A possible method for prolonging regulator service time

[diversteve]

Marketing gimmickry

That actually works...

---------- Post Merged at 12:46 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 12:45 PM ----------

How long do your regs sit on the shelf? I'd rather a reg that's designed for use than storage.

So did I, that's why I bought one.

 

[flots am]

How long do your regs sit on the shelf? I'd rather a reg that's designed for use than storage.

That doesn't even make any sense.

Even if you do 2 one hour dives every single day of the year, that's 730 hours of dive time. There are 8,766 hours in a year, so that's 8,036 hours of "sitting on the shelf" even for a fairly avid diver.

Unloading the seat means that you have 8,036 fewer hours of contact and a longer service interval.

I'm not trying to sell you a reg and don't care what you dive, but if we're discussing maintenance intervals, it's significant.

flots.

 

[emoreira]

I've participated in a Regulator's clinic. The guy was from TUSA. He said that a regulator should be serviced each 100'000 cycles. This means :
A diver dives for 50 minutes on average on each dive. The diver breaths 20 times per minute on average, so on each dive, the regulator makes 1'000 cycles. If you dive 100 times per year (20 excursions of 5 dives each per year), you should service your reg each year. If you only do 50 dives per year, you could extend the service period for 2 years. He also said that if you only do 25 dives a year, send your reg to service every 2 years anyway, as parts can corrode or age inside.
Comparing the cost of the service and the cost of a dive excursion, there should be no problem to spend the cost of the service. If the diver cannot afford the cost of the service, this sport is not for him.

 

[halocline]

How long do your regs sit on the shelf? I'd rather a reg that's designed for use than storage.

Let's see, if you do 10 dives every week, for a total of over 500 dives/year, that's still more than 20 hrs/day when the regulator is 'on the shelf' i.e not pressurized. That's about 7300 hrs of storage/year. Someone who does zero dives will have 8700 hours of storage/year.

Point being, even the most avid divers' regulators still spend the vast majority of their lives 'on the shelf.'

Edit: I see flots beat me to it!

 

[mathauck0814]

Let's see, if you do 10 dives every week, for a total of over 500 dives/year, that's still more than 20 hrs/day when the regulator is 'on the shelf' i.e not pressurized. That's about 7300 hrs of storage/year. Someone who does zero dives will have 8700 hours of storage/year.

Point being, even the most avid divers' regulators still spend the vast majority of their lives 'on the shelf.'

Edit: I see flots beat me to it!

... and? Feel free to spend your dollars supporting a company that's investing in your regulators' down time. My regs rarely ever get dry - so what matters to me is that they work every morning when I bust them out. Seats and service intervals are unimportant details - you just get out the tool box and fix/replace when necessary.

 

[redacted]

I've participated in a Regulator's clinic. The guy was from TUSA. He said that a regulator should be serviced each 100'000 cycles. This means :
A diver dives for 50 minutes on average on each dive. The diver breaths 20 times per minute on average, so on each dive, the regulator makes 1'000 cycles. If you dive 100 times per year (20 excursions of 5 dives each per year), you should service your reg each year. If you only do 50 dives per year, you could extend the service period for 2 years. He also said that if you only do 25 dives a year, send your reg to service every 2 years anyway, as parts can corrode or age inside.
Comparing the cost of the service and the cost of a dive excursion, there should be no problem to spend the cost of the service. If the diver cannot afford the cost of the service, this sport is not for him.

Did anyone think to ask him what his basis was for that claim? How about what part or parts experience wear during use and need replacement after 100,000 cycles? The right answer should be able to talk about failure data or even incipient failures identified during inspection. Or, maybe, it is just another poorly camouflaged sales gimmick.

Checking for corrosion every 2 years is not good enough. Corrosion can occur much more quickly than that in poorly cleaned regulators. The answer to corrosion is prevention.

I use and/or support about a dozen setups. Annual service from a shop would cost as much as a dive trip. Thankfully, it is quite unnecessary as most of my regs seem to go 5 years or more before they require service. A much better way to avoid regulator problem interrupting a dive trip is to have a spare regulator setup. That solution will work regardless of whether you pushed the durability of soft parts or got a half-assed annual service just before your dive trip.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

And nothing will help more than carefully rinsing and drying the regs after every outing. And a breathing rate of 20 times a minute? Wow! That's some huffin and puffin! Easy swimming my rate underwater is more like 6-8 breaths a minute. It may go to 10 or 12 swimming hard but I try not to do that.

Not saying anyone else should do this but just for giggles I am seeing how far one of my HOG regs can go. I've chosen one of the original ones I bought in 2009. It is one that I use the most as it's on my doubles. So far IP is still holding at 138 with no discernible creep. I did have to tweak the cracking pressure a tad about 3 months ago. Other than that no loss of performance and still breathes easy.

I rebuilt the other at two years and my other 4 are still relatively new so not due yet for rebuild anyway.

I do as stated however take very good care of my regs. Any dives in salt, silt, or otherwise ucky conditions and the second stages get the face plates and diaphragms taken off and the inside cleaned with warm water and q tips even.

And strongly agree with AWAP on the corrosion issue. Try taking an old reg, swish it around in salt water, give it a half assed rinse and set it on the shelf for a couple weeks. or a couple months. Checking for corrosion every two years is what shops tell customers that they want to make an extra buck off of for dealing with the crap or to sell them a new reg when it can't be easily cleaned. I'd check for corrosion every time you take the reg out to use. Only takes a second and may save you some serious change.

 

[ams511]

Comparing the cost of the service and the cost of a dive excursion, there should be no problem to spend the cost of the service. If the diver cannot afford the cost of the service, this sport is not for him.

The problem is that many regulator problems crop up after a service.

---------- Post Merged at 04:27 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 04:24 PM ----------

A much better way to avoid regulator problem interrupting a dive trip is to have a spare regulator setup. That solution will work regardless of whether you pushed the durability of soft parts or got a half-assed annual service just before your dive trip.

I strongly agree with this. If you have regulator problems, this is the only real way to "Save a Dive" on the the boat.