It is recommended that one services their BC or reg or whatever annually. Would this period change according to use?
If one dives once a month and another dives 2-3 times a week, is it still just an annual service for both or would the one who dives more, get a servicing more often?
e.g. In tennis, it is "typically" best to change your racquet strings as many times a year as you play in a week. This can vary on style of play.
awap
June 26th, 2006, 07:30 PM
If you want to maintain your warrenty, service annually. If you aqre not worried about the warrenty, buy a backup reg and IP guage, and service it at the first sign of a problem that you can't correct. Don't be too surprised if that is 3 years or more with good care and cleaning
divinginn
June 26th, 2006, 08:44 PM
i dont get the servicing the bc anually,with a air 2 or simular i understand,but how complex are bcs,it holds air or it doesnt,inflater starts leaking get it serviced.
ScubaCrow
June 26th, 2006, 08:59 PM
You're right - its just life support equipment. The $100 a year it requires to service BCD and reg can be better spent on a new light or two tank dive.
Seriously, why gamble, at $100, I view it as life insurance.
pdoege
June 26th, 2006, 09:02 PM
I fix things when they stop working well, not before.
Peter
awap
June 26th, 2006, 09:42 PM
You're right - its just life support equipment. The $100 a year it requires to service BCD and reg can be better spent on a new light or two tank dive.
Seriously, why gamble, at $100, I view it as life insurance.
If that is the rational, why not service twice a year? Or quarterly? Or monthly? After all, it is life support:confused:
Boat Chick
June 26th, 2006, 10:12 PM
We service our regs annually, same time every year regardless of how many dives we've done that year. Our LDS does not service BC's, and my husband is a handy kind of guy, so we inspect them thoroughly a couple times a year, and inspect them before a dive trip (if we are going out of the state or country). Also test our regs before each dive. Hook them up to the tanks the night before, check everything out, then tear it all down and load it in the car or boat. Also check the primary and octo before each dive.
Another thing we do about every 5th or 6th dive is when doing the safety stop at 15 feet for 3 minutes, swap out the primary reg with the octo and breathe off of it for a bit.
Jason Ooi
June 26th, 2006, 10:20 PM
Services annually or before your diving trip
Mr Carcharodon
June 26th, 2006, 10:23 PM
It is recommended that one services their BC or reg or whatever annually. Would this period change according to use?
If one dives once a month and another dives 2-3 times a week, is it still just an annual service for both or would the one who dives more, get a servicing more often? .
Some parts like the low pressure seats in the second stages degrade over time because of the forces that act on them when they are not in use. In the case of the LP seat the poppet spring presses the LP seat up against the orifice. The seat cold flows over time causing it to change dimensionally. Which in turn causes it to go out of adjustment. In this case the 1 year guideline is probably rather conservative. You could just readjust your regulator, but the manufacturers would probably argue if you go the bother of taking it apart why not put in new parts.
Of course if you beach dive and have sand pounded into your gear waiting one year may really be asking for trouble.
The "its life support equipment" line borders on a scare tactic. Its not like if you wait 13 months that any thing will be dramatically different than it was a month before.
BIGSAGE136
June 26th, 2006, 10:31 PM
Equipment, especially your gas system needs certain lubrication that can dry out depending on conditions. Your regs need to be checked even they have had little or no use.
Your depth gauge, valve seats, o-rings, hoses, inflator valve, dump valves, all need regular attention.
They quit at the damndest times. ;)
Mr Carcharodon
June 26th, 2006, 11:31 PM
Equipment, especially your gas system needs certain lubrication that can dry out depending on conditions.
Really? The most common greases used in scubagear like Dow 7 or Cristolube appear to be high quality silicones or flourocarbons with low volitile contents. So what is there to dry out? Is this based on observation or a through the grapevine bit of knowledge? Remember original poster was asking about what needs service in equipment that has not been used much.
BIGSAGE136
June 27th, 2006, 09:49 AM
Really? The most common greases used in scubagear like Dow 7 or Cristolube appear to be high quality silicones or flourocarbons with low volitile contents. So what is there to dry out? Is this based on observation or a through the grapevine bit of knowledge? Remember original poster was asking about what needs service in equipment that has not been used much.
I guess you can call it the grapevine. I can also add personal experience.
Bobby_M
June 27th, 2006, 10:00 AM
To be honest, I have a real problem taking a perfectly breathing reg in for a service from which is may come back with a problem. I have an MK20/S550 that I've been diving for about 3.5 years without a service (avg about 8 dives a year between salt and fresh). I am going to bring it in now though because I know I'm pushing it.
chrisch
June 27th, 2006, 10:49 AM
To be honest, I have a real problem taking a perfectly breathing reg in for a service from which is may come back with a problem. ....
According to DAN most regulator problems occur in the first few dives after servicing.
Nothing in a regulator "dries out" The O rings do deteriorate over a very long time.
The answer to the OP is how well do you look after your gear? If you throw it wet with seawater into a bag at the end of the dive and leave it there until the next dive then it needs a regular service. If you soak the reg, dry it and store it properly then it does not need an annual service. The industry assumes that you don't look after it.
A BC is a bag of wind - not sure what you are having "serviced". The inflator/dump sticks on some poor quality models. Junk it for a good one and rinse it with fresh water after each dive. There are no other moving parts.
Chris
Deuces
June 27th, 2006, 11:00 AM
Thanks for all the replies.
What I was gunning for was whether I should service my gear more than the recommended once a year because I try to dive at least twice a week.
I definitely do look after my gear, considering the $$$ I put into this stuff. I rinse everything thoroughly at the end of each dive day. My BC gets dunked and I even rinse, shake, and flush fresh water through the bladder. And everything else is treated well, I would hope.
:D
LavaSurfer
June 27th, 2006, 11:07 AM
According to DAN most regulator problems occur in the first few dives after servicing.
Nothing in a regulator "dries out" The O rings do deteriorate over a very long time.
The answer to the OP is how well do you look after your gear? If you throw it wet with seawater into a bag at the end of the dive and leave it there until the next dive then it needs a regular service. If you soak the reg, dry it and store it properly then it does not need an annual service. The industry assumes that you don't look after it.
A BC is a bag of wind - not sure what you are having "serviced". The inflator/dump sticks on some poor quality models. Junk it for a good one and rinse it with fresh water after each dive. There are no other moving parts.
Chris
Don't ya know, you need to PAY somebody $$$ to tell you it still holds air. That way you feel better while you dive. Sheesh! I thought you would know that ;)
LavaSurfer
June 27th, 2006, 11:16 AM
Thanks for all the replies.
What I was gunning for was whether I should service my gear more than the recommended once a year because I try to dive at least twice a week.
I definitely do look after my gear, considering the $$$ I put into this stuff. I rinse everything thoroughly at the end of each dive day. My BC gets dunked and I even rinse, shake, and flush fresh water through the bladder. And everything else is treated well, I would hope.
:D
IMHO, If you want to maintain the warrenty then do as the Manufacturer suggests.
I was told by my mentor that, more often than not, a reg will start giving signs of failure before it fails. I noticed in one reg I had that it was leaking where it shouldn't be leaking, I had it serviced and it had some corrosion inside. Must have gotton wet at some point and the o-rings started to go. It wasn't a year old. Since then I am more careful.
If you take care of your equipment and dive often, you will know when its starting to have a act up. i.e. Leaks, Breaths harder, freeflows or bypasses all the time, honks, squeeks, clicks etc. etc. etc. Then get it serviced. I also look at the inlet filter for ANY corrosion, a good sign your going to have a problem very soon.
I DON"T LET MY WIFE RINSE MY GEAR! She forgot the rinse cap once! OUCH! Caused the above mentioned probplem.
I rinse well after every dive and allow my gear to dry completely before hanging it in its closet. The BC is rinsed inside and out until I cannot taste salt in the water from the inside. As for the reg, I usually hang with the rinse cap holding a moisture muncher to the filter to pull any condensation out. Why, Seemed like a good idea.
offroaddiver
June 27th, 2006, 11:16 AM
i've just seen that the new atomic T2 the warrantee only requires servicing every 2 years. I haven't sent off my computer for testing in quite a while. Don't have any regs or a bc yet but I've seen the following rule of thumb before ... quite possibly on this site.
1 year or 100 dives which ever comes first.
I've met people who do more than 1000+ dives in a year so I guess just take them in for annual inspection and take a look at the pieces they took out and see whether or not they are worn to an extreme or not.
Then again when most of us were starting out we dove on rented gear....who knows how long it had been since it was serviced.
Scottri
June 27th, 2006, 12:26 PM
I personally stick with the manufacturers recommended service interval. I don't see any point in pushing my luck. I've worked on many regs that looked good as new after not being serviced for a long time and I've seen some that are only a year old that looked like crap. A lot of it has to do with how well you take care of it, where and what you dive in and other factors.
hilti
June 27th, 2006, 04:35 PM
This question has been on my mind lately as I have increased my own time in the water quite a bit in the last year. I'm fortunate to be able to dive a variety of dive sites numerous times or at least once a week and want to [U]know that my regulators are reliable at depth[U]. The BC is pretty simple and I'm confident that it and the other items are fine based on my own observations, the regulators, however, are really the "heart" of the system and since I wouldn't know what I was looking at upon disassembly, or even know how to begin to break them down, I have to rely on qualified personnel. Annually last year I logged fifty something hours, have noticed nothing different about the performance of any of the regulators but still would appreciate that piece of mind (or at least have researched and done the all possible) so the equipment in mind is "reliable". The work that I do is measured in hours as is the service life of alot of the equipment I deal with, would it be simpler to say that well maintained, properly cared for equipment should be serviced measured by hours? (understanding that the annual inspection is conducted in addition to) If this sounds correct can anyone tell me what those hours are? Or, if I'm all wet (which I definately do not mind) let me know Thanx up front
ScubaCrow
June 27th, 2006, 05:53 PM
If that is the rational, why not service twice a year? Or quarterly? Or monthly? After all, it is life support:confused:
Simple, the professionals who designed and sell the equipment recommend it. If they err on the side or caution or just want my $100 a year - fine with me. I'll take their recommendations. After years flying in the Air Force, I don't gamble or wait until something doesn't "feel right". Mean time between failure is not something I wish to deal with. I've lost friends to maintenance issues and am not planning on joining them anytime soon. It is a personal decision.
Have a great day and dive safe.
awap
June 27th, 2006, 08:40 PM
Simple, the professionals who designed and sell the equipment recommend it. If they err on the side or caution or just want my $100 a year - fine with me. I'll take their recommendations. After years flying in the Air Force, I don't gamble or wait until something doesn't "feel right". Mean time between failure is not something I wish to deal with. I've lost friends to maintenance issues and am not planning on joining them anytime soon. It is a personal decision.
Have a great day and dive safe.
Some folks are happy to pay a lot more than that just for peace of mind. I find I get peace of mind by understanding my equipment; what can go wrong with it, how the chance of failure can be managed, the impact a failure may have, and how to deal with it. Regulators are a little different than aircraft. Since failure rates for regulators tend to increase right after a service, maybe you are more of a gambler than you realized. You get to be the test pilot for your newly serviced reg.
