Scubapro is at present the only company still doing the "free parts for life" program. A few other companies have free parts programs but they phase out after X number of years. Scubapro has gotten very picky with the 12 month thing. They used to allow dealers some lattitude, so that if you came in 13-14 months after the last service, the dealer could still get new parts. But they have recently gotten very picky and will refuse to reimburse dealers even if the customer is only a month late. But the good news is that they do let you rehabilitate the lapse in service - all the customer needs to do is pay for parts for that service and they they are back in the program as long as they stay on the 12 month schedule.
So, if you drop out of diving for a few years, not getting an SP reg serviced has little impact as you can rehab the warranty program for less than the cost of 2 or 3 services you did not need.
Your mileage may vary with other brands.
As for not servicing a reg, there are pros and cons:
1. First stages store with pressure off with the seat off the orifice, so no wear or engraving of the seat occurs. But the lubricants can potentially dry out.
Silicone grease over the course of a few years does get a bit thicker, but more importantly in many designs with unsealed ambient chambers, it collects or traps dirt, salt, water, etc so year or two old silicone in a reg can be really disgusting stuff that is no longer doing much lubricating. If the reg is freshly serviced, stored totally dry, is clean and kept in a large zip lock, could have a shelf life of a decade and probably still perform well. The silicone in some areas may be a little thicker and stickier than normal, but the reg would probably function ok.
Christolube I have noted tends to dry much quicker and after a year or two seems to be mostly a white PTFE looking base with not a whole lot of 'moisture' left in it. Not hard, but not exactly soft and greasy feeling either. So again, I think if the first stage is serviceed then stored dry and clean in a baggy, it coudl eb re-assembled and put back in service after long term storage and still e ok, but if stored in open air maybe not.
2. Most second stages when stored with the pressure off, will leave the seat in contact with the orifice and a seating groove develops and if this becomes excessive it will leak. So for long term storage you would want to back off the orifice to relieve pressure or use some feature to slightly depress the purge to keep the seat from developing an excessive groove. And again you'd wnat to store it in a baggy after it is serviced, cleaned and dried.
3. Hoses are best stored straight or lightly coiled and you want to protect them from extended exposure to sunlight and/or ozone. (don't store them near electric motors or generators or near natural gas appliances.) Many small reg bags result in them being too tightly coiled.
At the other extreme, a reg used a lot may not go a full year between services. I used to do maybe 150 dives per year with most of them being at least 60 minutes or more in duration and I found that many regs needed service after about 100 hours of use regardless of the calendar months that had elapsed.
So if you skip services your mileage will vary depending on how often you use it, whether you use it in salt or fresh water, how well you rinse it, how well you maintain it and how carefully you store it. Then there are things beyond your control. For example a single trip per year with only one dive in cozumel where you unknowingly get a tank with some water in can over the next couple years before you get it serviced can cause you some serious problems if you missed the signs at the time (wet filter, rust or oxidation on the filter, etc).
So, if you drop out of diving for a few years, not getting an SP reg serviced has little impact as you can rehab the warranty program for less than the cost of 2 or 3 services you did not need.
Your mileage may vary with other brands.
As for not servicing a reg, there are pros and cons:
1. First stages store with pressure off with the seat off the orifice, so no wear or engraving of the seat occurs. But the lubricants can potentially dry out.
Silicone grease over the course of a few years does get a bit thicker, but more importantly in many designs with unsealed ambient chambers, it collects or traps dirt, salt, water, etc so year or two old silicone in a reg can be really disgusting stuff that is no longer doing much lubricating. If the reg is freshly serviced, stored totally dry, is clean and kept in a large zip lock, could have a shelf life of a decade and probably still perform well. The silicone in some areas may be a little thicker and stickier than normal, but the reg would probably function ok.
Christolube I have noted tends to dry much quicker and after a year or two seems to be mostly a white PTFE looking base with not a whole lot of 'moisture' left in it. Not hard, but not exactly soft and greasy feeling either. So again, I think if the first stage is serviceed then stored dry and clean in a baggy, it coudl eb re-assembled and put back in service after long term storage and still e ok, but if stored in open air maybe not.
2. Most second stages when stored with the pressure off, will leave the seat in contact with the orifice and a seating groove develops and if this becomes excessive it will leak. So for long term storage you would want to back off the orifice to relieve pressure or use some feature to slightly depress the purge to keep the seat from developing an excessive groove. And again you'd wnat to store it in a baggy after it is serviced, cleaned and dried.
3. Hoses are best stored straight or lightly coiled and you want to protect them from extended exposure to sunlight and/or ozone. (don't store them near electric motors or generators or near natural gas appliances.) Many small reg bags result in them being too tightly coiled.
At the other extreme, a reg used a lot may not go a full year between services. I used to do maybe 150 dives per year with most of them being at least 60 minutes or more in duration and I found that many regs needed service after about 100 hours of use regardless of the calendar months that had elapsed.
So if you skip services your mileage will vary depending on how often you use it, whether you use it in salt or fresh water, how well you rinse it, how well you maintain it and how carefully you store it. Then there are things beyond your control. For example a single trip per year with only one dive in cozumel where you unknowingly get a tank with some water in can over the next couple years before you get it serviced can cause you some serious problems if you missed the signs at the time (wet filter, rust or oxidation on the filter, etc).
I'll have my gears service again when I plan to dive.
