Reg failures...

[Kryssa]

About to get my regs serviced and then off on a 3-day liveaboard next month. Not able to get a real dive in between the service and the trip, but could lay on the bottom of my 5 foot pool.

Would major issues show up in 5 feet of water? I'm terrified that I'll descend for the first dive on the trip and have a reg failure, then be stuck on the boat without being able to dive!

Thanks!

[TSandM]

Most issues following service will be leaks, and they should be apparent in any amount of water.

And most places you might go to dive will have rental gear, should yours entirely fail.

If I'd had my stuff serviced before a trip, I'd get in the pool with it, and if it appeared to work fine, I'd take it with me.

[mahjong]

Always a good idea to have a test run before getting on the boat, even (or esp) after a servicing. A five foot pool is certainly better than nothing. Doesn't hurt to tell your technician that you'll be going from shop to five foot pool to three-day live aboard. If you have quality gear, good hoses, and a good technician then you should be fine. But there are never any guarantees. If you can't bring along a backup reg setup, then definitely bring some good suntan lotion :cool2:.

[AfterDark]

If it works in your living room and doesn't leak you'll be good to go. You can put it in the pool mounted on the tank, air on to check for leaks. It is always handy to have backup gear on a live aboard. You might check with the op about renting a back-up for the trip, if only to put your mind at ease. Relax, enjoy, that's what diving is all about relaxing and enjoying.

[PfcAJ]

If it breaths, doesn't leak, and doesn't make any odd noises, its probably fine.

[elan]

I would test the IP and if it is fine would not service it before the trip. The failures might not appear right away. I had a reg serviced and it started leaking on the 3rd dive. IMHO if the reg is working fine (the IP is locking properly) I would not touch it.

[JahJahwarrior]

I can't recall a single time I've serviced a reg and had it fail soon after. I have only had one reg fail out of more than 10 that see regular use. That was a new reg, used for a few dives, but not rebuilt at that point.

Find out if your reg tech uses a machine to cycle the reg during service.

[fireted]

I agree with élan. If the ip is stable. Hold off on the service for the 3 days of diving you have planned and service after your trip.... Why tempt fate, unless the regs have been sittin In your boat bilge for the past year....

Just my .02 cents, your mileage may vary.

[elan]

I can't recall a single time I've serviced a reg and had it fail soon after. I have only had one reg fail out of more than 10 that see regular use. That was a new reg, used for a few dives, but not rebuilt at that point.

Find out if your reg tech uses a machine to cycle the reg during service.

I'm not using that tech any longer, so I would not bother ...

It was the first time for me too...

[RonFrank]

I see more regs fail after service. Most divers have their regs serviced too often. I service mine based on use not time. 100 dives or three years. This means the some divers have there regs serviced more than once a year.

[Kryssa]

Interesting idea... I wonder if there is any "wiggle room" in the 1 year deadline for the free parts. If so, I could drop it off after the liveaboard. The trip after will be diving from a land-based shop, so if I had issues, I could probably find someone to help me out...

[eelnoraa]

Not sure for Aeris and Oceanic, I spoke to Mark in Hollis, he said +/- 1 month, they will honor the free part. Maybe you can call Oceanic and Aeris to comfirm. Remember to ask for the name of whoever you spoke on the phone too.

[Mr Carcharodon]

It is just remarkable that people have to worry about their regulators working after service. It makes pretty clear that many shops do no testing or quality control on the regs they service. The end user can test their own regulator and there is a sticky at the top of the regulator forum to tell you how. Of course it would be nice if shops, especially shops that shout about life support equipment, did the job they were paid for.

[Boiler_81]

Do a check out. I have had issues twice with newly serviced regulators.

The first was a loose first stage nut which allowed water into the first stage. The shop I was diving with had a rental set on board the boat and I was able to do the second dive. They tore it down in their shop that afternoon and cleaned and reassembled it. The shop which left the nut loose is no longer servicing my regulators.

The second issue was a free flow due to a second stage adjusted to near the edge. This one was not a big deal. A slight turn of the adjusting screw and I was back in business.


About to get my regs serviced and then off on a 3-day liveaboard next month. Not able to get a real dive in between the service and the trip, but could lay on the bottom of my 5 foot pool.

Would major issues show up in 5 feet of water? I'm terrified that I'll descend for the first dive on the trip and have a reg failure, then be stuck on the boat without being able to dive!

Thanks!

[Ayisha]

I had my mouthpiece fall off the reg during the first dive after service - twice. They had only finger-tightened the ziptie. There was nothing wrong with the reg before the maintenance. A couple of other things happened to my equipment too and needless to say, I switched shops.

I developed a "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" mindset and became very careful about who I give my gear to and am reluctant to do it more than every couple of years. It seems that many people have issues right after service...

[spectrum]

If the IP is stable I would not be too concerned about taking it out as is for the trip. Think of it this way.... Did you make you last diving thinking your "life support" was a couple dozen dives away from crapping out?

You can take some comfort in knowing that the failure mode will almost always be over delivery of air.

There is plenty of risk after a service even but most of it is easy to detect. Let it spend some time pressurized and check it for leaks. This will reveal most major league screw-ups.

The other common failure mode is a free flow, often mild that shoes up after service. In order to get nice breathing the adjustments are very slight and we are talking about a rubber puck seating on a knife edged orifice. It is inevitable that an impression will develop and this can leave the regulator needlessly delivering air, a free flow. Ideally the shop put your regulator on a breathing machine to break the seat in and then did a final adjustment. You can hedge this my simply watching a TV show while breathing from the regulators. Put an hour on each second stage. If it is all still behaving you should be OK. If something crops up it should be stable after a final tweak. If all else fails this is a pretty quick and simple adjustment that most techs should be able to deal with regardless of brand.

If you are or plan to be a frequent dive traveler a back up 1st and second stage are nice comfort.

The sticky at the top of the regulator forum (http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/346813-regulator-inspection-checklist-rev-7-a.html) is the work of many knowledgeable diver/technicians/developers and will serve you well.

Pete

[Scuba-dan]

If it breaths, doesn't leak, and doesn't make any odd noises, its probably fine.

I don't completly agree with that info. I had my reg service last week as I'm going on holidays. Tested everything at home nothing came up. Yesterday I went diving and at 20 feet the LP hose started to leak when i was holding it a special way.

Any how, was not a major problem, stop at the LDS that did the service and it was just a bad O-ring, even if it was new.

I would jump in the pool with it for sure if your going to be on a boat for a while.

[awap]

I don't completly agree with that info. I had my reg service last week as I'm going on holidays. Tested everything at home nothing came up. Yesterday I went diving and at 20 feet the LP hose started to leak when i was holding it a special way.

Any how, was not a major problem, stop at the LDS that did the service and it was just a bad O-ring, even if it was new.

I would jump in the pool with it for sure if your going to be on a boat for a while.

AJ left off one important condition - and you have not let anybody F*** with it recently.

[Pedro Burrito]

My Scubapro Mk25/S600 was a year old last December and had about 100 dives. It worked great, the breathing was excellent and it was quiet. I had to take it in for annual service and it has not worked well since then. It breathes harder, it honked for about five dives and the first stage whistles whenever it gets wet. I was in the dive bell at the Blue Grotto in Florida in February and someone popped up and said, "Dude, is that your reg whistling? You gotta get it serviced." I ended up taking my dive buddies reg set to Cozumel in March.

I've made four not easy trips to/from the shop to drop it off and pick it up and it still is not working right. I'm not a nice person when angry and I'm so angry now I cannot even walk into the shop for fear that I'll go ballistic. I won't even talk to them on the phone now. I'm going to pack up the reg set and ship it to them for another attempt at fixing it.

I will be demanding a new set if they cannot get it fixed this time.

[scubadada]

I've only had a reg problem once, immediately following a service. Luckily, they were able to take care of it at my destination (DiveTech, Grand Cayman).

[awap]

My Scubapro Mk25/S600 was a year old last December and had about 100 dives. It worked great, the breathing was excellent and it was quiet. I had to take it in for annual service and it has not worked well since then. It breathes harder, it honked for about five dives and the first stage whistles whenever it gets wet. I was in the dive bell at the Blue Grotto in Florida in February and someone popped up and said, "Dude, is that your reg whistling? You gotta get it serviced." I ended up taking my dive buddies reg set to Cozumel in March.

I've made four not easy trips to/from the shop to drop it off and pick it up and it still is not working right. I'm not a nice person when angry and I'm so angry now I cannot even walk into the shop for fear that I'll go ballistic. I won't even talk to them on the phone now. I'm going to pack up the reg set and ship it to them for another attempt at fixing it.

I will be demanding a new set if they cannot get it fixed this time.

Why don't you ask on the Scubapro forum what they recommend you do. And remember, you are a MOD.:D

Whistling is often an HP piston o-ring lubrication problem. The lube needs to be quite generous. Hard breathing is more likely a 2nd stage problem but should be a simple adjustment.

[Kryssa]

Can you have another shop look at it? Even if you have to ship them away?

[AfterDark]

Why don't you ask on the Scubapro forum what they recommend you do. And remember, you are a MOD.:D

Whistling is often an HP piston o-ring lubrication problem. The lube needs to be quite generous. Hard breathing is more likely a 2nd stage problem but should be a simple adjustment.


Why isn't back in the shop with a promise to complain to SP if they don't put somebody on it that knows what they're doing to fix it?

[awap]

Why isn't back in the shop with a promise to complain to SP if they don't put somebody on it that knows what they're doing to fix it?

Complaining to Scubapro about service from one of their authorized dealers is like pissing into the wind. Their solution is send your gear to a service center. Or maybe they will help you locate another dealer. They have little control over their dealers beyond the conditions specified in the dealer agreement.

Kryssa - I'm sure there are a number of Scubapro dealers in your area plus there is a serevice center in CA. An unknown dealer is always a bit of a crap shoot. The service centers tend to be good but expensive. I suggest you talk to Scubapro and see what they have to say.

[Kryssa]

Kryssa - I'm sure there are a number of Scubapro dealers in your area plus there is a serevice center in CA. An unknown dealer is always a bit of a crap shoot. The service centers tend to be good but expensive. I suggest you talk to Scubapro and see what they have to say.

I have no idea how this became about Scubapro... I have Aerial and Oceanic regs ... but thanks!

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2

[Jim Lapenta]

Gotta love it. Pedro got the sucky service from his scubapro dealer and they morphed your good oceanic and aeris regs into scubapro. Dark magic at work here. I'd sacrifice a chicken to the dive gods before they turn em into dacors and you really get screwed!

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk

[Pedro Burrito]

Gotta love it. Pedro got the sucky service from his scubapro dealer and they morphed your good oceanic and aeris regs into scubapro. Dark magic at work here. I'd sacrifice a chicken to the dive gods before they turn em into dacors and you really get screwed!

I should have never mentioned the brand or I should not have posted! ;) I'm sorry to have taken this thread off topic. The point I was trying to make is that just because you get them serviced doesn't mean they will work as well when you get them back. My first stage sounds great until you get it wet so when they tested it on the bench they saw/heard no problems.

Diving to five feet of water would have made my reg problem noticeable and you'll be able to check for leaks.

I'm going away now and I'll ban myself from this thread!

[awap]

I have no idea how this became about Scubapro... I have Aerial and Oceanic regs ... but thanks!

Sent from my HTC Glacier using Tapatalk 2

Sorry, I knew that and then confused this thread with another that was similar involving Scubapro. On the bright side, I suspect you will likely get more help from Aeris/Oceanic than the Scubapro diver will get from that manufacturer.

[PfcAJ]

I don't completly agree with that info. I had my reg service last week as I'm going on holidays. Tested everything at home nothing came up. Yesterday I went diving and at 20 feet the LP hose started to leak when i was holding it a special way.

Any how, was not a major problem, stop at the LDS that did the service and it was just a bad O-ring, even if it was new.

I would jump in the pool with it for sure if your going to be on a boat for a while.


Lol, it leaked. Like I said, if it DOESN'T leak, its probably fine ;) Bad o-rings like that just happen, I used to fix those on the boat all the time back when I worked in the Keys. No biggie.

[cerich]

find out if your reg tech uses a machine to cycle the reg during service.

this!!!!!!!

[eelnoraa]

kryssa, why not just bring it into Anywater, they honor Aeris free part, right? Then you just eat the part cost of the Oceanic octo. It can't be much. And you know for sure your reg is serviced and adjusted properly, and you can have peace of mind in your aboard trip. On the side, try sell the Oceanic octo and pick up a aeris counter part. Next year, you will be all good.

[1978davidw]

I have had issues like some of the ones described on here. What i have done to remedy the problem is i learned how to work on and fix my own regulators. I feel a lot better diving down with something i have worked on than something that a complete stranger had worked on... and often times screwed up.