Frequency and cost of regulator service

[pasley]

....Needs means the reg is not performing correctly, not that some arbitrary time interval has elapsed. "Manuf suggested servicing" is simply there to keep the warranty in effect and as a revenue source for dive shops...

I am certain you are correct and that it has absolutely nothing to do with the fact that o-rings and seals age, deteriorate and crack,springs also age, adjustments need to be made with time and wear or the need tocheck that no water has found its way inside your 1st stage and started rustingparts inside.

IMHO Regulators are like airplane engines (another item that getsserviced/inspected regularly on a schedule just to increase the profit marginof the maintenance company and the aircraft manufacturer), I would ratherreplace a part before it breaks in preventative maintenance, than towait until it breaks/malfunction in use. So for me, my gear gets serviced oncea year, or every 100 dives or so, whichever comes. Overkill? Perhaps...but itis a choice I can live with.

True, you can wait until it "needs servicing" which is indicated by amalfunctioning in some way. But the question is this, would you rather waituntil it malfunctions (hopefully with a minor problem and not catastrophicmalfunction creating an emergency situation), and perhaps have to cancel a diveor a dive trip because the gear has to go to the shop on its schedule, or havethe gear preventatively serviced at a time and place of your choosing when itis not interrupting your dive plans. True, catastrophic malfunctions of scuba equipmentare rare, and IMHO are usually caused by neglecting to....wait forit....service your equipment on a regular basis.

Do you service your car (change the oil etc) on a schedule or wait until it"needs servicing" when it starts to "not functioncorrectly" which we normally call malfunction?

 

[Paulmal]

$35 per stage.
And all my regs say they should be serviced every 2 years.
I have an old US diver reg set that needs to be serviced every year, but I have not used it so it in a while.

 

[skankpile]

If you buy a $25 IP guage you'll know exactly when it needs service as you'll watch for creep. I personally have a digital gauge I use for an IP guage so I can tune all my regs to the same IP which enables me to swap whatever second I want as they are all tuned the same.

Usually people get a reg serviced before vacation etc.. and thats usually when something goes wrong. If its working leave it alone.

 

[rhwestfall]

Over on this side of the country with a limited recreational seasonal diving window (equating to not a lot of shops) service is about $25 a stage (+ parts if not under warranty). Nothing of mine is in warranty, and thus I follow the 100 dives/2 years or a developing problem schedule. Sometimes even longer...

As others have said, I'd be more worried with a newly serviced reg than one with a good history...

 

[beaverdivers]

1. Do ordinary regs need annual service?

2. Is $100 a normal charge (in the SF Bay Area) for reg service?

Ricky, your question about annual service is an excellent question.

Scubapro has just changed to a two year service interval. In the past when they had a one year service interval, our service track record was excellent.

We are recommending a bench check which includes intermediate pressure ( IP ), inhalation/exhalation effort and free flow/leaks every year or before a dive trip.

If the reg. doesn't pass a test, then it needs an annual. At 100 dives or 24 months, an annual service is required.

Yes, it is a very good idea to do a pre-trip dive on your just tested/ serviced gear and to do a refresher course.

This pre-trip planning insures that both you and your gear are ready to dive.

The cost of the Scubapro reg. is not a factor.

If you buy a package of Scubapro reg, B.C. and dive computer, then you recieve Free Parts for Life when the gear is serviced every 100 dives or every two years.

As far as cost, $35 per reg. stage is the norm in the U.S. plus parts. Parts kits are $12 to $40 depending on the reg. stage, average cost $20.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

$100.00 for a Reg service?, I just my BCD and Regs done for $50.00, I guess that what you get for the West Coast

Was this a full server or a bench check?

Many LDS will do a bench check for a reasonable cost (pop open the 2nds, inspect for corrosion or signs of neglect), check the cracking pressure and put an IP gauge on to see how its working and shine it up pretty. Its not the same as going in a doing a full service where all the wearable parts (o-rings) get replaced. Its like going to Jiffy Lube instead of the dealer for a full service. It's not the same thing, but often good enough.

 

[Lorenzoid]

About $100 per set (1st and 2nd stage plus octo) seems to be typical at the LDS's around here. I have never looked into what my manufacturer recommends or what service interval conditions they attach to their warranty. I have mine serviced every two years or so, which for me means about 50-60 dives. My thinking is that o-rings degrade over time, even if I don't dive much. I give my regs a good long soak after every dive trip.

 

[spectrum]

This is a tough one that each diver needs to weigh.

One path is to follow the warranty plan and just do it. That will keep usually keep you in a parts stream if you play by all of the rules. Will a 1 or 2 year interval keep you safe? Heck no. One good shot of salt water in the inlet and real trouble can start immediately. That being said you need to know what you are doing and precisely how well the regulator set has been handled. Service and observation alone still won't keep you safe, the 3rd leg of the stool is understanding and observing for the first signs of trouble and then taking immediate action.

So if you are a "don't fix it if it's not broken" type do you dive it to failure? That's probably not the best goal either so you need to put some boundaries on when do you just get it done. Most seals are sheltered and lubricated and have a very long working life. Adjustments from wear and seat impressions will change over time but this will err towards free flow and not leave you OOA. It's a slow decay that first appears as a regulator that sputters when it first gets wet, hardly a catastrophic failure. The real risk is in the form of corrosion promoted by contamination, , usually salt water, concealed and ugly. You can watch the inlet filter for telltale accumulations but that's not foolproof.

With good care I don't put too much weight on the dive count and I can to some extent buy into the more use is better than less thought. These are valves processing air. To think that they need an overhaul after 100-200 let alone fewer dives (~hours of processing air) is a little startling. Similar components run in industry 24/7 for years untouched. Again, contamination is our risk as divers.

It comes down to your use pattern, care exercised and risk tolerance. You do need to weigh this against the fact that regulator malfunctions right after a service event are not uncommon. It's often just a follow-up adjustment and not catastrophic but it can be distracting.

Clear as mud now, huh?

Pete

 

[herman]

I am certain you are correct and that it has absolutelynothing to do with the fact that o-rings and seals age, deteriorate and crack,springs also age, adjustments need to be made with time and wear or the need tocheck that no water has found its way inside your 1st stage and started rustingparts inside.

IMHO Regulators are like airplane engines (another item that getsserviced/inspected regularly on a schedule just to increase the profit marginof the maintenance company and the aircraft manufacturer), I would ratherreplace a part before it breaks in preventative maintenance, than towait until it breaks/malfunction in use. So for me, my gear gets serviced oncea year, or every 100 dives or so, whichever comes. Overkill? Perhaps...but itis a choice I can live with.

True, you can wait until it "needs servicing" which is indicated by amalfunctioning in some way. But the question is this, would you rather waituntil it malfunctions (hopefully with a minor problem and not catastrophicmalfunction creating an emergency situation), and perhaps have to cancel a diveor a dive trip because the gear has to go to the shop on its schedule, or havethe gear preventatively serviced at a time and place of your choosing when itis not interrupting your dive plans. True, catastrophic malfunctions of scuba equipmentare rare, and IMHO are usually caused by neglecting to....wait forit....service your equipment on a regular basis.

Do you service your car (change the oil etc) on a schedule or wait until it"needs servicing" when it starts to "not functioncorrectly" which we normally call malfunction?

All of which is true however the life of the orings much less that of the springs and other parts is way longer than a year or 2. If it were only a year or 2 then an annual service would be needed. The actual life of those parts is much more than that, so there is no need to replace them at such a short interval. I am not saying that a reasonable service schedule should not be maintained but 1 or even 2 years is not reasonable, esp for folks who dive a few times a year. The orings and seats in reg simply do not wear out that fast. I do a lot of service on old obsolete regs, ones that have not seen service in 20 or more years. As part of my service procedure I do an initial test on them as is, 90% of them work fine and based on the dust and corrosion, they have not seen service in many many years. Unless I intend to return them to active use I do a good cleaning and relubing of the original orings, in almost every case they work fine. Now I am not suggesting that cleaning and relubing 20 yo orings is a good idea if you intend to use the reg but the fact that they still seal and work fine does speak to the question of the actual life span of a oring.
To use your oil change analogy, do you change your oil every 100 miles just in case or every 6 months even if you don't drive the car? ? I suspect not, there is no need as the service life of oil is much more than that. And how about the orings in your brake calipers, do you change them every year??? I think you will agree the environment of a brake caliper is much more harsh than a scuba reg and a failure is much more dangerous. If you really believe that the life of an oring is in the year range, then you really need to consider having the orings in you brake master cylinder and slave cylinders changed on an annual basis.
While servicing a reg on a reasonable schedule is a good idea, doing so at a rate that is much more often than is actually needed is not wise, it introduces more problems that it solves and cost unnecessary repair bills, both for the service and for the returns to fix the problems introduced during the “service“. The issue is not should they be serviced but rather how often…..do you base that on actual failure rates or on a manuf model that is obviously designed with a profit in mind.

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I want to address an early reply to the OP that suggested a one year service interval was somehow the norm, and those who deviate from it should be viewed with suspicion. This is untrue. HOG and Atomic have always had a two year service interval, and with the soon to be released T3 Atomic will shift to a three year service interval.

SP, despite making no improvements to their regs, has recently switched to a two year service interval. This means two things: (1) SP regs have always been fine for (at least) a two year interval; and (2) SP has been knowingly fleecing its customers by forcing them to service those regs twice as often.