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I just finished an Equipment Repair course through TDI/SDI, (Technical Diving International/Scuba Diving International) I took them for the same reason, repair my gear myself and to make extra money. If you dive EANX you should get the O2 cleaning tech coursae as well. Hope this helps.
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There are several courses given for equipment repair. Tools and test equipment, including a lot of the specialty tools required are also readily available. Unfortunately knowledge and equipment will not prove your biggest challenge. The manufacturer’s of all that expensive life support equipment we depend on to enjoy our sport keep repair parts away from the general public as if they where guarding fine art. Unless you are a dive shop that sells their gear you, will find it next to impossible to purchase anything more than some generic ’O’ rings. Good luck.
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Will - 3/28/2008 8:36 AM 
Ooh, that’s good news and bad news.....Good news being that there are courses available...bad that getting parts is so hard. I may have to figure something out on that end.
What other courses besides TDI/SDI were you referring to? Any idea where I could look to find them?
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Will...you might want to consider the insurance liability on working and guranteeing the repairs you perfrom on someone else’s gear. Dive shops pay a bundle in insurance and even more on keeping up with what the manufacture’s are doing. Most major manufacture’s offer a free class or near free on their equipment to their vendors, but most shops don’t offer this to their customers.
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Will - 3/28/2008 10:13 AM
Brian - I did think about the insurance liability issues. I’ll have to look more into it, but I figured why put the cart before the horse? I need to find out how and where I can get training before I worry about the cost of insuring myself. I would, of course, insure myself against liability and most likely do any repairs under an LLC. Figuring out how much it would cost to do the repairs and cover the overhead is something I’m putting off till after I find out if it’s feasable....however...I can’t see myself with no real retail location expenses, no payroll, and the ability to determine my own profit margin not being able to at least equal the price of the local dive shops.
I’m not looking to do this because the local shops charge too much, I’m more looking to do it to reduce the time to repair. I’ve even considered instead of going it alone, offering my services to a local shop in exchange for $$ off of trips or other such "barter" type of systems. There are alot of other factors I will need to consider, I do know this, I just need to get a horse and a cart before I worry which one to put first. :-) And honestly I was thinking if I could get enough experience...someday I could move to a dive island (like Bonaire) and have a trade that could keep me in the water when I’m not in the workshop. Pipe dream, perhaps, but if one never dreams then one is a rather boring person. :-)
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Will....Get in good with a mom and pop style store, stay clear of big chains and super sport stores. Hang out and be a shop bum, clean the floor, talk with other shop bums etc. I bet the more intrest you show in the store, better chances of getting some free knowledge. Show the intrest in furthering your education and they should help you out. Happy Hunting.
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