Serviced and sat for almost 2 years

[Tom Smedley]

The question is warranty. If the reg was purchased new by you then you probably have a lifetime parts replacement warranty. If the reg is not serviced or inspected annually you lose the warranty. With only two years the dealer would probably honor the warranty if you brought it in. If it goes longer you will lose it or have to pay to have it reinstated. If its an old or second hand reg this is not as important. The parts warranty saves you a lot of money over the life of the reg....

 

[halocline]

The parts warranty saves you a lot of money over the life of the reg....

Not really. You end up paying about $80-100/year to keep the warranty going. A well cared for regulator can easily go 3-4 years between servicing, with 'normal' recreational use...i.e unless if you're a full time instructor using it every day or something like that.

But, if you plan on paying a dive shop to rebuild the reg every year, then yes, not paying for parts cuts that cost. The parts kits are often outrageously priced, primarily to give the impression that the warranty has greater value. If you can find a reasonable source for parts, mostly o-rings, and do the service yourself, then you really start to save money. I have a few-too-many regulators, and if I were to follow the 'industry guideline' of having each one 'professionally' serviced at an authorized dealer annually regardless of use or care, I'd be spending well over $1000/yr warranty or no, for something that is completely needless.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Not really. You end up paying about $80-100/year to keep the warranty going. A well cared for regulator can easily go 3-4 years between servicing, with 'normal' recreational use...i.e unless if you're a full time instructor using it every day or something like that.

But, if you plan on paying a dive shop to rebuild the reg every year, then yes, not paying for parts cuts that cost. The parts kits are often outrageously priced, primarily to give the impression that the warranty has greater value. If you can find a reasonable source for parts, mostly o-rings, and do the service yourself, then you really start to save money. I have a few-too-many regulators, and if I were to follow the 'industry guideline' of having each one 'professionally' serviced at an authorized dealer annually regardless of use or care, I'd be spending well over $1000/yr warranty or no, for something that is completely needless.

Yes.

In my case, I did the math awhile ago and if I did not do my own servicing it would be > $600.00 year to maintain warranties.

The savings by coming over to the DIY "dark side" more than paid for the tools, books guages AND repair kits in just the first year.....

The fact I now have more regulator sets than I could ever need I blame directly on the "usual suspects" on this very board.... You all provided me with inspiration, advice and help.... so indeed all of you are to "blame" for acting as "enablers"

That is my story, and I'm sticking to it (while my wife is in earshot that is ).

Best wishes.

 

[Couv]

Glad to help. :mooner:

 

[cloudswinger]

The question is warranty. If the reg was purchased new by you then you probably have a lifetime parts replacement warranty. If the reg is not serviced or inspected annually you lose the warranty. With only two years the dealer would probably honor the warranty if you brought it in. If it goes longer you will lose it or have to pay to have it reinstated. If its an old or second hand reg this is not as important. The parts warranty saves you a lot of money over the life of the reg....

I bought it new in 97. I have not had it serviced yearly, there was a stretch of about 10 years where we didn't dive. I recently found out that they(Tusa) are no longer supporting it(no new parts!), and have an exchange program to swap it for new regulators. I'm debating whether that's worth the money because I did find parts for it on ebay, and the rebuild was done after the exchange program was put in place, so parts are floating around.

 

[Randy43068]

I would service it. O-rings will take a "set" in two years if you're using the reg or not.

Cost isn't a big factor for me because I service my own regulators and equipment, so take my advice for what it's worth.

If I had a reg overhauled in Oct 2009, and for various reasons didn't use it until now, do I need to get it serviced again? It's been stored indoors, no sign of corrosion, worked fine on a recent dive. How soon should I get it serviced again?

 

[flots am]

If I had a reg overhauled in Oct 2009, and for various reasons didn't use it until now, do I need to get it serviced again? It's been stored indoors, no sign of corrosion, worked fine on a recent dive. How soon should I get it serviced again?

Depends on the design of the reg.

Some second stages seats will become deformed over time and leak or tend to freeflow.

If it were my reg, I'd give it a try and if it behaves properly go diving. If not, I'd take it in and get it adjusted.

flots.

 

[halocline]

If it's working fine (you said it worked fine on a recent dive) there is no reason to service it. If you really like the regulator, buy some extra rebuild kits on ebay and you should be fine for several years. I would be cautious about a trade in program; they're usually not a very good deal. If you decide to get a new regulator, there are better options than a new TUSA; a used SP MK10 or MK11 or MK20 with a G250 or G200B or S600 or S555 2nd stage, for example. I mentioned those because it's likely SP will continue to support them for decades; there are just so many out there. But there are many other options as well.

 

[Shftrdog]

Def. check it out, but if you are looking at keeping your free parts from the manufature then you should get it serviced