Reg Maintenance Questions

[a-marshal]

I've got two semi related questions..

1) If you blew a hose would you automatically replace all the other hoses of the same vintage?
2) When you take your regs in for service do you expect your gauge to be serviced at the same time?

On a recent dive I lost the high pressure hose for my gauge, it and all the other hoses on both my wife and my regs is/are 8 years old. Should I be thinking of..
a) swapping them all out now?
b) just swapping the high pressure hose on my wifes kit?
c) doing nothing at all since it was a fluke?

The Dive op had a shop and technician on sight and was able to get a new hose hooked up in only a few minutes, in the process however the tech asked me why I had never had my gauge serviced. Since I picked my stuff up from the annual service only three weeks ago I was a bit surprised by the question but he showed me the internal parts and they had certainly not been changed or cleaned in quite some time. (He even did a quick service for me at no charge)

I thought the gauge got serviced with the regs, I think I remember asking the question when I purchased everything but should I be specifically asking for it to be done every year?

 

[redacted]

No, I would not change a hose unless it exhibited some problem. Yes, the SPG should have been serviced. What makes you think your regs were serviced?

 

[flots am]

1) If you blew a hose would you automatically replace all the other hoses of the same vintage?

I'd replace any that are old and stiff or cracking, but other than that, I'd leave them alone.

2) When you take your regs in for service do you expect your gauge to be serviced at the same time?

If it's an actual mechanical SPG, it can and should be tested, but there there usually isn't much that can be "serviced", aside from the o-rings in the swivel. It should definitely be tested to make sure its readings more-or-less match up with reality at the high and low end of it's scale, and that isn't sticking, but if it's actually broken, sticking or the readings are off significantly, the fix is generally to replace it. If the tech said your SPG needed service, you should ask what he planned on doing to it.

There are various things DIY people do or try to do like refilling oil in oil filled gauges, and adjusting those that are out of calibration, but this is usually just a "I like playing with my stuff" thing, and not any sort of permanent fix.

On a recent dive I lost the high pressure hose for my gauge, it and all the other hoses on both my wife and my regs is/are 8 years old. Should I be thinking of..

The HP hoses are completely different than the LP hoses and 8 years doesn't mean much in terms of hose life, since they could be completely shot or good for another 8 years depending on how they were used and stored. If they're still pliable and not leaking or damaged, they're probably fine, but the only way to know is for someone to actually look at them.

In any case, any of your stuff can fail at any time, so the real solution to changing parts that might not need it is to make sure that you and your buddy have your skills polished enough so that a blown hose or an unexpected "Out of Air" is just an interesting event and not a potential disaster.

Also, without trying to raise your paranoia level excessively, I'd like to mention that a high percentage of regulator failures happen right after service, so you still need to have you skills sharp even if you have everything replaced every year.

flots

 

[Jim Lapenta]

I always service the SPG connection and o rings when I do a reg. Replacing the orings on the spool or even then entire spool should be part of the process. Those orings are less than 5 cents each. A spool is 3-4 bucks. I even include extra spool orings when I sell a reg set with an SPG. They shoould also be well lubed when they are changed. It's a dynamic connection.

 

[a-marshal]

Thanks all .. I know the regs themselves were serviced, I guess I'll be taking my wifes SPG back in to get hers done..