Regulators for Dummies

[DKB01]

Looks like your original questions have been answered......good luck and keep learning. Diving is a great sport!

DB

 

[Oldbear]

Oh man, here we go again....where does this nonsense come from? I guess the dive gear/instruction industry is really doing a good job of brainwashing people into thinking that their life depends on A)buying expensive gear and B)having it serviced incessantly by someone with potentially one day of 'certification'.

No offense, but didn't you pay attention in your OW class when they were teaching you the buddy system, air sharing, you know, little details like that? And maybe you could enlighten us about how regulator failure results in no air being available and subsequent death. Has it ever happened to you? Why aren't you dead, then?

Halocline...no offense taken...this is just an internet forum with many opinions and I try and keep those in perspective.:admingreet:

Yes I did pay attention in my OW course. I have had the need to share air with anther diver once before. I also was left to fend for myself by a DM during the deep dive portion of my AOW. The DM took the group to the deep location, but mis-judged the distance from the boat to the dive site. Once he realized that he was short on air he abandonded his group and me (his dive buddy). I ran out of air on my way back to the boat. Luckily for me I was on the surface this time. I learned some valuable lessons that trip.

You also mentioned that the service might be conducted my an inexperienced technician...I agree wholeheartedly. I took both my daughter's and my regs in for servicing from the LSD that I purchased them from and within a month of her doing her DM course hers fell apart and mine had an internal setting too loose and I was going thru too much air. Since then I have changed service departments and have had excellent service.

The accident forum has accounts where divers paniced and died when they ran out of air...so it happens, whether it be by mis-use, or equipment failure. My whole take on adhering to the manufacture's recommendations on annual services is to reduce risk...my risk. Until someone can prove that not having the manufacture's recommende service is safer than having it performed, I will have it done and recommend that others have it done as well.

 

[halocline]

I took both my daughter's and my regs in for servicing from the LSD that I purchased them from and within a month of her doing her DM course hers fell apart and mine had an internal setting too loose and I was going thru too much air.

My whole take on adhering to the manufacture's recommendations on annual services is to reduce risk...my risk. Until someone can prove that not having the manufacture's recommende service is safer...

First of all, thank you for taking my rant in good cheer, it speaks well of you as a person.

The example you provided that I referenced above demonstrates clearly two things that run counter to your earlier positions:

1. That having regulators serviced by the dealer can (and unfortunately often does) result in a greater likelihood of failure than does leaving a well-working regulator alone.
2. That regulator failures can and do happen, and people survive all the time. Dive behavior is what determines safety, not equipment. If regulator failure were in fact life threatening, don't you think that the technicians working on them would have a rigorous, peer-reviewed licensing procedure?

 

[mathauck0814]

First of all, thank you for taking my rant in good cheer, it speaks well of you as a person.

The example you provided that I referenced above demonstrates clearly two things that run counter to your earlier positions:

1. That having regulators serviced by the dealer can (and unfortunately often does) result in a greater likelihood of failure than does leaving a well-working regulator alone.
2. That regulator failures can and do happen, and people survive all the time. Dive behavior is what determines safety, not equipment. If regulator failure were in fact life threatening, don't you think that the technicians working on them would have a rigorous, peer-reviewed licensing procedure?

Get your regs serviced when they need servicing (e.g., at the first sign that they're not performing optimally or are having issues with seals, etc). Carry spares so you don't get caught with your pants down when your reg craps out on you in the middle of a trip. Spares are also good so that you can keep diving when you send the others out for servicing. Can't own too many regs, though I don't believe that servicing them is always as necessary at the clip that manufacturers recommend (or that the person doing the service necessarily gets it right and back in your hands in any kind of good shape, having had a few newly serviced regs come back with issues).

It's a personal decision, I know a lot of very serious divers who dive their regs until they need service and then sell them and get new ones. I know a lot of very serious divers who service their own. I even know a few that adhere to the annual service bit. I don't know if any of them are coming out ahead of the others, but there seems to be several schools of thought on the matter.

 

[Zung]

If I may digress back on topic for a while:

• The HOG's are certainly a good thing... for the US, because of the availability of service training and parts. Elsewhere, their value proposition is not so strong. Btw they're specially tweaked versions of ODS from Taiwan; maybe you can find the original versions locally.
• Among the more popular brands, my favorite is the Scubapro G250V, possibly mated with a MK11 first if budget is an issue. The Aqualung Titan XL and the entry-level Apeks are also good value for money, but they breathe just a tiny bit less well than the SP, IMHO

Now back to the off topic stuff, I think a good service interval is around 100 dives or 3 years, whichever comes first. Wear and tear on the soft parts determine the 1st criterium and the degradation of the lubricant the second. In case of doubt, and for general peace of mind, invest in an Intermediate Pressure gauge (20 bucks) and apply couv's commandments. I do it before every dive trip and I never have any major gear related problem, except for camera drowning, but that's a different story...

And yes, you're supposed to know some emergency techniques such as buddy breathing, emergency ascend, and breathing off a free flowing reg. Your life is seldom at stake.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Halocline already mentioned this, but it is worth repeating. This book should be in every diver's library:

SCUBA REGULATOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR by Vance Harlow

Buying this book may have been the best money I've spent in >30 years of diving. Even if you have no intention of ever servicing your own regulator. It removes the mystery (and fear) surrounding the "black art" of regulator service and repair.

Best wishes.

 

[hongrace]

Hi Cosmographer,

There is one truly competent tech who can service HOG regs no problem in HK. I have 4 HOG 1st stages and 8 HOG 2nd stages. I do my own servicing but if I screw up something, he is the one I will call straight away. He is also the distributor of the Taiwanese company who makes most of the tech regs these days (you get the picture?).

 

[Cosmographer]

Do I get the picture? I'm not sure I do, actually. Are you giving hints as to the identity of this person? Is there something that prevents you from providing more details?