Is it necessary to service a regulator that has been sitting in storage?

[Mtbr]

Do regulators need to be serviced after it's been sitting unused for several years?
I have an Atomic B2 that was purchased 4 years ago but has been sitting unused in its box. I aired it up for the first time tonight and there some Christo-lube that seeped out (it's a sealed reg). I take it this is normal?

 

[Tigerman]

If your regulator has been unused for 4 years the short answer is that yes, it should be serviced.
Its not only wear and tear that degrades a regulator, but rubber parts also decay from not being used..

 

[AquaNSun]

Look out for corrosion and dried out o-rings and rubber parts. Those are commonly found on unused regs that have been sitting around for a long time. HP seat should be ok but LP seat might need to be replaced since it was compressed when stored. You can use an IP gauge to test it's IP range (it's a good thing to learn and is simple) or have your dive shop do a bench test to evaluate its initial condition. Since it was 4 years old, it's good to have it check out.

 

[Couv]

Learning to check your equipment is very important and will help YOU determine if your equipment needs servicing. See this link for a set of checks everyone is capable of and should be doing-Regulator Checklist and Inspection thread:
For the latest revision http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/4320058-post14.html
For the start of the entire thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/260452-regulator-checklist-inspection.html

Good luck,

Couv

 

[spectrum]

Mtbr

I'm hearing that this is a brand new unit that never got wet. Since that is the case there should not be any risk of long term corrosion from prior dive contamination.

The next concern is the condition of rubber parts. 4 years is not a long time for modern rubber compounds IF stored correctly.You state it was in the box. If that was stored away from ozone producing sources such as brush type motors and ignition sources like an oil burners ozone damage should not be an issue. If it was in a cool stable location then the rubber materials are probably fine.

Lastly is the behavior of the materials relative to adjustments. There are parts that are under compression that may relax or take impressions over time. This is probably the biggest risk. I believe your Atomic has a feature that begins to limit this compared to other brands.

Odds are the unit is fine. I would run the checklist that couv suggested and go from there.

Pete

 

[scubafanatic]

Do regulators need to be serviced after it's been sitting unused for several years?
I have an Atomic B2 that was purchased 4 years ago but has been sitting unused in its box. I aired it up for the first time tonight and there some Christo-lube that seeped out (it's a sealed reg). I take it this is normal?

I agree with Pete, additionally, about the bit of Christolube seeping out, that's normal for this reg....it's only sealed by essentially a little black rubber-band, not air-tight sealed, so the excess Christolube will seep/weep out on pressurization of the reg, I'd just wipe it off as it's a little bit messy...it doesn't indicate you have a problem there.

 

[diversteve]

HP seat should be ok but LP seat might need to be replaced since it was compressed when stored.

Actually probably not - from http://www.atomicaquatics.com/second_stage_design.html#:

Our Seat Saving Dynamic Orifice design prolongs the life of the low-pressure poppet seat to maintain the crisp "like new" factory tuning and prevent the second stage from leaking between servicing. This exclusive Atomic patented design allows the seat and orifice to make contact only when the regulator is pressurized. When not in use, the orifice automatically retracts away from the seat to prevent damage during storage. (US Patent #5,803,703)

 

[halocline]

You might try putting it on a tank, pressurize it for an hour or so, and see if it has any problems. I suspect not; Pete summed it up nicely. The atomics have a 2nd stage seat saver that separates the LP seat from the orifice unless pressurized, so you should be good to go.

If o-rings simply degraded in 4 years a lot of us old reg users would be in trouble!

 

[Zung]

+4
The shelf age of my gears:

• Aqualung/Spiro Supra XL: 15 years, works good
• Scubapro MK20/G250: 10 years, good
• Scubapro MK10Plus/M5: 10 years, IP creep: this one has an early seat that's white instead of dark grey; it wears abnormally fast, the reg had maybe 20-30 dives before storage

The AL was my backup that got very little use. The SP's were in a closet while the kids grow. I serviced the MK10+/M5, thought about servicing the MK20/G250 and the AL, but they test so good I decided I'll postpone it another year (or two).

 

[Al Mialkovsky]

I've seen regs off the shelf and regs purchased online that required service right away. So who knows how long they were in storage.