Have I borked my regulator?

[Meredith78]

I've been diving for about a year, and have been lucky enough to have someone give me a Scubapro reg along with an octopus and gauge for no cost. The person who gifted it had it serviced before giving it to me and it's worked fine, aside from a little freeflow that my LDS has told me is normal. I am planning to bring this reg on vacation with me in a few days.

It was brought to my attention today that I have not been taking proper care of my regulator. In short, I keep forgetting to put the dust cap over the first stage. Worse than that, I have been rinsing the whole thing off (with freshwater) with that cap off. I told someone about this today and was told I should take the regulator in to be checked out as it may need to be taken apart and rebuilt. This sounds expensive and terrifying. I feel dumb enough to have done this, but the reg still seems to be working fine. What would you do?

 

[Scott L]

Obviously, have the reg serviced by a qualified LDS. You may want to take elsewhere as you have basically given that shop the green light to ring-up the charges based upon your disclosures...

 

[Meredith78]

The person who told me it may need to be rebuilt was not a shop owner but a boat captain. Do you think I should take the regulator in but not tell the shop what I did to it? This would be the second time I'm bringing it in in a week. They're going to think I'm crazy if I don't give them a reason why I'm back.

 

[Scott L]

The person who told me it may need to be rebuilt was not a shop owner but a boat captain. Do you think I should take the regulator in but not tell the shop what I did to it? This would be the second time I'm bringing it in in a week. They're going to think I'm crazy if I don't give them a reason why I'm back.

I wouldn't elaborate. Just drop-off for an annual service...

 

[redacted]

Salt water inside a 1st stage is the big problem. Fresh water is not so much of a problem unless there is salt deposits inside already. Since you are about to go on a vacation, I'd subject it to a good inspection (IP, cracking pressure, interior corrosion). If this is not something you can do yourself, then find a good shop. I would expect it to be fine but you may also want to check on rental regs at your destination.

When you get back, look into how you should care for your regs. Rinsing is not enough to avoid corrosion problems and achieve long life between expensive services.

 

[Straegen]

Not sure of the service intervals of Scubapro regs, but if it is annually get it serviced otherwise get an inspection. I doubt you have done anything harmful to it but better safe than sorry.

 

[scubafanatic]

I'm not sure I'd risk my vacation or life on a questionable reg, I'd get it de-borked...you've probably already injected water into the console/spg, so those components are on their way to failure at a minimum, assuming you've not suffered corrosion damage to the 1st-stage innards...also, a free flowing 1st-stage is NOT normal either.

 

[Couv]

I would fess up and tell them water got into the first stage. (you don't need to say how many times, that will be a SB secret) Explain that you really just need the first stage serviced-the shop will understand why. But bring the entire reg in as the second stage should be tuned to the intermediate pressure of the first. Also, unless you will do it yourself, have the shop remove the SPG and blow out the hose as you do not want water to find it's way into the gauge.

Edit: Sorry for the duplication of info given above-I'm trying to watch the "Manning Bowl"

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

I would fess up and tell them water got into the first stage. (you don't need to say how many times, that will be a SB secret) Explain that you really just need the first stage serviced-the shop will understand why. But bring the entire reg in as the second stage should be tuned to the intermediate pressure of the first. Also, unless you will do it yourself, have the shop remove the SPG and blow out the hose as you do not want water to find it's way into the gauge.

Edit: Sorry for the duplication of info given above-I'm trying to watch the "Manning Bowl"

But our "silence" on this matter will cost the OP....

@ Meredith78: Great advice from the folks who've already posted. Get it checked out, it is probably not "borked" but should be looked at for "peace of mind" if nothing else....

And your secret is safe, we wont tell

Best wishes.

 

[Troutmaster]

Someone asked about the Scubapro service interval, they require service once a year to maintain warranty, which would not apply here as the OP is not the original owner.

Have the regs serviced. Tell them you may have flooded it because you rinsed without the dust cap in place. You probably did not do any harm, but your regulators are kind of important and having them checked is not very expensive. Service is cheap insurance.

Just to review, the regs are what get the air out of the tank and into your lungs. They are kinda critical equipment.