Servicing Your Regulators
Scuba regulators used for diving have a service schedule – typically 100 dives or 2 years (whichever comes first). This service replaces parts inside the regulator, lubes surfaces, and tunes them to manufacturer specifications. I started servicing regulators when I worked full time at a dive shop. I was responsible for servicing our rental fleet and customer’s regs for a few years. In my time servicing regulators every week I learned a lot about what can happen to a regulator and I learned the importance of regular service and post-dive care.
Service technicians have to be qualified for the specific brand and model of regulator. Service clinics are hosted at tradeshows, dive shops or even via video call. These clinics cover the brand specific service techniques, manuals and tools to replace the serviceable parts inside a regulator and diagnose basic problems. These courses are typically restricted to dive shop employees. Parts kits – the elements that get replaced in a routine service – are usually restricted to only be purchased by brand dealers. These restrictions place a barrier to who can service scuba regulators.
Divers who are mechanically inclined often ask “Can I service my own regulators?”. This is especially sought after by technical divers who own 4-5 sets of regulators and dive often. The parts kits, service manuals, and course restrictions are difficult to access for the average diver. This restriction is by design from the manufacturer. Servicing is a profit center for stores and controlling the pool of technicians is a quality control measure.
If you could get parts kits, service manuals, and be qualified for the service, is it reasonable to do the routine maintenance on your scuba regulators?
I think the typical misunderstanding here is the basic points that dive shops or possibly brands perpetuate:
“it’s too hard”
“it takes away from the dive shop’s income”
or, my favorite “It’s illegal”
I don’t think these are true but it is my opinion that the end result is correct – people who are regularly servicing regulators should be the one’s who service yours. I don’t believe it is (in general) a good idea to service your own regulators. It’s not because of the quality control, or the potential profit center for stores (I don’t think most stores should do service inhouse, it’s more efficient from a profit standpoint to contract). Servicing a regulator is not a technically difficult feat. There might be some specialty tools but anyone who is comfortable spinning a wrench or two can probably accomplish the feat from a technical perspective. It’s not difficult. While a standard service isn’t difficult, the experience and problem solving abilities of someone who services 20+ regulators a month will exceed the efficiency and skill of someone who doesn’t. They will do it faster and be able to solve complicated issues. The time value proposition for an inexperienced technician to do service once a year doesn’t add up. Factor in the risk of an errant pick stroke (rendering the regulator useless), inadequate lubrication (increased wear), or improper o-ring placement (possible failure underwater leading to an emergency situation) and the proposition really doesn’t make sense.
Right to Repair
Currently you cannot buy service kits directly from a manufacturer in the United States. Many European countries require consumers to have access to repair and replace parts in their personally owned devices and that mentality is creeping into the United States. With events like the John Deere “Right to Repair” decision I think we will see publicly available parts kits for regulators in the US in the future. The availability of the parts kits – and even training courses – doesn’t change my opinion because access to the parts doesn’t give a diver the experience gained from doin a lot of services.
Bench Testing
While the parts replacement is a simple process it’s vital that any serviced regulators get a proper bench test. Intermediate pressure, magnehelic measurements and proper cleaning are crucial for a well adjusted breathing device. This is typically lumped into the term “bench tested”. If you haven’t invested in these items for a full functioning repair bench then you’re not prepared to ensure the regulator will do what it’s supposed to at depth.
Field Repairs
Conversely, I think all hobbyist divers should have access to learn about field repairs and I think technical divers should be very familiar with field diagnosing and repair of regulators.
There is a huge difference between a regular service and field repairs. Or, at least there should be – the number of times I’ve seen someone bust out a service kit on a boat and say “ah, I’ll just replace the HP seat in this regulator real quick!”. What?! No. Regulators should not be repaired on a moving boat heading to the dive site. Also, replacing one potentially faulty element in a device that requires regular preventative maintenance doesn’t make sense to me. There’s a reason the parts kit contains so many o-rings.
Diagnosing a leaking second stage, changing hose orings and replacing components are super useful skills to have. It’s also important to realize when it’s time to swap with a backup regulator instead of tweaking things in an environment that’s not idea for servicing.
Conclusion
In conclusion, It’s perfectly reasonable from a technical and industry standpoint to do the routine service on your own regulators – assuming you have the proper credentials, tools, parts and documents. However, the efficiency and risk don’t add up to be beneficial. Everyone who dives regularly and owns their own regulators should be familiar with field repairs, post-dive care, and proper storage.