It’s probably past the service due date on your regulators.
By Rusty Miller
I hope everyone has recovered from all the Hollidays celebrations. It’s 2024, I can remember when I was a teenager we thought that by 2024 we would be living in space and on the moon as well as Mars, also we would be driving flying cars. Sometimes I will see a movie on the streaming services that will be a science fiction about the dystopian world in 2024.
Well none of that has happened and in my upper 60s I doubt I will live to see any of it.
What I do know is that the diving industry has really changed over the last 50 years. A few articles ago I mentioned the equipment changes as well as the skills have adapted to the new equipment. Though the equipment has greatly improved and is a bit safer to use we still have to maintain it and be diligent about getting it serviced.
I know several divers who service their own regulators and quite honestly they are taking their lives in their own hands. Then there is the liability issue that comes along with people servicing their own regulators. Let’s say you serviced your own regulators and you let another dive buddy use them and something goes horribly wrong and they get hurt or even die as a result of a tiny error where you did the service then you are personally responsible and liable for the following lawsuit. Let’s say if you get hurt or die because you took a shortcut then neither you nor your family can sue the manufacturer.
Believe me I have seen this happen throughout my career. They may get away with doing their own service but with the new regulators they have changed slightly on how they are disassembled and assembled. Most have very strict torque requirements and specialized tools required to perform even the simplest rebuilds.
I mention this because it’s probably past the service due date on your regulators. It is a little costly but it’s your life or the life of a loved one and that you cannot put a price on. I would guess that most of you have stored your regulators in a dive bag and or regulator bag since your last dive at the end of summer or longer. I have said this before and I’ll say it again, never use your dive bag or regulator bag for long term storage, you will do far more damage to them overall.
Always store them hanging up in a cool dry place in your house. Most dive shops sell the special hangers that you can put your BCD and regulators on.
The bottom line is please get your equipment serviced by a trained reg tech and then you will not have to worry whether they work or not. Keep making bubbles.
Until next time keep making bubbles.
-Russell Miller #59999
