Regulator service - Do you get what you pay for?

[oly5050user]

I can't assemble Ikea properly regardless of how many bottles of wine I've had.

Regulator service: I like @Jim Lapenta 's approach. However on the average, paying $30 or less per stage (plus parts) is a steal. Think about it. One gets a regulator in for service. Pre-test it, breaks it down, cleans, drys, lubricate, rebuilds, tunes, and re-test every stage. To me, the cost of parts is where the thievery comes in. Not necessarily from the entity servicing your regs, but from the manufacturer who sells $2 worth of parts for $35.

Go with Sherwood. Parts are free. Schedule first year is just inspection checks for intermediate pressure second year is full annual service, stay on that schedule parts are free. Miss a year? No problem , pay for parts that year, and following year parts are free again reinstated as before

 

[MMM]

If you can hold off the servicing until your arrival in Cozumel, there is an excellent guy there who can fix pretty much any reg. Price is around $50 US, plus parts. The shop is called Cozumel Scuba Repair and the guy is Javier Polonco. Drop them an email to confirm that he can do them, and in what time frame. Everyone there speaks perfect English.

 

[Jcp2]

People used to do this with custom suits and trips to Hong Kong.

 

[J-Vo]

Several years ago I had some IP creep in one of my Apeks regs. I took it to my local LDS Aqua Lung dealer. They called and told me its fixed, but on the next dive it still had creep. This happened three times, with me telling them it had creep. I don't know how you can let a customer walk out the door with a reg that could potentially free flow at any minute.

I found the service guides online and bought all the tools and parts. When I disassembled that reg, nothing had been cleaned or replaced. I service all my own gear now and feel way more confidant about it then I ever did paying the LDS to do it.

1st and 2nd stage service costs about $40 and half hour of my time.

 

[Tracy]

Several years ago I had some IP creep in one of my Apeks regs. I took it to my local LDS Aqua Lung dealer. They called and told me its fixed, but on the next dive it still had creep. This happened three times, with me telling them it had creep. I don't know how you can let a customer walk out the door with a reg that could potentially free flow at any minute.

I found the service guides online and bought all the tools and parts. When I disassembled that reg, nothing had been cleaned or replaced. I service all my own gear now and feel way more confidant about it then I ever did paying the LDS to do it.

1st and 2nd stage service costs about $40 and half hour of my time.

You aren't using apeks service kits if they cost you $40 for first and second stage.

 

[Glenn Williams]

Hey all, I have a pretty new oceanreef full face mask (the space extender). Only have 8 dives on it in fresh water. It is not quite a year old.

Do any of you know where I can go in the DFW area for quality service, when it comes time to get it serviced?

Thanks
Glenn

 

[207diver]

A good service requires a fair amount of labor. You ask “do you get what you pay for” in short it depends who is doing the work. The shop I work for (part time) charges between $35-45 labor per stage depending on model. That may sound expensive but we are able to service almost any brand reg. using the correct parts kits and following all manufactures recommended procedures.

Pretested, torn down, cleaned, ALL o-rings, seats and damaged components replaced. Reassembled, torqued, and adjusted to spec.. Add in some time on the Quick-set, a water test for leaks and all final checks and adjustments. I’d say you get what you pay for. Unfortunately in a lot of shops this isn’t the case. Choose wisely.

 

[Centrals]

You aren't using apeks service kits if they cost you $40 for first and second stage.

He did not say they were!

 

[60plus]

two members of my dive club have regs that are over 20 years old and have never been serviced, yet they still work perfectly. The regs will have done an average of 50 or more dives per year, some dives in fresh water, some in salt. If dealer servicing of regs is an unreliable as it is for cars I would prefer to do my own. My own regs are 3 years old and I have no intention of having them serviced anytime soon. Don't disturb what is not broken. If I do get them serviced it will be at a dive outfit that maintains their own regs of the same make for their own hire / teaching use.

 

[60plus]

Thought I would add a bit more to my previous post.
I have never stripped a scuba reg but I have worked on a lot of welding regulators and LPG (liquified petroleum gas) vaporisers and similar pressure control equipment. They all work on pretty much the same principal, a valve controlled by a diaphragm (sheet of flexible material). As the delivery pressure reaches its required value the pressure on diaphragm causes it to move against a spring and close the valve. You can see this on plenty of YouTube videos. Unless you let contaminants into the reg I would guess the modern sealed first stages are highly reliable and will work for many years without servicing. The second stages handle such low pressures they are likely to be very reliable unless left full of corrosion causing saltwater. Very briefly regs fail in the following ways: wear on the moving parts and valve seats, corrosion on all parts, fatigue failure of parts, corrosion / blockage of inlet filter and diaphragms rupturing. I assume everyone knows to rinse saltwater off, but be aware that hard tap water can leave significant deposits. The cylinder valve should always be opened very very slowly, this greatly reduces stress and likelihood of failure of first stage diaphragm and associated parts.
The quality of plastic and elastomers is also crucial. It would be hoped that these are very good quality in scuba equipment. Very poor elastomers / plastics can fail in a year or two whereas top quality can be good after 30 years +.