I used to be an independent instructor and had several regulators that were serviced annually when I used them for teaching. I stopped teaching a dozen or so years ago and the regulators sat in my garage (one of the worst places for a regulator) for years along with other "collector regs" that were boxed up temporarily for 9 years. (I am a slow unpacker) Well, when I finally unboxed them and put them to the test, all of them breathed just fine and passed couv's check up for leaks, intermediate pressure and water tight integrity. I will paste my checks following this devils advocate post. Quite frankly, most regulators if soaked in fw after use with a good tight inlet cap to keep the water out, then dried and put away with the second stages bagged to keep the bugs out do not need to be serviced more than once every 5 years but please learn to CHECK ALL of your equipment OFTEN...especially the rubber parts.
Here is my standard check...pardon the cut and paste:
Regulator inspection
There are a few checks that everyone is capable of doing. One is the intermediate pressure check. Get a simple 300 psi pressure gage from Ace Hardware (I like the helpful hardware man better that the giant store types) and adapt it to your quick disconnect http://www.diveriteexpress.com/regs/hoses.shtml. Find out the what the IP range should be for your regulator (most are ~ 135 +/- 10 psi).
Another check is the cracking pressure of each second stage. Fill your kitchen sink and immerse the regulator with the mouth piece up and see if it begins to flow before the diaphragm gets more than a couple of inches deep. You may have to put plastic tubing in place of the mouth piece to do this. If you want to get fancy make a simple manometer from plastic tubing and a yard stick http://www.komar.org/faq/manometer/ Finally, a water tight check is also very easy to perform. Hook the first stage up to a tank and without turning on the air (if you have a good tight dust cap you can use that instead) draw a breath until you hear the second stage diaphragm retract. You do not want to draw too hard as it will collapse the exhaust valves and cause a leak. Will the reg hold vacuum? If so, it is probably water tight and vice-versa.
These simple checks can be done by anyone. They should be done often, not to mention when new out of the box or after shop service.
Check early, check often.
couv
