A custom tailored selection of diving course provides the student with scuba diving industry service technician skills.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Ian Jordan from his TDI Nitrox, BSAC/TDI Compressor Operator, BSAC/TDI Gas Blender and TDI Visual Inspections course conducted over a week by Instructors James Thornton-Allan and Ash Dunn on Koh Tao Island off the coast of Thailand.

The completed course give Ian the skills to improve his chances of employ-ability in the scuba diving industry giving him the ability to operate behind the scene in scuba diving resorts.The compressor operator course provides Ian with the ability to safely operate and conduct minor maintenance of scuba diving compressors, the gas blender add-on further gives ian the certification to make all mixes of nitrox by partial pressure or continuous flow systems. These courses were preceded by the required Nitrox Diver course and concluded with the TDI Visual Inspections Course which provides the ability to conduct repair on scuba cylinders and valves.

In will progress on to his BSAC Aqualung Repair Technician Course next week where he will learn how to service scuba diving equipment like regulators and bcd’s.

This will provide Ian with the skills and experience to be of an asset when looking for employment in the competitive and luxurious life as a scuba diving professional.

British Sub Aqua Club scuba equipment course completed for Aqualung brand.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Ash Dunn, Rachel Linnart and Jasmin Kollinger from their BSAC Aqualung Equipment Technician Course conducted by BSAC Instructor James Foleher during a 2 day hands on workshop on Koh Tao Island off the east coast of Thailand.

The BSAC Equipment Technician Course covers the repair, maintenance and service of all aqualung brand regulators from balanced, un-balanced and environmentally sealed to BCD’s and accessories like high pressure gauges and inflation hoses.

The 2 day course gives the students hands on practice and experience using the tools and equipment necessary for servicing these regulators.

This certification gives the students the ability to conduct warranty repair, service and authorized access to Aqualung service kits, tools and schematics.

British Sub Aqua Club (BSAC) course, recognized by Aqualung, conducted in Thailand

Koh Tao, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Technical Diving Instructor Intern James Foleher from his BSAC Repair Technician Course conducted over a 2 day hands on workshop by Instructor Kieron Mc Clintock.

The workshop is designed to make the technician familiar with Aqualung’s equipment including the PowerLine Inflator (TM) found on their BCD’s. The hands on workshop explores the strip down, service and repair of unbalanced, balanced and environmentally sealed regulator first stages along with a variety of second stages.

In addition to the repair included a troubleshooting and adjusting section to enhance the equipment’s performance and provide the best service to students and customers.

After completing this course James will be team teaching the next scheduled session to work toward becoming a BSAC Repair Technician Instructor.

This course is recognized and supported by Aqualung and gives the student the authority to conduct warranty repairs and service.

To enroll in this course contact us at info@bigbluetech.net

Technical divers learn how to service and clean diving equipment.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Technical diving equipment like regulators, cylinders and buoyancy aids require constant maintenance and sometimes they require a special method of cleaning called “Oxygen Cleaned”. Oxygen cleaning is where the equipment that comes in contact with high concentrations of oxygen is cleaned to be able to handle the the flammable and corrosive characteristics.

The 2 day course which started with basic awareness of the regulators we have including full service and cleaning moved into oxygen cleaning methods, testing and assembling for warranty.

Unfortunately this course isn’t open to the general public. We reserve this course for future technical diving instructors who work in the environment of pure oxygen systems.

Divers get technical with advanced skills with mixing gas and handling compressors.

Koh Tao, Thailand

Mixing different gasses to create enriched air nitrox for divers creates a lot of patience and skill. Few divers take on the challenge to learn the skills which support diving activities but many find the endeavor rewarding in learning the process of how different gasses get into our diving cylinders.

The course started with the BSAC (British Sub Aqua Club) Compressor Operator Course taught by Technical Instructor Ash Dunn for Tom Percy and Thomas Hallstrom. This course teaches the student how to properly operate scuba diving compressors including filter management, oil selection and maintenance, filling cylinders and combination with air banks. Ash recently returned from his Bauer Service Technician course and combined his knowledge of servicing compressors with the course enriching the knowledge and theory.

After completed the course and the required 3 hours of cylinder filling the students moved on to the TDI Nitrox Gas Blender Course.

The TDI Nitrox Gas Blender course teaches the students the safe method of blending nitrox using our own continuous flow system in combination with partial pressure techniques and theory for many other methods. In addition to the hands on experience the course is enriched with complicated theory giving the student a real mental work out. The last day the students had the pleasure of spending the afternoon filling 30 nitrox cylinders of different mixes which we have been keeping empty for a few days in anticipation of this course.

The afternoon filling gives the student the best quality of experience when they move into other dive shops and start working as gas blenders or compressor operators.

Technicians learn how to service scuba diving compressors from Bauer

Phuket, Thailand

Big Blue Tech celebrates the graduation of Facilities Manager Ashley Dunn from his Bauer Compressor Technician course conducted by Frank Herbert of STI over 5 days in Phuket.

The Bauer certified training course is designed to train the technician the full service and maintenance of Bauer compressors with strip down, rebuilds, trouble shooting, testing and repairs.

The work shop included several cut away compressors which illustrate the flow of the working parts to help the student understand how the compressor work taking into consideration all levels of knowledge.

Big Blue Diving nationwide have 7 Bauer Diving compressors from different ages and sizes along with 4 other brands. When compressors make up the backbone of any diving environment to fill tanks it’s essential to have properly trained staff to look after them.

Big Blue Tech take pride in ensuring that our divers get clean safe air from our properly maintained and serviced compressors on all our boats.

Today Mark Slinn (intern) and Andy Cavell (intern) completed their TDI O2 Service Technician Course. This would be the most recent service and technician related course after completing their TDI Visual Inspections course last week.

The o2 Service Technician builds on servicing regulators and cylinders but to a “oxygen clean” level. The students began by stripping and cleaning an Scubapro Mk2 1st stage and R295 Second stage and cleaning it removing any source of hydrocarbons. After a full clean and inspection the regulators we re assembled and tested. After full assembly the regulators were marked and recorded to be used in future training when breathing oxygen underwater. You can read more about this unique course here.

As the internship progresses the interns will be required to attain the SDI Divemaster certification and later the TDI Technical Divemaster certification. Since they are already PADI Divemasters all they had to do was cross over their skills and fill the gaps in the training.

One of these gaps is the most unpleasant swim tests and “surface recovery” or “ditch and don” exercise. The swim test are similar to other organizations with slight differences and the ditch and don exercise is rarely in a divemaster program in any official capacity (although many introduce it). At lunch we hit the water to cover these skills and stamina tests. The ditch and don is described as sinking your scuba gear, freediving down to it and assembling it underwater in about 3m. There are more steps to it but that’s the general description.

All of them did really well except Mark. Mark is a former soldier from the Parachute Regiment and is considered rather tough, however a cold got in his way and he couldn’t get down. He spent the remainder of the day blowing his nose and generally moaning on the surface with the instructor. He’ll get another chance in a few days.

In the afternoon the students cleaned their lean decompression mix cylinder while Ash cleaned twin set in preparation for our epic diving adventure in January. Once the practical work was finished the students sat a written exam and put all the tools away to prepare for the TDI Compressor Operator Course (distinctive) tomorrow.

Today Mark Slinn (intern), Andy Cavell (intern) and Ash Dunn (staff) attended a DAN (Divers Alert Network) O2 (oxygen) provider course. The course was conducted by the experienced dive medic technician and DAN O2 Provider Instructor Steve Reid. Steve took a break from his busy schedule as the owner of the new resort Sea View Koh Tao to conduct the course for Big Blue Tech and other diving schools in the area.

The course is described as:

DAN´s Oxygen First Aid for Scuba Diving Injuries Provider Course was designed to fill the void in oxygen first aid training available for the general diving public.

This course represents entry level training designed to educate the general diving (and qualified non-diving) public in recognizing possible dive related injuries and providing emergency oxygen first aid while activating the local emergency medical services (EMS) and/or arranging for evacuation to the nearest available medical facility.

In DAN´s most recent dive accident record, less than 33% of injured divers received emergency oxygen in the field. Few of those received oxygen concentrations approaching the recommended 100%. DAN and all major diving instructional agencies recommend that all divers be qualified to provide 100% oxygen in the field to those injured in a dive accident.

For countries like Australia, this course is required for all scuba diving professionals. For us on Koh Tao, this course is included and required for all staff and internship candidates.

The course was completed using theoretical examples, study of local and international law and practical assembly and administration of oxygen and oxygen related equipment.

This would be the perfect course leading up to their O2 Equipment Service Technician Course on the following day.

Today Big Blue Tech will be introducing new diving and diving related courses to our list of programs to help increase the diversity of our school and promote proper industry practices throughout our curriculum. All these courses can be found on our training page in the coming days.

SDI Research Diver
With our in house marine biologists and our relationship with the “Save Koh Tao” environmental awareness group we will be providing this certification to select individuals who meet the pre-requisites. In addition to this course individuals will additionally receive the SDI Solo Diver certification so they can conduct survey and research dives on their own on our resort reef and pinnacles. This course will be an internship option and will include multiple dives over a 1 month period Read More

SDI Visual Inspection Procedures
Big Blue Tech already provide regulator service clinics, gas blending, compressor operation and 02 service technician course but will now add the SDI VIP course to provide potential technicians with the opportunity to be certified in the process of visual inspection of scuba cylinders. The advantage of the student learning this will help increase their employability skills globally and increase their education about scuba cylinders. Read More

SDI CPROX Administrator Course
Learning the safe and valid application of oxygen is a requirement for all our staff and leaders. Normally we did not offer this course to divers unless they were to become a leader. However now realizing the increase in remote diving and team technical diving methods we are now opening this course to the public with the emphasis on technical diving applications. Additionally underwater recompression with a full face mask will be taught to certified technical divers. Read More

For more information about these courses or custom internships please contact us at info@bigbluetech.net