Regs, to service or not to service

[chris kippax]

I am interested to hear people's real world experiences of not servicing their regs. I have two sets of regs, an aqualung Titan lx set and a Dive rite rg3100 set. The Dive rites have been serviced once in there lifetime and the aqualung Titan lx set have never been serviced. They are 6 years old and have completed over 300 dives and still breathe like the day I bought them and don't appear to be in need of servicing, IP is on spec and locks up, I have replaced the mouthpiece and hoses and soak in freshwater for 10 mins after every dive. Does anyone else have anything they want to share good or bad about reg servicing or lack of?

 

[_Ralph]

At the end of the day, it's your equipment.

You can follow the manufacturers recommendation of Time Frame/# of Dives.
OR
Send them for service when they need them (seats wear out, o-rings, leaks, look nasty, etc)

What I do (all my equipment, not just regs):
I do 99% of my own servicing of my equipment.

I have things I do yearly (9-18months): inspecting every consumable (batteries, O-Rings, Seals, Webbing, Zippers, etc)
I have things I do periodically (especially after/during heavy usage. 3-9months): (IP/Cracking effort on regs, Burn times on batteries, small maintenance, etc)
I have things I do before every day of diving: IP checks, O-rings, Visual on all gear
I have things I do when required: service any equipment that isn't happy ..

The only things I do like clockwork are tanks. I can't get fills if I don't!

I have them staggered by 6 months so half my tanks are up at a time. That way when I'm busy, or inactive and don't check, I still have something I can use and get fills.

To get to your original question, I only service my regs when they need it.
I periodically check the filter. When its way to gunky for my liking, I'll do a full service.
When the adjustment screw is turned nearly all the way in on a second stage, I'll do a full service.
When they look to gunky and dull on the outside, I'll do a full service.
When they aren't working properly, I'll do a full service.

_R

 

[KeithG]

I suggest you perform regular inspections and service as required. And by inspection I mean break them down to make sure that you do not have crud building up inside.

I have had 1 first stage destroyed by my LDS servicing it incorrectly. My other LDS failed to correct a problem that I identified and asked to be fixed. These happened when I used to drink the kool aid and bring my regs in for regular annual servicing. I no longer get them served on an annual basis.

 

[Searcaigh]

I don't have the knowledge or tools to do my own servicing but my regs are generally serviced every two years by my local LDS.

I have 6 sets of regs, 2 of which are for stages, another 2 regs are used for diving doubles, and the other two are used for diving singles or doubling up as a stage reg when required.

One thing I always do though is immediately after a service is that I dive locally to check everything is fine and don't go on an overseas trip with gear that has just been serviced.

 

[JIMMY PHILLIPS]

I guess I am chicken of the sea, probably because I am new to diving and lack experience to offer. I plan to stick with an annual service on the regs if nothing more than to make me feel better about my next dives. I think my Atomic only suggests every 2 years. I would love to service my own regs but want to be sure I am looking for the right things and know how to properly service. Any video suggestions I should look for?

 

[tbone1004]

mine only get serviced when they ask for it or after I buy them. I don't buy new regulators, so I will do a full service on them when I purchase them, and then let them go. I don't use O2 lube on anything except regs that require it which helps to extend the service life since the O2 lube breaks down with time.

at 6 years, it's probably getting to the point where I would consider servicing them with time because of the o-ring degradation, but if you've kept them out of the sun, they don't live in the garage or near a fridge, and are very diligent about keeping them clean, then you can probably go a bit longer, but mine usually start asking for something about 5-6 years and it's usually to be relubed and have some o-rings swapped out. Not necessarily all of them, and not necessarily a full rebuild, though by the time you do that, you may as well just buy the service kit and swap everything.

 

[halocline]

I am interested to hear people's real world experiences of not servicing their regs. I have two sets of regs, an aqualung Titan lx set and a Dive rite rg3100 set. The Dive rites have been serviced once in there lifetime and the aqualung Titan lx set have never been serviced. They are 6 years old and have completed over 300 dives and still breathe like the day I bought them and don't appear to be in need of servicing, IP is on spec and locks up, I have replaced the mouthpiece and hoses and soak in freshwater for 10 mins after every dive. Does anyone else have anything they want to share good or bad about reg servicing or lack of?

This is a good example of how regulators that are well taken care of can go a looooonnnnngggg time between rebuilds. It also demonstrates how unnecessary the stupid annual service requirements are for so many manufacturers.

Since you seem to be fully capable of inspecting your regs, I would just continue to use them. In addition to checking IP, I would do a simple vacuum test on the 2nd stages and check everything for slow leaks in a tub. At some point something will indicate a service is due.

Like t-bone, I also only buy used regulators, inspect and service (if needed) them when I get them, and then tend to forget about it until something indicates they need it. My sealed MK10s were an exception; they were working fine after several years of use, but I was curious about how the tribolube was holding up in the ambient chambers, so I took them apart to see. Turns out they were perfectly clean and there was no reason to have done it.

 

[Pullnglide]

I've got 4 Atomics and 1 OMS that I use on a regular basis. I had the atomics serviced after I'd had them for 4 years. 1 of the M1s had some corrosion on the inside even though it was sealed. The other 3 regs looked good. I didn't have them resealed. The OMS was about 3 years old when I had it done. It looked good inside but was starting to creep so I had it serviced. I've got a buddy with MK/25, G250s that went 7 years between service. They both started to creep so he rebuilt them both, they both definitely needed it especially spending most of their life in salt water.

 

[redacted]

if it ain't broke, don't fix it.

You might want to consider longer soaks at the end of dive trips. That 10 minute soak is enough to maintain reg performance but is not enough to remove salt from some unprotected threaded connections. These connections will come into play when someone tries to disassemble the regulator.

Why did you replace the hoses?

 

[northernone]

Serviced as needed. Similar to how often I rip my car's engine out to rebuild it.

Perhaps make this into a poll? There's a dozen threads already.