So the topic today was equipment. Actually, for the scuba diving industry and very important skill. So with the list of regulators needing attention we set up in our nice new Shop area, with a table in the middle, work bench area for EVERYBODY to work on their regulators. So with our Sherwood regulators lined up we start disassembling, looking at how they work, and any problems that may occur. This has included, a wonderful demonstration by a student yesterday of how important it is to purge a reg before trying to remove a gauge from a high pressure hose!
Hands on training is so much easier, especially with something like equipment. Whilst you can learn from the books, with the workshops we put in place at +Go Pro Costa Rica so much more experience can be gained. Onto tanks in the afternoon, perfect timing for some of the tanks to returned from Hydro so we can learn and practice visual inspections.An important part of this is looking at valve maintenance and whilst we don’t want to scare the students I always like to mention consequences of filling bad tanks, bad valves, checking burst discs etc. I have some pretty visual pictures for that. So inspected with lights, these tanks weren’t due a valve service so on to the filling. Starting to wind down…. then suddenly an almighty explosive “POP” over the sound of the compressor and what looks like a water fountain shooting out one side of the shop. After some initial yelling, you started to hear “burst disc!!” being yelled. 2 slightly shocked students appear round the corner, covered in water from the mini fountain that was created from the air escaping. Fun and excitement at +Oceans Unlimited ! and definitely a noise (and ear ringing) that won’t be forgotten in a while!