Hillmorton Scubie
Contributor
How often/number of dives before you get your regulator serviced, or do you wait until you get an unstoppable freeflow.
Regulator servicing
- Thread starter Hillmorton Scubie
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We just sent ours in for the annual service. We've had them one year. Mine has over 85 dives on it. Laura's has over 75 dives on it.
Ian
Ian
hollywood703
Contributor
I do annual servicing as well......at the beginning of the season......I dont generally dive enough to where i feel i need a servicing outside of that. obviously if you have some sort of failure...it needs to be serviced..Period!
R
redacted
Guest
Neither. I inspect my regs often and service them, as necessary when there is some indication of a problem. Usually a reg will give you plenty of warning before it goes into a heavy freeflow. Very small leaks are a common indication of a need for attention. With the 1st stage, you really need to check it with an IP guage to make sure IP is in spec (or where you want it) and reasonably stable.
Then, sometimes if I get bored, I'll just tear one down a bit to inspect it and usually give it a good cleaning and lube.
My regs seem to go about 3 to 5 years between a full service.
Then, sometimes if I get bored, I'll just tear one down a bit to inspect it and usually give it a good cleaning and lube.
My regs seem to go about 3 to 5 years between a full service.
nagel
Contributor
Okay, I'm probably going to get flamed here, but why would you send a reg set in for "annual service" if nothing appears to be wrong with the reg set? I'm coming up on a year with my reg set and debating if I should have it serviced or not. This is a piece of equipment that my life depends on, but my skeptical side tells me "why fix something that isn't broken". Why a "annual service"? I have about 45 dives in the last year and some have over 100 dives - why not a certain number of dives the reg should be serviced? My skeptical side tells me that the "annual service" is simply something put out to make money for the dive shops.
Let the flames begin, buy really I'd like good reasoning as to why I should send my reg in for a "annual service" if nothing appears to be wrong - am I missing something?
S. Nagel
Let the flames begin, buy really I'd like good reasoning as to why I should send my reg in for a "annual service" if nothing appears to be wrong - am I missing something?
S. Nagel
oooooohhh Nagel . :no
Let me start .how often do you service your car ? if that breaks down it just stops . whereas if your regs breakdown you put yourself and you buddies life in jepordy .
the long and the short of it is RTFM , Read The Full Manual . the full word can be changed .
i had a free flow a few weeks ago on a deco dive and at a depth that i had to do stops on assent . but that Regulator set had been serviced 60 dives previous and had been well loked after .
regs dont always give notice to when they give up and stop .
Let me start .how often do you service your car ? if that breaks down it just stops . whereas if your regs breakdown you put yourself and you buddies life in jepordy .
the long and the short of it is RTFM , Read The Full Manual . the full word can be changed .
i had a free flow a few weeks ago on a deco dive and at a depth that i had to do stops on assent . but that Regulator set had been serviced 60 dives previous and had been well loked after .
regs dont always give notice to when they give up and stop .
"How often do you service your car?" Never. I change the oil, filter and lube it now and then myself, usually after about 7500 miles and run it through the wash bay about once a month if it needs it. No specific dates or times. Same with the regs. I don't dive enough to need servicing---yet. I tear them down to clean the salt and sand out of them if there is any inside, inspect the diaphragm, seals or o-rings and low pressure seat and adjust the jow pressure valve to my satifaction and reassemble. No problems yet. Those who are paranoid about these things, are not able to do things mechanical or have lots of bucks to waste should go ahead and pay to have these things done either on a time schedule or whenever they think that they should be done. Pisses me off that I had to have my tanks inspected last month so as to get a fill when they only had one fill on them since last year. Rip-off.
Accidents can happen, regardless of how often your regs are serviced. I think the more important point is that you protect yourself while diving so that a catastrophic reg failure only ends the dive. This can mean diving with redundancy, diving with a buddy, not diving deep, etc.
During my trimix class- 4 out of 5 regs had minor problems, mostly above water, but it was comforting to know that I wasn't relying completely on any single reg and that I had the redundancy and the buddies to bail me out if need be.
During my trimix class- 4 out of 5 regs had minor problems, mostly above water, but it was comforting to know that I wasn't relying completely on any single reg and that I had the redundancy and the buddies to bail me out if need be.
I do annual and a quick inspection after every dive weekend. Of course I work for a shop and parts are free as well as labor since I'm an authorized tech for my regs. If your tanks have only had one fill since last inspection you are not diving enough. And unless you are sure that your last fill was good if you don't want to pay get a cert from PSI and vis em yourself.
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