better be up to snuff. I also own 10 regulator setups, (some are redundant) which affords me plenty of work. Every year I am servicing at least 2 to 4 of them. And of course I start with my ARGON regs just to "refresh" my memory. I recently had a dive buddy (a young 22 year old) who actually works at the dive shop I dive with, service his own regulator. We took the same course, and low and behold he broke his first stage while servicing. Point I’m trying to make is, sometimes stuff like this is best left to the pros. And if not, just be sure you are willing to invest a ton of money, a ton of time, and a ton of UNDIVIDED attention. Was it worth the $300 to take the course? Was it worth the $5000 in tools, instruments, an ultrasonic cleaner and a microscope to be able to service my own regs? At a cost of $70 per setup (first stage and second stage), and $40 for just the first stage. If I serviced all my regs (8 sets, and 2 single first stages) every year it would cost me $640 per year, it’ll be at least 8 years before I recoup the cost. Also bear in mind, repair equipment also needs service as well. (That I send out to take care of)
I guess the point I’m trying to make is that dive shops need to help divers (new and old) establish the right mentality. There’s no harm in explaining how the process works up front.