When.. is it time to get that first stage serviced?

[Jay Adams]

its only $50-100 to have a reg serviced......i just do it annually......

100' under water is not when i want to be second guessing the status of the one thing keeping me alive.

I get mine done annually too. it's life support equipment

 

[grf88]

Here is an interesting report on a survey regarding service intervals and problems post service:

Quick summary of the data so far with 38 respondents.

A lot more data will of course help to firm things up, particularly for the imperfect care lot, however, some trends are hard to put down to chance.

32 take perfect care of their regs.
The failures experienced before/after service was due are even at 4 each.
There is an overwhelming count of 18 who experienced a failure immediately after a service.
Still 6 had a failure immediately after a new purchase.

6 take imperfect care of their regs.
There were more failures post due date at 3, than before the due date at 1.
Still 2 regs failed immediately following a service.
No failures after a new purchase among these few regs.

A couple things seem to emerge from this:

• There is an overwhelming amount of failures attributed to servicing 53% across both groups, so more than half of failures reported are service related
• If regs are used with imperfect care, it appears to be important to stick to the recommended service interval, but they still do okay within the interval
• There is still a 12.5% occurrence of perfectly maintained regs failing before their service due date has been reached
• A total of 18.75% of regs had issues from new
• Given the rate of non-service related failure reported vs the number regs reported in each group, taking perfect care of a reg shows to reduce its failure potential significantly

Some thoughts:

So far, I would take away that an owner who takes perfect care of their regulators is far more at risk of an issue developing after a service than when going beyond the recommended service interval. There is obviously a limit here somewhere, but it would make sense that an IP gauge monitored reg can be safely taken beyond the service interval, as long as it is cared for.

Second, if you dive a reg that has not received proper care, it should be serviced regularly to avoid a high failure potential. It is also wise to consider taking perfect care of the reg going forwards to further mitigate risk. There will still be a risk of service-induced failure, likely to be just as high as in the other group once more data is available.

Third, do not blindly trust your perfectly maintained reg within its service period. Frequent checks should be performed. If you have a 100 dive interval, performing a visual and IP check every 15-25 dives should safeguard against issues with warning signs without too much inconvenience. I would also check all connections and do a quick scan every dive.

Importantly, there is obviously a reason for the recommendation to thoroughly test dive new and newly serviced regs in a controlled environment. I would think the data so far should convince everyone not to skip this recommendation. Again, owning an IP gauge is a cheap and easy way to not only test before getting them wet, but to also use it for ongoing monitoring to determine when a reg should be undergoing the risky process of servicing.

 

[grf88]

Here is the link to the survey:
Regulator failure - timing in service cycle

 

[lexvil]

Pretty much every piece of gear is “life support” does anyone change fin straps every year? Replace b/c valves, hoses exposure protection? Regulators are pretty simple devices, carry a bailout pony if you need but for the most part there is a huge reserve of air not to far away and any given time, drop lead and swim for it. Caught in a strong current with a broken fin strap or a blown b/c can be more life threatening than a free flow.

 

[p_kos]

I get mine done annually too. it's life support equipment

It’s a regulator, not a ventilator.

 

[Jay Adams]

It’s a regulator, not a ventilator.

I do not take chances with the most important parts to me on my dive gear, It is not a lot of money for me to have them serviced.

 

[grf88]

I do not take chances with the most important parts to me on my dive gear, It is not a lot of money for me to have them serviced.

As you can see from my previous posts a recently serviced regulator is more likely to fail than a well maintained one where its condition is regularly monitored with a IP gauge.

 

[Jay Adams]

As you can see from my previous posts a recently serviced regulator is more likely to fail than a well maintained one where its condition is regularly monitored with a IP gauge.

Not familiar with an ip gauge. I will look at your post later

 

[grf88]

Not familiar with an ip gauge. I will look at your post later

Take a look at this which rsingler referenced in post#2 of this thread:
Regulator Inspection and Checklist (Rev-8)

 

[lexvil]

I do not take chances with the most important parts to me on my dive gear, It is not a lot of money for me to have them serviced.

While maybe a percent or two more important than a fin strap, you are confusing lack of understanding of the gear with importance.