Regulator servicing

[scuba70]

How about the fact that to keep the manufacturers warranty in effect they need to be serviced annually? I don't mind spending some $ on my life support system.

Nagel, If I'm ever your buddy, remind me to bring a redundant air supply!

 

[stevewirl]

I was asked in may to do an inspection dive for a fisheries Dept . i had to use their gear as it was a voice comms unit and could report directly to the surface .

when i examined their gear i noticed a fungal growth on the inner chamber of the 2nd stage . i asked for the gears last service date and was told it was 8 months ago . when i asked how long since they where last used i was told 6 months ago .

needless to say i didnt dive with their gear that day .

services give piece of mind esspicaly if you dive deep or overhead enviroments .

Dive more . i wouldnt let my regs go over a year .

 

[ianw2]

The analogy of car repair/service is not too bad. If it were an airplane, the analogy would be better. If something goes wrong with an airplane at, say, 5000 feet, you can't just stop, get out and push it to a gas station. That's one of the reasons that there are requirements for routine maintenance at certain milestones.

If I had time, inclination, equipment and parts, I would like to pull my own regs apart and work on them regularly. And, at least for the first two years on most regs, the warranty is voided if the unit is not serviced annually.

I don't change the oil, filters or tires on my vehicles and I don't do any service work on them, either. I don't have time. It's easier/cheaper/more convenient to pay someone else to do that for me. The same goes for my regs. It's my choice, not yours.

Dive is a recreational activity, not an adversarial one.

Cheers...

Ian

 

[cdreamer]

Garrobo - Tank inspections are a DOT requirement, not the dive shops. Like Jim said
maybe you need to get out and dive more often. As for regulators, some people like
to get them serviced annually to fulfill their free parts for life warranty, and for those
that don't have a warranty, I usually recommend every other year. Our regulator
tech is an independent contractor, so we don't actually make bucket loads of money
off this service we provide, so quite frankly, if you don't want to service your life support equipment, or you want to do it yourself, I could give a rats ***.:mooner:

Jim - I love your sig line!

Terri

 

[nagel]

Nagel, If I'm ever your buddy, remind me to bring a redundant air supply!

Hey, I didn't say I wasn't going to do it. I'm just searching for some valid reasoning as to why instead of some thrown out reasoning saying "annual". Your reason is to maintain the warrenty. Okay, that is valid if you're concerned about the warrenty. I'm a Safety Director for a major manufacturing company in the midwest. We test & check life support systems monthly if not weekly, daily, or even some before & after every use. If we are so concerned that a failure in a regulator is going to lead to catastrophic situations, why are we only doing this "annually"?

Again, what is "annual"? For me, annual means about 40-50 dives. For others, annual means 100+ dives.

I know I'm playing both sides here in this debate, but again, I'm trying to pick the brains of all the experts here and gain knowledge as to exactly what are we truely trying to accomplish with an "annual" tear down of a reg setup.

S. Nagel

 

[stevewirl]

there is only 1 answer here read the manufacturers instructions this will state annully or after xxx amount of dives which ever comes first .

 

[stevewirl]

and nobody here has claimed to be an expert . we are all just diving mad

 

[Scuba.com]

No flame here. Mainly because it's a mechanical item. Let's take another angle here. Should the 747 you are flying at 40,000ft on your next vacation be serviced on a regular schedule, no matter how good it was flying on all its flights before making it to the hanger, or should it wait until something really bad happens to it at altitude?

The main reason "annually" was chosen is because the engineers involved deteremined based on use, function, need, etc. many years ago that a certain interval was acceptable. Then they gave it to the legal people who decided that another interval made much more sense to them. Somewhere in between is where the term lands. Either way, it was decided upon using safety as the reasoning. That is a crude example, but for the most part fairly accurate.

Gear should be serviced at the interval suggested by the manufacturer mainly because we have your safety in mind. It doesn't matter if the regulator has been used or not. In fact, it is often worse for a regulator to sit unused than it is if it has been diving 30 or 40 times in a year. O-rings can get dried out and can get "memories" or flat spots when they aren't cycled regularly that cause the unit to perform bad.

Most manufacturers require annual service +/- 30 days of the purchase date. Some recently have gone to every 2 years. You'll have to check with your particular manufacturer. Keep in mind that the gear you are using really is "life support equipment". That isn't intended to scare you, but is something that should be in the back of your mind at all times when dealing with your gear.

 

[stevewirl]

Listen to the Experts

 

[Bob3]

I do mine every 5 years, whether they need it or not.
Customer's regs get the full "annual" treatment every 2 years, with an "inspect & adjust" in between.