Which regs are the cheapest for annual service?

[KD8NPB]

Any Aqualung / Apeks regulator:
If you purchase from an authorized dealer and you have it inspected one year, serviced the next, you get free parts for life. All you have to pay is the labor / consumables (tribolube, cleaning solution).

If you have an Apeks regulator or AL Legend, that translates to about $50-$60 in parts you save per service.

I have a couple guys who have stuck with this program for many many years.

 

[beaverdivers]

So do some regs/brands have a reputation for being more thrifty in the maintenance department?

Simple unbalanced piston 1st stage regulators are the least expensive. But don't perform as well as high performance regs.

Balanced diaphragm 1st stages are the most expensive.

As far as 2nd stages, simple unbalanced downstream valves are the least expensive, but again are harder to breathe.
Adjustable Air Balanced Flow Valve 2nd stages are more expensive, however perform much better.

 

[Scared Silly]

The cheapest way almost anymore is to buy a reg dive it for 4-5 years and then sell it. I know of several people who started doing that. They inspect it every year and when ready for service they sell it.

 

[halocline]

The cheapest way almost anymore is to buy a reg dive it for 4-5 years and then sell it. I know of several people who started doing that. They inspect it every year and when ready for service they sell it.

That might be a good way to go for most divers, especially occasional divers that have no interest in learning how to service their own regs or in buying used regulators. It's also the most hands-off approach, you don't ever have to deal with a service tech that may or may not be competent. Judging from many of the stories about bad regulator service on this forum, there are lots of incompetent ones.

But the cheapest way, by far, is to buy used regulators that can use aftermarket seats and standard o-rings, a few tools, and do it yourself. And you do not have to sacrifice performance. As an example, a MK5 or 10 can use a generic HP seat that costs a few dollars, paired with a 109 2nd stage that uses 2 o-rings and a generic seat (that can be stamped out of EPDM for less than 1 cent/seat), would cost about $5 to service (a generous guess) and could easily go 3 years+ between service. Or you could really splurge and convert the 109 to balanced and rely on aftermarket mushroom seats. SP does (or did) sell those seats separately as well, for about $3/seat. So you'd have a one-time cost of a s-wing poppet, balance chamber, and spring, maybe $20 total, and an additional $3 per rebuild. And these are very high performance regulators.

The 'parts for life' programs are not money savers at all. The manufacturers simply inflate the cost of rebuild kits to a ridiculous price to give consumers the illusion they're saving large amounts of money by not paying $20-30 for a few o-rings and a plastic seat every year.