Do you rotate your primary and secondary regulators?

[Wah]

Kinda a weird question, but what the hay, I'm bored and trying to get through a slow work day. If you have matching primary and secondary regs, do you rotate them? For example, when you service them, do you put the long hose on your secondary reg and use it as your primary until the next service?

 

[tbone1004]

not during service time. When I service my regs I don't mark which one is which so who knows which one ends up back on the primary side.
The parts that would normally wear during use are replaced at service.

I do make sure and highly recommend that you use your secondary regularly during the dive. I subscribe to primary donate so I always start and end my dive on the primary because those are the highest probability of having to share gas, but I do get on the secondary during the dive for probably 5 minutes every hour *usually a minute or so at a time*. Definitely not balanced, but it's more of a function check than anything. If you want to balance wear, you can just swap the regs every month, every trip, whatever frequency makes you feel better about it.

 

[BoltSnap]

I do make sure and highly recommend that you use your secondary regularly during the dive. I subscribe to primary donate so I always start and end my dive on the primary because those are the highest probability of having to share gas, but I do get on the secondary during the dive for probably 5 minutes every hour *usually a minute or so at a time*. Definitely not balanced, but it's more of a function check than anything. If you want to balance wear, you can just swap the regs every month, every trip, whatever frequency makes you feel better about it.

This is what I do too ^^^^^^

 

[tbone1004]

This is what I do too ^^^^^^

I should note. For some reason most tech's like to set the secondary regulators with higher cracking pressure to prevent freeflows. If you swap them back and forth, it is ideal that you can adjust them *anyone can do it, and Alec Peirce has a few videos on how to do it as do others*, but it's rather important to tune them either the same, or if you also subscribe to a less than optimal performing secondary that you can adjust them accordingly. With most second stages these days have both a venturi lever and adjustment screws, there really is no need to adjust them to anything other than as good as they can be.

 

[scubadiver888]

Good call out @tbone1004 that some techs set the cracking pressure of the octo second stage differently than the primary second stage. I know the guy who services my regulators. I just tell him to set them to be the same.

I also use my octo to make sure it is working. I test before I get in the water too.

 

[BoltSnap]

I should note. For some reason most tech's like to set the secondary regulators with higher cracking pressure to prevent freeflows. If you swap them back and forth, it is ideal that you can adjust them *anyone can do it, and Alec Peirce has a few videos on how to do it as do others*, but it's rather important to tune them either the same, or if you also subscribe to a less than optimal performing secondary that you can adjust them accordingly. With most second stages these days have both a venturi lever and adjustment screws, there really is no need to adjust them to anything other than as good as they can be.

My two second stages are both finely tuned and both have cracking adjustment with automatic venturi adjustment. I don't differentiate between primary and secondary in terms of adjustment or quality. Both are identical in every way including adjustment and sensitivity. When I am underwater, the second stage that isn't in my mouth has the cracking pressure turned into high setting (adjustment knob turned in all the way). I store both second stages with the adjustment knob turned all the way out (I do this as soon I am out of the water and back on dry land or boat deck).

I do NOT have any second stage marked as an "Octopus" in any way.

 

[Justin Bove]

This is my thinking.....I'd rather use the most "worn/abused" regulator as my primary with the thinking if one is going to fail I always want it to be my primary of course.

 

[Tchau]

.

I do make sure and highly recommend that you use your secondary regularly during the dive.

Just out of curiosity, is this based on science, experience or just empiricism?

 

[tbone1004]

Just out of curiosity, is this based on science, experience or just empiricism?

the latter two. Exhaust diaphragms are particularly annoying and like to get things stuck in them. Taking a breath or two around the time that you check your spg *so every 10-20 minutes ish?* gives me warm fuzzies knowing that it's working and if it's not, lets me address it when things are good, vs finding out when things are bad

 

[Nathan Doty]

I used to be a cop, I trained with my backup regularly. I used to be a rock climber, we tested our safety gear. I used to skydive, Skydivers unpack and repack their reserve chute from time to time. I breathe my backup every dive. When I NEED it is a bad time to find out there's an issue.