After service check?

[redacted]

I read all these with great intrest. I was a service tech for 20+ years and yes I did forget to tighten down a few hoses in that time... now who out there hasn't made a mistake at work that cost someone $$$$$... noone on this board I bet.

As was said hook your gear to a tank and leave it over night not just a few min. that way you can tell if someone forgot to tighten any hoses but also do a hand loosen check on all your fittings (2nd to hose) is one that gets missed, alot of techs use a IP gauge that go between them. The overnight test will also show if a oring got nicked that isa slow leaker.

If you do have a tank you can fill your bath tub and do a bubble check that way too.

Have fun on your trip.

It's a good thing you were not a doctor or a tire and brake mechanic. That kind of sloppy work could really hurt somebody.

What connections on a regulator, if left only finger tight rather than torqued down to the proper specification, will reveal that error when connected to a tank and put under pressure? I'm pretty sure the correct answer is ------ NONE.

But over time, they may well work themselves loose. Check all connections by hand. The fact that a connectiojn does not leak does not mean it has been properly tightened and could come loose.

 

[deepblueme]

I think my point is that everyone makes mistakes.
The way some people post here is that a tech that makes a mistake should be skined alive the covered in salt.
Its not always sloppy work that causes mistakes it is some times a demanading customer that cant wait a #$$# min. for you to finishing doing something so you can fill their tank cuz thay are running late.
Even worse is a shop employee trying to help thinking you were done with a gear set and giving it to the customer who was to busy to hook it to a tank as required by the store I was working for.

And yes I have paid a car Dr to much money and the problem wasnt fixed and yes I cuzzed up a storm and even had to buy 2 plane tickets and leave the car then fly back and get it.
But I got over it and asked for the price of the tickets to be paid back.

In my experience a hand tight hose will lose air pressure if the reg is left on a tank and the air turned off.

 

[redacted]

OK. I have taken a Mk10 with a Balanced Adjustable and an Adjustable 2nd and loosened every hose connection including both ends of the nHP hose and retightened them all finger tight (no tools). Attached to a tank and pressurized shows 2850 psi. I shut the valve down and I'll be giving you periodic reports on system pressure. If it looses any pressure, I'll let you know and take the whole rig to the bath tgub to locate the source of the leak, So far, it has held for 5 minutes.

 

[redacted]

Well, I'm down to 2700 psi. I'm going to head for the tub and see where it is being lost.

 

[redacted]

Damn, I've got a tank valve that needs to be rebuilt. Leaking from the tank valve handle. I'll change tanks and do it again.

OK, New tank and just a hair less than 3000 psi this time.

 

[redacted]

Well, its been some time now and the spg is reading 2900 psi and there are no bubbles to be seen. (The slight drop in pressure is due to a tank going from the warm trunk of my car parked in the sun to a cool bath tub.)

But I'll let it go for a while longer. After all, with all the connections only finger tight one should start leaking any moment now - right?

 

[redacted]

Darn. Still no bubbles and pressure holding at 2900 psi. Maybe I'm doing something wrong????

Actually, I'm not doing anything wrong. Hose connections that are finger tight will seal - until normal use and handleing loosens the connection further and then it will leak. Connections of the LP hose to a 2nd stage will have to loosen quite a bit as the o-ring sits in a gland or groove and seals a ways up into the inlet tub of the 2nd stage. It would take at least one and maybe 2 turns of that connecting nut befor that seal would fail. About the same thing with the connection of the hose to the SPG. But the host to 1st stage connections use a crush seal on the o-ring so it won't take much loosening due to handling and usage for that seal to fail and leak.

The idea of someone failing to tighten one of these connections is a fact of life. But good procedures during service by the tech service provider should prevent such an error from ever getting delivered to the customer. The customer can and should check all these connections, by hand, after service and before use. It seems to me that such a service error is simply unacceptable.

 

[Couv]

Deepblueme, if a finger tight hose leaked then I would have to assume you would have discovered the leak during the service process. But your point is taken that too many of dive shop techs do a poor job and that the client should insist on seeing that his/her regulator passes muster prior to paying and leaving.

Buddhasummer, AWAP and Mattboy have provided excellent criteria to do a set of simple checks to ensure that your regulator is serviced properly. You should do these checks after each service and before going on any dive trip. It is also a pretty darn good indicator if your regulator fails any of these checks it needs service. Conversely, if you are cheap like me, it is a pretty darn good indicator that service can be delayed if no problems are found.

c

 

[deepblueme]

Well in my experience over the years and several 100's of repairs have shown me that sometimes you will see a loss of pressure on some of the hand tightend hose fittings.
I never said it will happen everytime. That is why I said I leave the reg's I repair on air "overnight".

"Connections of the LP hose to a 2nd stage will have to loosen quite a bit as the o-ring sits in a gland or groove and seals a ways up into the inlet tub of the 2nd stage. It would take at least one and maybe 2 turns of that connecting nut befor that seal would fail. About the same thing with the connection of the hose to the SPG."

OR a little wiggle will cause the same leaking.

Some of you seem to be on a mission to make it out that all service techs are incompatent (like my spelling) it must be great to never make a mistake in life (not saying that you folks don't).

I fully agree "such a service error is simply unacceptable" and steps should be taken to make thing right with the offended customer, but some of these responces that some of the internet experts spout out kind of tick me off and that is why I replied the way I did.

 

[redacted]

I'm primarily reacting to the idea that if it doesn't leak, then it is OK. If it does leak then you clearly have a problem. But if it doesn't leak, you may still have a hose connection that is not properly tightened and will loosen in time. The check is to attempt to loosen every connection by hand and make sure you can't loosen it. Any hose connection that can be unscrewed by hand needs to be properly tightened - just a bit beyond hand tight is where it belongs.

I'll give you a run in a misspelling contest any day. Anybody who can only spell a word one way is narrow minded.