When to do yearly service?

[dbarlow]

I had my yearly service done in june to my regulators, did 20 dives. Should I do it again befor I go to florida in feb or wait untill june?

Thanks
Doug

[jasondbaker]

I would wait until March. June seems kind of late. April/May provides some of the best local diving.

[beeger]

If you are set on doing an annual service try and use the regulator once or twice (local diving or at least in a pool) after it has been serviced but before leaving on your trip. That way if the tech does something freaky you will know it before you get all the way to Florida and find out that something isn't working as you expected. Besides, some practice dives right before your trip are never a bad idea regardless.

Yes, the regulator is a critical piece of life support equipment, but it also has a major impact on your enjoyment of diving. Anytime you have it serviced make sure it is working not just to your satisfaction but to your liking. Talk to the technician at your local shop and find out how he or she likes to tune your particular make/model.

These days some regulators are on a 2 year service interval. However, having the regulator just sitting around and not being in use can also cause some specific problems. Things that factor into a decision “to annual or not to annual” are the brand, type, age, and date of  last use, as well as the type of environment where it is regularly (or at least last) used.

[jasondbaker]

beeger makes some excellent points. I had a backup reg serviced right before a trip a couple years ago and it had slight freeflow problems the whole trip. It was annoying. I like to do the servicing after saltwater trips so that the parts get a nice cleaning.

[dbarlow]

Thanks for the thoughts, I like the idea of have it done after the salt water....good idea, I will get in the pool this week and just check everything out.

Doug