how many regs do you have?

[abyss_scuba]

As to what to do with a dry suit hose I only dive dry up here (well I have been known to dive wet once in a blue moon) So I keep a local dive set up and I have a travel set up, but thats just because I am lazy and don't want to bother changing hoses

As a dive shop owner I can skew the number but I will break it down to regs I own that are "personal" Sherwood Oasis, 2 Popsiedon Odins, Beachat VX10, a couple of Atomics, Apeks XTX200, a couple of Apeks flights, and a Apeks at20 and an odd assorment of odd balls I have picked up because I thought it would be cool.

As a small shop I own 15 Cressi AC10 balanced piston regulators and 15 MC balanced diaphragm reg and 10 AC2 unblanced piston regs.

.

 

[Bob DBF]

Thanks everyone, I guess there wouldn't be any entanglement risks if you tucked the hose in your bc.

Do you guys service all those 1st and 2nd stages yearly, or just the ones you use the most? I could see that getting pricey (unless of course you service them yourself)!!!

Although I do service my own regs most of the time, the real answer is to inspect the regs regularly and learn how to adjust the second stage will save a lot of $. No sense rebuilding a reg that doesn't need it. Somewhere Couv has a checklist, if I find it again Ill post it here, if someone doesn't beat me to it.



Bob
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I swear its not hoarding dear, I'm just keeping an adequate stock of equipment and parts. It's life support, you know.

 

[Tug]

I service my regs as needed, usually once every few years. Most of my regs are HOG's partially because the company supports consumers servicing their own regs.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Service them myself when they need it. Yearly or even service every two years is rarely required on well cared for regs used recreationally. Unless you are doing a few hundred dives a year. For the average recreational diver doing less than 50 dives a year and taking good care of their regs every year is more likely to result in a problem as a result of the service.

Also it is not uncommon for a second stage to be the only one that needs rebuilt due to the seat material being softer than that of the HP seat. So you don't need to rebuild everything. Check the 1st stage, clean it and adjust if necessary. Then just rebuild the second.

Where people get messed up is thinking that because they get "free" parts if they bring the reg in every year is that it is needed. It's not. And those parts are not free. You paid for them up front. The rebuild every year or two years is as much about getting you in the shop to look at the new stuff as it is anything necessary with your regs.

 

[Bob DBF]

I found it!

Could a MOD please make this thread a sticky?

Here is a regulator checklist put together by the Usual Suspects: LuisH, Mattboy, Awap, and Couv and an assortment of others we stole ideas from. We hope this helps.

Regulator checklist and inspection: Here are a few checks that everyone is capable of doing.

1. Inspect for external corrosion or physical damage to any parts including hoses. Pay particular attention to the hose to fitting interface for any signs of damage.

2. Inspect the first stage inlet filter for discoloration, particulate matter or any other signs of water intrusion.

3. Check each hose connection to see that it is at least hand tight. It is an essential check after service or reassembly and a good check to make occasionally after that.

4. Next, watertight checks are also very easy to perform and check the integrity of the second stage housing. Connect the regulator to a tank and without turning on the air (or if you have a good tight dust cap you can use that instead) draw a breath on the second stage and hold it for a few seconds. Do not draw too hard as it will collapse the exhaust valves and cause a leak. Does the regulator hold vacuum? If so, then it is probably watertight.

5. Check for air leaks by putting regulator on a tank and with the pressure on, first listen to any leaks, but the definite answer comes by submerging all parts of the regulator in a water tub or similar container. Check the first stage, the second stages, the pressure gauge, and all the hoses with special attention to all the fittings. Check around any hose connections as well as all around the first stage and out the mouthpiece of all second stages for small bubbles.

6. Intermediate pressure check. Get a scuba regulator intermediate pressure gauge: Intermediate Pressure Gauge Plugs Into The BCD Quick Disconnect Hose from LeisurePro.com

Find out what the IP range should be for your regulator (most are ~ 135 +/- 10 psi.) Connect your regulator to a tank and open the tank valve. Connect the IP gauge to the LP inflator hose, and lightly press the purge a few times to "cycle" the regulator.

The intermediate pressure should dip whenever the air is flowing, and immediately return to the acceptable range and remain steady. If it tends to climb (creep) that indicates there is a problem with the first stage that must be corrected. It's not a bad idea to leave the regulator pressurized with the IP gauge connected for several minutes to check for slow IP creep.

7. Another check is the cracking pressure of each second stage. Partially fill your kitchen sink and immerse the pressurized regulator with the mouthpiece up. Air should begin to flow before the regulator gets more than 1 1/2 inches deep. If the mouthpiece is submerged before the regulator starts to flow, the cracking pressure is probably too high.

8. A tiny bit more advanced, remove second stage diaphragm cover to inspect for any corrosion, damage, sand or any other contaminants. Clean sand and contaminants as necessary. On some regulators it is very easy to open and inspect second stages, but not all. It is a good idea to learn how to open your second stage to clean it. Note: If you do not feel comfortable opening up your second stage, this step can be omitted.

These simple checks can be done by anyone. They should be done prior to any dive trip, not to mention when new out of the box or after shop service.

Check early, check often.

Some very good sources of information:
Vance Harlow's (Oxyhacker on Scuba Board and elsewhere) "SCUBA Regulator Maintenance Repair." SCUBA REGULATOR MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR by Vance Harlow
The Scuba Tools book, "Regulator Savvy" Scuba Tools

Bob
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Even a blind pig gets an acorn once in a while.

 

[scubastingray]

Personally I just swap the hose on and off when I need. typically these changes are made seasonally or before a trip, and once every 10 dives or so is okay. I do need a second drysuit hose though, as switching it between a doubles and singles reg is obnoxious. Damn you proprietary SI tech hoses!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Thanks everyone, I guess there wouldn't be any entanglement risks if you tucked the hose in your bc.

Do you guys service all those 1st and 2nd stages yearly, or just the ones you use the most? I could see that getting pricey (unless of course you service them yourself)!!!

Most of us that own many sets as a collection hobby do service the stuff ourselves.
Many of my regs are older and as such dive shops tell me they are obsolete. 99% of the time this is completely false. It takes a little learning to know what to collect and how to obtain parts and service them, but for reg collecting to be practical DIY service is almost mandatory. Plus, doing it ourselves we know what has been done, the condition of the innards, and we have the final say as to how they have been tuned, etc. It's not that hard at all and quite rewarding and liberating.
DIY reg service isn't for everyone, many prefer just to send the stuff in and have it serviced so they don't have to deal with it. The only problem with that is many people tend to get programmed by greedy dive shop service depts to do unnecessary services at too short an interval. Every time your reg is torn down and serviced it stresses the internal parts and connections and can lead to premature damage and wear caused by some animal in the back of a dive shop with heavy hands.
You just never know, but if you do it yourself you know.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I recently got into drysuit diving and was wondering if folks typically have a reg setup for diving wet and diving dry, or do you just swap hoses? I guess I don't like the idea of having my drysuit inflator hose floating around when diving wet, but maybe that is an irrational fear?

It's easy enough to swap out a hose ... but since my only wetsuit diving is when I travel to warm water locales I have a dedicated reg set for travel. It's a yoke setup, since almost everywhere tropical offers only yoke-style tanks.

I have 11 reg sets overall. Two yokes (travel and pool), two DIN for sidemount, two DIN for argon bottles, one dedicated for analyzing (just a first stage, SPG, LP hose for analyzer, and LP hose for releasing pressure), and four DIN singles reg sets (two long-hose and two standard recreational).

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[tbone1004]

Embarrassingly enough my fiance was cleaning out my jeep and found two second stages that I had forgotten about entirely....
Here's the list
Set for backmount doubles-too lazy to remove the short HP hoses from my sidemount setup....
Set for sidemount
4 stage/deco sets
1 dedicated O2 set
1 argon set-which never actually has argon and lives on an AL30 in the back of my jeep and is used primarily for topping off air pressure in tires....
Every first stage except O2 has an inflator hose on it.

In your situation the most important thing is nothing should ever just float around for any reason ever. With that being said, the easiest solution to your conundrum is to buy a pair of these
Silicone Tank Strap
and stuff the hose in there while you are diving wet. This prevents any sort of floaty nonsense as well as the pain of having to make sure you don't lose the port plug and swapping them out every time you switch. All of my tanks have some sort of hose retainer on them for that reason, also makes it nice for keeping the reg hoses tucked in with deco/sidemount bottles.

 

[Nemrod]

Just the ones that work, by set I mean two second stages and one first stage. My go to single hose is the Conshelf XIVs and the AL Titan XLs backed up by the Scubapro 109s. My newest, brand new, made in the year of our Lord, 2014 in Wesly Chapel, Florida, USA are the amazing and unequaled (2) VDH Argonaut Krakens!

Single hose:

(6) Conshelf 14 sets, one is long hose, one is standard, two are configured for twin isolation tanks, two more for independent twin tanks
(2) Titan XL sets, one is long hose and the other is standard and both have Miflex hoses for travel
(1) Legend set, Miflex hoses for travel
(2) Tekna T2100 sets
(1)Tekna T2100B set
(2) Scubapro 109 sets, one is long hose and the other is standard
(1) Voit AMF MR12 set

Vintage single hose:

(1) Calypso J circa 1968, my second regulator
(4) Conshelf circa 1966-70

Double hose, modern:

(2) VDH Argonaut Kraken

Double hose, vintage or modified:

(1) Voit Navy
(1) Voit Navy Phoenix (RAM config) HPR
(1) USD round label Phoenix RAM HPR
(1) USD square label RAM Cyclone, HPR
(1) USD Mistral, my first regulator
(1) USD round label NOS RAM
(1) USD square label DA, original

Off the top of my head and about 50 more, or less, that kinda work, probably do not work, maybe never worked, kinda sorta.

N