Storage Time? Servicing Needed?

[wheezy]

Guys, this may sound dumb, and it's probably been asked before... and I should dive more often, and yada yaaa... I know I know... buuuuut

I haven't been diving in quite some time. My regs were just about new, less than 30 dives on them when I stopped diving. They've been stored in a nice cool dry place for a year (almost exactly a year actually).

Legend LX Supreme - what do you think? Is it Dangerous to use regs that have just been sitting around? I'm planning on a doing two mellow dives (less than 40') this weekend and don't really want to shell over the $100 to have them serviced for just these two dives.... and then have them sit for another year.

Wuddayathink?

 

[jonnythan]

Sell them and rent regs instead. Save you the money of servicing every year, plus you get a wad of cash for selling them.

Otherwise, get them checked out. Wouldn't want to ruin your only dive of the year with a reg that's freeflowing at the surface because an O-ring degraded.

 

[wheezy]

Sell them and rent regs instead. Save you the money of servicing every year, plus you get a wad of cash for selling them.

Otherwise, get them checked out. Wouldn't want to ruin your only dive of the year with a reg that's freeflowing at the surface because an O-ring degraded.

Ya, I already thought about it some more...... so true so true... AAAANNNND... I'm going to Kauai in September for three weeks and I'm sure I'll be wanting to dive while I'm there.

Off to the LDS to get bent over on a non warranty servicing.

 

[redacted]

Check IP, check cracking pressure, and check function. If all checks out, dive with confidence. If you can't do it, I would expect an LDS can do it in less than 15 minutes for about $20.

 

[cnctina]

Dive with them, I went 7 years between servicing on a $50 Dacor regulator.

 

[jonnythan]

My brother had a car that ran for 14,000 miles with no oil changes once...

Therefore....

 

[mxracer19]

Yeah bring a few orings and just go diving. Depending on the type of oring, light, heat, and chemicals degrade nylon, polyester, synthetics and latex as well as natural rubber. if you kept em dry and cool etc, id say theyre probably fine. Id dive with them.


-Matt

 

[mxracer19]

Better yet just sell them to me for dirt cheap. For the $100 that you'll give the shop to repair them, Ill pay you to relieve you of their burden. However I must then pay $100 so ultimately I'll lose out...but still...Id be glad to help out a fellow diver


-Matt

 

[Ann Marie]

You spent a bundle on a high quality reg.

The owner's manual recommends to have your reg serviced at least every year, depending on the type of diving you do.

I agree with jonnythan, if you are only going to do 2 dives a year sell them and rent instead.

Otherwise if you want to chance a malfunction at 40' and an emergency ascent...dive 'em.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Not much can happen ina first stage during storage as long as it was clean and dry when placed in storage. The mainspring in either a diaphragm or piston reg will keep the seat off the orifice so no excessive seating groove will develop and modern o-ring materials are pretty resistant to deterioration or to taking a set over time.

The second stage however can be a different story as in most regs there is at least come spring pressure forcing the seat against the orifice. This can result in a an excessive seating groove developing and can reult in a slight to not so slight freeflow.

But if you hook it up to a tank and no freeflow exists, it is probably ok. My advice then would be to take it in to the LDS for a flow test where they will check the IP and inhalation effort and in some cases adjust or tune the reg all for about $10-$20.

If on the other hand it freeflows when connected to a tank, your best bet is to take it in for an annual service. The second stage could possibly be adjusted to resolve the problem, but excessively high inhalation effort is almost always a side effect of using more spring pressure to stop a freeflow due to a worn seat.