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In order to maintain your regulator correctly you need to get it serviced at regular intervals. This, most importantly, ensures your regulator is performing at its best at all times but it also maintains your warranty from the manufacturer. Many manufacturers offer limited lifetime warranties on their regulators but in order to maintain this, you need to make sure you get your regulators serviced regularly by an authorised technician. The main brands we sell and service recommend the following service intervals:
Scubapro - A full overhaul every 2 years but a yearly service is recommended with highly used regulators (100+ dives)
Mares - Inspection every year or 100 dives and full overhaul every 2 years or 200 dives
Aqualung - Inspection every year and full overhaul every 2 years - These intervals may need to be more frequent on heavily used equipment
Apeks - Must be overhauled at least once a year regardless of the amount of use it has received. May require this more often depending on the amount of use and environmental conditions it is used in.
As well as regular inspections and overhauls most manufacturers also recommend you replace your hoses every 5 years too.
Regulator Inspections
We recommend you get your regulator inspected in between services in order to ensure everything is ok and to catch any potential issues as early as possible. During the inspections we perform the following:
- External Inspection - Looking for signs of damage from corrosion or miss use
- Leak check - Regulators are pressurised and submerged to inspect for leaks
- SPG check - Correct gauge functions are checked during pressurisation and de-pressurisation ensuring needles move smoothly in both directions.
- 1st stage intermediate pressure is checked for stability and that its still within manufacturers recommended limits
- Filter inspection - 1st stage filters are checked for signs of contamination
- 2nd stage vacuum test - checks for possible points of water ingress leading to wet breathing 2nd stages
- 2nd stage control check - Breathing controls and Venturi switches are checked for smooth operation
- Mouthpiece inspection
- 2nd stage breathing performance is checked on a Magnehelic to ensure it is still operating within manufacturers recommended limits.
- Hose inspection
Depending on what we find during the inspection we may simply replace the necessary part or recommend a full overhaul is performed.
Regulator Service/Overhaul
During a full service/overhaul the following procedures are followed:
- Full inspection - this allows us to find any existing problems the regulators may have
- Photographed - This ensures the regulators are returned with the same hose orientation they came in with
- Serial numbers recorded on service record
- All hoses removed - O-rings and Schrader valves are removed then the hoses are cleaned and dried. New O-rings are installed on all hoses as well as new Schrader valves
- 1st stage is fully broken down following manufacturers guidelines
- All parts are cleaned and inspected for signs of wear before being rebuilt following manufacturers guidelines and service kits
- 1st stage pressurised and intermediate pressure set between manufacturers limits
- Once complete the 1st stage is left pressurised for 10 minutes to check for intermediate pressure creep
- 2nd stage is fully broken down following manufacturers guidelines
- All parts are cleaned and inspected for signs of wear before being rebuilt following manufacturers guidelines and service kits
- 2nd stage is then connected to the 1st stage and set between manufacturers limits using a magnehelic
- Finally, the octopus is fully broken down following manufacturers guidelines
- All parts are cleaned and inspected for signs of wear before being rebuilt following manufacturers guidelines and service kits
- The octopus is then connected to the 1st stage and set between manufacturers limits using a magnehelic
- Once complete the regulator is fully pressurised, submerged and checked for leaks.
- Service report filled out and returned with the regulator along with all the old parts that have been replaced.
When we quote you for a regulator service/overhaul we will include labor, standard service kits and replacement O-rings and Schrader valves for the hoses. If we discover worn or damaged parts during the service these will be charged on top of the original quote.
We will contact you before replacing broken/worn parts to discuss costs etc so it’s not a complete surprise when you collect your regulators.
After a regulator has been serviced we highly recommend testing it out in a pool or controlled environment first; to ensure proper function and its operating as you like. After a service it is sometimes possible for your 2nd stage to develop a small leak after a few dives as the new valve seats bed in. If this does happen simply bring it back in and we will re-adjust it while you wait with a coffee as it usually only takes 10 minutes. This is also the reason we check all newly purchased regulators before we sell them as the valves sometimes bed in while being stored/transported and require a small adjustment when pressurised for the first time.
