How often does a regulator NEED to be serviced?

[mwilding]

I understand that a well used regulator should be serviced yearly. I also understand that it needs to be done to keep the warranty in effect. But what if you buy a used regulator (warranty now void) have it serviced and then use it two or three times a year. Is it really going to require yearly servicing in this case?

 

[newman_diver]

For a piece of equipment you are trusting your life in (regulator = life support equipment) having it serviced annually at the minimum would provide piece of mind. Depending on your use, care, maintenance that might be shorter. I personally would not go longer than a year.

I want my regulator in top condition everytime I jump in the water to reduce the chance of not returning. Just my $0.02.

 

[lifes an ocean]

I would say you would want to service it yearly just so you know that it is still working properly.

 

[pescador775]

Life support systems are pervasive but care of same is partly technical, partly mental. For example, brakes and tires. If you have your brakes "serviced" (taken apart and put back together) and tires rotated and inspected every year then do the same for a regulator. If you have a physical checkup (the works) every year then you may wish to do the same for your other life support gear. If not, servicing your regulator every five years should be fine. Wash and dry after use. Mind the second stage before storage. Insert a diaphragm depressor. Don't kink the hoses or let the kids play with your gear.

If you suddenly go nuts and dive every day, step up the service to one-two year interval. However, regulator problems may suddenly arise directly after a service cycle so be alert for this.

 

[Luis H]

If you are good about cleaning and storing your regulator, you are very careful not to allow water into the first stage (and use a good water tight dust cap), and learn how to inspect and check your regulator (check the IP, how it breaths, etc. look for Couv post on this subject), you can easily go 5 years between service just as Pescador suggested.

With any reasonable Scuba training, even a total regulator malfunction (which is extremely rare) should never be life threatening…so this whole “life support” thing is just a total bunch BS … It surely sell a lot of high end regulators and service.

Also be aware that most malfunctions occur right after service so even this is contradictory to the assumption of “life support” equipment.

I am a strong believer on regularly checking, testing and servicing as needed. “If it isn’t broke don’t fix it.”

On the other hand, if you are not careful with your equipment, then even the suggested yearly service may not be enough…learn how to care and test your own gear.


Note: some regulators will hold up better than others between servicing. I can easily go many years without servicing a double hose or a metal second stage regulator, and most first stages.

 

[marchand]

Contrary to popular belief regs will not all of a sudden, with no signs or sympyoms, catostofically fail exctly one year from service. There are almost always indicators that a reg needs to be serviced soon, and I am comfortable with letting my regs get to that point because I have redundant regs. If I were diving single tanks I would probably have a different opinion, but that is all it is, an opinion.

I service mine when one of a few things happen.

1) it starts breathing rough. you can feel and hear this as you are breathing.
2) IP creep. Usually indicated by spontaneous free flow of the second stage or, the less noticeable, slight hissing from the second stage starting after it has sit silent for a while after turning on the tank. If it starts hissing right when you turn on the tank the IP or the second stage needs to be adjusted.
3) worn out HP seat. HP seats usually last a while, but it does depend on the quality of the seat. You will know when it goes.
4) if I flood the first stage. I probably would not rebuild it in this case, I would probably take all the plugs and hoses out, connect it to a tank, and open it up for a minute to dry it out.

My current first stages are $60 specials that I got from 123scuba. So far I'm fairly happy with them. I have nearly 100 dives on them (set up for doubles), and the primary first stage just recently started breathing roughly and developed a very slight IP creep. I dove it for a few more times before I had a chance to service it; sometimes it breathed well, sometimes roughly, and sometimes both in the same dive. I took it apart and replaced all the O-rings because they were worn and slapped it back together. I also took a quick look at the HP seat and it showed very little wear. Now it breaths very nicely and there is no more IP creep.

Very simple to do if you have access to parts and proper tools; however, I do not recommend people doing self service on their regs. The only reason I service my own stuff is because I'm comfortable with doing it myself.

 

[BlueDevil]

For my main regs that I use regularly I generally do get them serviced annually, but have at times let them go for 18 months or longer without any issues.

I recently dusted off a Mares reg that I haven't used for some time and would have gone probably 4 years without being serviced and it is working fine. I was doing a few dives to only 3 - 4m so I decided to try it out and it breathes fine. I wouldn't use it on any deeper dives without getting it serviced though.

 

[bwilcher]

How long would you let your airplane sit before you checked it out for flight? Unless you can breathe water I would suggest you use good common sense and get your equipment serviced on a regular basis. Some manufacturers suggest every year, some by a recommended number of dives, I vote for the latter. Just remember that because regulators sit unused it does not mean that degredation of the high pressure seat is not occuring. High pressure seat wear will cause intermediate pressure creep, as another poster listed. This will cause the regulator to "free flow" violently and should not be used underwater, this would be considered a dive ending event. If you should have a regulator failure on your vacation the resort will be glad to rent you a regulator for $15-20 per day and that would add up to more than having your own gear serviced on a regular basis. The entire reason to purchase your own regulator is to have a unit that functions well and that you can trust to work every time. Don't be fooled into thinking that all regulators are the same. Remember the old saying "you get what you pay for."

 

[redacted]

How long would you let your airplane sit before you checked it out for flight? Unless you can breathe water I would suggest you use good common sense and get your equipment serviced on a regular basis. Some manufacturers suggest every year, some by a recommended number of dives, I vote for the latter. Just remember that because regulators sit unused it does not mean that degredation of the high pressure seat is not occuring. High pressure seat wear will cause intermediate pressure creep, as another poster listed. This will cause the regulator to "free flow" violently and should not be used underwater, this would be considered a dive ending event. If you should have a regulator failure on your vacation the resort will be glad to rent you a regulator for $15-20 per day and that would add up to more than having your own gear serviced on a regular basis. The entire reason to purchase your own regulator is to have a unit that functions well and that you can trust to work every time. Don't be fooled into thinking that all regulators are the same. Remember the old saying "you get what you pay for."

Why come in with the scare tactics BS?

Regulators are not airplanes. But it is a good idea to check both of them out prior to use. It is also a good idea to do more thorough periodic inspections to catch incipient problems. With good user care and inspection, I'm getting 3 to 5 years (or more) from a complete service on my regulators. To be fair though, I have quite a number of regulators so 5 years on any one is probably still less than 100 dives.

A regulator can have a problem just about any time. But the greatest risk is probably immediately after service so unnecessary service is not a good thing unless it is making you money (anybody in that category). When a regulator does have a problem due to age or wear, the problem will most likely start slowly and progress fairly slowly. Not always true but not anything that service can guarantee will not occur. The best way to be sure that a regulator problem does not interrupt a dive trip is to have a spare. Another way to protect against such problems is to not have your regs serviced just before a dive trip.

Owning your own regs and servicing it as per the mfgr recommendations does not prevent problems so you should always be prepared to deal with whatever may pop up. In fact, servicing it unnecessarily may cause more problems than you prevent depending on the service provider.

 

[beanojones]

I was interested to read that Apeks recommend a service interval of as short as 3 months for gear that was rental gear.

Since I have done all the overhaul work of fleets of regulators used for rental at 3 different places that used every set every day, and I did the rebuilds annually, I imagine that the service interval is legalese. But then again instructors actually watched the gear in use so if there was something funny about the gear they would notice.

That said, the only way you will hear about recalls on gear is probably through overhauls.

That said, the person working on your gear probably does not actually read the technical bulletins that would talk about the recalls and changes in procedures.