Servicing your own regulator.

[Fishpie]

For $230 I would expect that they replaced the old oil filled enviro seal with the current dry seal with transfer piston.
These need to be sealed when the reg is pressurized otherwise the outer clear diaphragm will bulge outwards when not pressurized.

 

[bj139]

It is kind of funny that when I started this thread my regs were out getting serviced. Well I got them back and my Apeks are free flowing. Granted I can stop it but only with the inhalation adjustment turned all the way in. So now I have to send them all the way back to Texas( free of charge of course ) to be adjusted because I don't know what they did to cause this, I have an idea but since I did not do the rebuild I can't be sure. So now I will learn how to do it myself. If I can't trust myself with my gear I should not be using it.

This is an example of another reason to service your own regs.
An Apeks manual is freely available online, a big advantage over guessing. Before I serviced my Apeks reg, I read it. It stated the reg should freeflow when purged with the boost lever set to full and the adjustment knob turned to the easiest setting. Moving the boost lever to no boost will IMMEDIATELY stop the freeflow. Without understanding this, I would have assumed my reg was done wrong. Apeks must get a lot of complaints about this but it is the price one must be be willing to pay to have the easiest breathing reg available. It is like driving a manual transmission vs. an automatic. With the manual YOU have to decide when to shift, not some factory trained technician.

 

[LKJ]

For $230 I would expect that they replaced the old oil filled enviro seal with the current dry seal with transfer piston.
These need to be sealed when the reg is pressurized otherwise the outer clear diaphragm will bulge outwards when not pressurized.

Yes, I've been considering the dry seal. The parts are available at scubaspares for about $90. These are listed as parts for the Titan 1st stage, but according to the AL service manuals, they are also for the Conshelf. Since my 1st stage is a little scuffed up and the chrome is starting to chip on the yoke, $90 might be a little too expensive. I could buy a new, environmentally dry sealed, Taiwanese Palantic AS105 regulator from Scuba Choice for $159 Scuba Choice > Scuba Diving/ Spearfishing/ Snorkeling/Surfing Equipment & Gear Accessories : Scuba Diving Dive Palantic AS105 Yoke Regulator Adjustable Second Stage w/ 27" Hose. This regulator seems to be the same as a ScubaMax model and several other brands. I am going to wait until next May's Ontario Underwater Explorers Scuba Club Scuba Swap ScubaSwap.org - Home to see if I can find a decent used Conshelf 1st stage at a low price. Last May, I picked up 2 2nd stages (good for parts) for next to nothing.

Speaking of which, when I serviced my 2nd stage, I noticed that the slotted end of the poppet shaft was broken. It looked like someone had tried turning it with a screwdriver, rather than holding it in place and turning the locknut. It didn't seem to be a critical problem, but for $230, a new poppet would have been nice. Thanks to the Scuba Swap, I replaced the poppet.