Do regulators have a lifespan/ become dangerous of failure after so many years?

[cfberry]

Regulators can last decades — and I have some from the 1970s which still see use, and which haven’t missed a beat in all of those years; and I service them myself.

The bigger concern, over time, is more the availability of spare parts and service kits, which varies between manufacturers like little else . . .

good to know!

 

[grantmac]

All the DMs in Japan seem to have truly ancient and beat up Scubapro metal regs.

 

[Dan]

My 19+ years old Scubapro’s MK25 / S600 is still working fine. I just completed 1641 dives with it. Got it serviced every 2 years.

 

[Belzelbub]

From what i understand, Huish, the company that owns the Oceanic brand now, is no longer supporting the legacy regs, so those regs have a very finite lifespan.

Possibly true on Oceanic regs. I'm not certain. Definitely not the case with all Huish brands.

Thanks Still Kicking. Im leaning toward a reg kit with a little more metal/brass w/ my next one. I've learned over the years that if you look,talk & listen to these ole salty dog dive master on the boats here in NC they can help you out. Safe diving my friend.

I would also add that you look at brands that don't have a bunch of unique service kits for various models. That's a good indicator of longevity.

My active regs are all from another Huish company (Zeagle). One was definitely purchased before Huish acquired Zeagle. The other two were purchased after. No problems getting service kits for that older reg, even though it's been discontinued for some time now. The reason is that all three regs, despite being different models, all use the exact same service kit. So, as long as the brand is still around, I don't think I'll have any trouble getting service.