Pop Quiz Hotshots..Regulator Service

[lanshark]

Here's a question for the experts.

A Regulator (My Sherwood Maximus) was serviced in March of 2008, 20 dives in one week in April are performed from the back of a Liveaboard dive boat in the Bahamas. The regulator functions perfectly for the trip. After the trip is over, Air is flushed through the regulator, the End-cap is put in place and the regulator rinsed with fresh water (First stage not dunked).

The regulator sits in the closet until today (January). I'm travelling to Thailand in February (For a Month of Diving).

Here's the question: Would you have a full service done on your regulator before going even though it's only got 20 dives?

Would you have any second thoughts even though you know you've done everything by the book?

Giggity...

Darth-Slinky...

 

[SteveAD]

The 12 month service interval is very conservative, and the only reason to be anal about it is to ensure warrantees stay in force. Even so most mfgrs will allow a 3-4 month window for the maintenance schedule. Considering that a february trip still has tou within the 12 month interval I'd say no problem.

Additionally Sherwoods are IMO the simplest and most dependable regs on the market (if not the best breathing). Barring abuse, such as flooding the first stage, I would not anticipate problems on a sherwood with a 5 year service interval.

 

[keyshunter]

I would not even think about having it serviced before your trip. When I was in the water almost every day, and diving Sherwoods, I would not even think about servicing them until at least 300 dives. When i finally serviced them, I usually saw that they could have gone on considerably longer But, since the kits were so cheap, I usually went ahead with a service.

 

[Couv]

See this sticky

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/260452-regulator-checklist-inspection.html

 

[redacted]

You can check it out yourself (above) but I would expect it should be fine for another dive trip. However, simply rinsing will not extract salt water from all the areas that are penetrated during a dive. So I would expect you may have some salt an corrosion buildup in the SPG connection, and the unprotected thearded connections of the 1st stage. Such corrosion should not be a problem for diving the reg but may make disassembly and cleaning more difficult. Good chromed surfaces may effectively resist the corrosive effects for a while but the SW will take its toll on the chrome finish eventually.

Soak them when you get back. I usually soak my regs overnight after a SW trip. Under pressure is preferable but a good sealing "dust" cap will do the job if a tank is not available. My regs usually go 3 to 5 years between "annual" services, sometimes more.

 

[halocline]

Assuming the maximus is a non balanced piston design, not sealed, I would bet you have some corrosion or at least some serious salt build up in the ambient chamber of your first stage. You really need to soak the reg after salt water use. What I would do now is take your reg and soak it in warm clean fresh water, the whole thing, for a couple of days. It would not hurt to warm up the water a couple of times during this process, but that might be a little overkill. As long as the dust cap is nice and tight you won't have a problem getting water into the HP section of the 1st stage.

Then put it on a tank and make sure it works fine, it probably will. You could check the IP for creep, but I bet it's fine. Then, next time you go diving in salt water, make sure you give both stages a good long soak after using it. Whoever told you not to dunk your first stage was not doing you a favor.

 

[SwimJim]

Murphys law is in effect in spades when your far away from home.

 

[herman]

Assuming the maximus is a non balanced piston design, not sealed, I would bet you have some corrosion or at least some serious salt build up in the ambient chamber of your first stage. ...........

As best as I know, with the exception of early Sherwoods -1950-60s, all use an air bleed system which creates a dry sealed ambient chamber that works quite well. As any Sherwood diver will tell you, they constantly vent a small steam of bubbles which is part of the sealing system. Unless the exhaust valve has failed or the bleed port is clogged, the ambient chamber is most likely in perfect condition. Many models are also balanced, not that that makes any difference.

 

[halocline]

Herman, you're right, I knew that but I forgot. If the OP's sherwood has the dry bleed set up, then he does not have to worry about any salt corrosion in the ambient chamber.

As far as the balanced part goes, they're still the flow-by non-balanced piston design, but with the orifice floating on a set of spring washers to compensate for changes in downstream pressure. I was referring to the basic design of the reg. You're right, in this case it doesn't matter.