Mantenimiento de Reguladores de Buceo: Solo para buceadores curiosos - Deep Dreams

Diving Regulator Maintenance: Only for curious divers

Yes, we are a clothing store for sea lovers, but above all, we are divers, and since we can't just sit still, we are also regulator maintenance technicians. Anyway, thank goodness there are only 24 hours in a day.

Since we had to do maintenance on our Regus, we thought we would share it with you so that you know what this maintenance consists of and why it is so important. Let's get started.

Why is maintenance important?

The regulator may be the most important piece of diving equipment since it allows us to breathe underwater.

It is a high-tech piece that allows us to breathe comfortably at any depth. It reduces the air pressure in the bottle (200 initial bars) to ambient pressure depending on the depth.

To ensure optimal performance, regular maintenance is vital, with an annual check or every 100 dives recommended. A well-maintained regulator can last a lifetime, and we have seen some that have been in use for over 15 years and working like the first day.

Maintenance-free diving regulator

Phases of maintenance:

Disassembly

This involves disassembling the first stage, the second main stage and the octopus. In regulators that are not properly maintained, the parts are often stuck and it is quite difficult to disassemble them . When forcing the parts, you have to be extremely careful. The parts are made of brass, a very malleable metal. If we force them too much, we could damage them, but if we do not, we will not be able to continue. It is difficult to balance. Another aspect to take into account is not to lose anything. They are extremely small parts and some seem to be alive. It is crucial to be very tidy and have a clean work area to prevent irreparable losses.

Cleaning

We are referring only to the metal parts, the plastic elements can be cleaned with a normal cleaner, if necessary.

First, we submerge the pieces in a 50% acid solution . This is to remove rust, saltpeter, incrustations and all kinds of crap in general. For how long? It depends on the amount of dirt that needs to be removed. Sometimes we have had to scrape with a metal bristle brush and that didn't work.

Then we immerse the pieces in an antacid to stop the action of the acid, and almost immediately, we move on to the ultrasound machine.

This machine performs an ultrasonic cleaning in distilled water at 50 degrees. We usually leave it for 10 minutes, but again, it depends on the dirt.

After this spa session, the parts are as good as new. So much so that they can be reassembled just by hand, with almost no tools.

Mounting

It's time to put the puzzle back together. We use exploded diagrams for each regulator model. They are very similar, but the devil resides in the details and we no longer have the brains to remember so many tiny pieces.

At this point we replace all the parts susceptible to wear : O-rings, membranes, filters, etc. 

Manufacturers supply kits with these spare parts to make the task easier. You could buy them separately but you won't save any money, some parts are difficult to get and you risk them not fitting perfectly. Gentlemen, we are talking about microns that can withstand pressures of 200 bars, don't take a chance for a few euros.

Of course, all joints are lightly lubricated with silicone grease to ensure proper operation.

Adjustment

Time to put everything back in place.

We start with the first stage. The intermediate pressure must be adjusted to what the manufacturer dictates, but it is normally 10 Bars.

The important thing is that when we consume air, for example by pressing the purge button, the pressure drops and then rises immediately. This will mean that we have all the parts assembled correctly. If the pressure does not recover quickly, it could indicate that a valve is not sealing properly and we have to disassemble it again.

Let's move on to the second stages. Here we are going to adjust the breathing effort , that is, how much we are going to have to “suck” until the valve opens and the regulator supplies us with air:

  • If we leave it very “fine”, we will need little effort but it will be more likely that the regulator will go into continuous mode.
  • If we leave it too “strong”, it will not go into continuous flow, but it will be harder for us to breathe, especially at greater depths.

Where do we put it? Easy, we leave it as it came. If the user liked it as it was, then we leave it as it was. To do this we take the measurements before starting with a reverse pressure gauge or Magnehelic.

For reference, we left the main second stage between 1.6 and 1.9 inches of water, and the octopus between 2.5 and 3.0 inches of water.

Recommendations

We're done, we have the regulator ready for another year or 100 more dives , but before we go, a few last tips:
  • Always rinse your equipment in fresh water after finishing a dive,
  • Always put the cap on the connection nozzle with the bottle to prevent water from entering.
  • Never press the purge button while submerged to prevent water from entering the second stage.

After everything you've seen, do you still think that maintenance is expensive? Maybe so, but you've seen that it's a lot of work and very delicate, and not just anyone can do it.

Look for a diving club that includes maintenance in its membership fee, it will surely be cheaper. What you should not do under any circumstances is skip maintenance to save money, it can end up being quite expensive.

See you in the blue .

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