Regular with a longer then normal service interval?

[Howie411]

Ok so this may sound like a odd question, I have an Aqualung Legend 1st/2nd Stage and Octo and I haven't been diving in 3 years yet I've paid about $350 in that time for service (1 function test, 2 rebuilds) to keep my regulator in warranty from Aqualung with free parts.

If I don't plan on diving a lot is it worth just buying a different regulator with a longer interval on service? Or is it worth not keeping up with the service and just pay for the parts when I do have it serviced (not sure what the cost of the part kit is).

 

[madamimadam]

350$ and two regulator rebuilds during a three-year dry-spell sounds ridiculously expensive to stay "in-warranty" so that you can receive free service kits. I'm not sure what Aqualung service kits run, but Scubapro seem to be between 25$ and 45$ for each stage (first, second, safe-second/octo).

To be required to have- and to pay for- two complete rebuilds during a single dry period doesn't make much sense to me, and seems wasteful of your money and of materials. It would make more sense to have your regs serviced and tested one time two or three months before you plan to get back in the water, whether three or ten years since your last dive.

To piggyback on the OP's question with another—has anyone here had in-warranty regulator work (in which parts were replaced and covered) done? Is that a common thing?

 

[Marie13]

AL/Apeks has a free parts for life program, which I assume what the OP is referring to. I used to own both AL and Apeks regs and parts were covered under warranty.

 

[Lorenzoid]

If you read some of the threads on this topic, you would see that some divers ignore service intervals or at least use them as only a loose gauge of when to have their regulators serviced. I'm a little more obsessive about it than they are, but it's interesting to note the different approaches. Regardless of service interval, it's useful to learn to use an IP gauge and otherwise to check for yourself whether your regulator is performing correctly. You might find that your regulator performs well for longer than the interval the manufacturer specifies, and you might then feel comfortable having it serviced at longer intervals. Sure, you pay for the parts and service. If you're not diving often, having it serviced annually for the sake of the "free parts" program seems like a waste to me.

 

[happy-diver]

I bought this used at cashies maybe ten years ago, it's spotless inside and out

It is still in the same condition and I would use it today without any hesitation

The hair on their balls should be burned with fire, so learn your regs or get out

World No.1 survives comeback to win US Open

'I'm so proud I could handle it'

wwos.nine.com.au

 

[BoltSnap]

The hair on their balls should be burned with fire, so learn your regs or get out

You're the master, no one on SB can take your place

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Getting it serviced just to keep the "free parts" when you are not using it means the parts are no longer free. Plus the fact that you actually paid for the "free parts" on the front end when you bought it. It just didn't say that.
I service regs when they need it. My customers send me regs and I do an inspection. If they don't need rebuilt, I don't do it. I only service brands that don't require an unnecessary rebuild just to keep you on the hook.
Free parts are designed to keep the dealer's cash drawer in good shape. An IP gauge is about 20 bucks and you can tell in 5 minutes with a cylinder and reg hooked up if you need to have it serviced.
Those service labor fees you paid when not using the reg would have covered one service with parts if you had it done when it was needed.
Stop falling for the BS. If the IP holds steady where it should and it's not free flowing from the second, it doesn't need rebuilt.

 

[admikar]

If you read some of the threads on this topic, you would see that some divers ignore service intervals or at least use them as only a loose gauge of when to have their regulators serviced. I'm a little more obsessive about it than they are, but it's interesting to note the different approaches. Regardless of service interval, it's useful to learn to use an IP gauge and otherwise to check for yourself whether your regulator is performing correctly. You might find that your regulator performs well for longer than the interval the manufacturer specifies, and you might then feel comfortable having it serviced at longer intervals. Sure, you pay for the parts and service. If you're not diving often, having it serviced annually for the sake of the "free parts" program seems like a waste to me.

Clearing some spider-web covered corner of our diving club, I found a regulator that was forgotten about. It was last serviced about 10 years ago and already had about 100 dives on it. Put it on a tank and it locked perfectly. So I decided to put it on a stage and test it. It worked just fine. But it was looking so bad I decided to service it nevertheless. Service intervals are making sense if you are doing hundreds of dives per year.

 

[Bigbella]

Most manufacturers now recommend about two years between overhauls -- a bit more frequently, if heavily used.

That said, I have a number of regulators that I serviced a few years back, that I haven't bothered to re-build, since they run well; their IP is solid; and they don't concern me, in the least.

The parts-for-life programs are a real fool's errand. I have yet to see a brand who hasn't or won't eventually renege upon them. You're taking it in the shorts, one way or another. Either you face inflated labor costs for an approved overhaul interim and the most expensive "free" kit of rubber bands and a sintered filter that you've ever seen; or, in the case of the old ScubaPro agreements (which they have apparently reneged upon), complex conditions and interval rules, that would make the IRS blush.

Friends overseas have really bristled at that, given that some claimed to have lost warranty coverage, through no real fault of their own, during the ongoing covidiocy and after serial temporary or or permanent store closures.

My advice, unless you are headed down the DIY route, is to establish a friendly relationship with your local dive shop, one which services your brand; and generally, many will cut you some slack, if you give them regular business. Just don't flaunt some latest new widget that you've just bought on Amazon.

Early on, before I worked on my own, a local shop charged me their price for rebuild kits, since I always had a number of our regulators serviced through them, for some years. Not a huge discount, but a nice gesture, nonetheless.

A friend who once ran a successful local dive shop (before retiring to Baja Sur), told me, years ago, that the failure rate was just as high and the all-too slim profit margin mirrored that of most independent restaurants -- that is to say, not too damn high . . .

 

[happy-diver]

May all your camels be blessed with beauty, and firm
plush humps with which to carry you through eternity

depilated or not

no one

can