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WHY AND WHEN YOU SHOULD SERVICE YOUR DIVE EQUIPMENTMay 31, 2016 Oceans Alive New Zealand, like most dive shops recommend that your regulator and BCD should be serviced at least annually. This is just as important if you only use your equipment infrequently over summer or are an obsessed diver and do hundreds of dives each year. There are some divers out there who openly question the need for annual servicing and the costs involved. Some points to consider when choosing when to get your gear serviced are; 1. Your life. Remember this is your life support system that we are talking about! Your regulator is delivering oxygen rich air to your lungs to keep your body functioning. Your BCD is controlling your buoyancy while your gauges and computer ensure you are aware of your air supply, the depth and the safe diving limits. Would you dive with a regulator or dive equipment you didn’t trust to perform flawlessly even under unanticipated emergency conditions. 2. How often you dive.
3. Where you dive This can also have an impact on your dive gear so ask your service tecnician. For example are you diving mostly in fresh water, chlorinated pool water or salt water? 4. New equipment The warranty of the manufacturer should be considered when making a servicing decision for all new equipment. Check your user manual because in most cases an authorized technician must verify the correct operation of the equipment every year (or every 2 years, or every 100 dives, or after 200 dive hours etc.) in order to maintain the manufacturer’s warranty. 5. Your cylinder In NZ the WorkSafe requirements mandate, that dive shops must not fill scuba cylinders that haven't been tested within twelve months. This testing removes from use any unsafe cylinders that have cracks or imperfections that would cause a failure that could severely injure the tank filler (or you). 6. Gas mixing With enriched air or custom fills over 40 percent you are required to have your tank oxygen serviced, this includes cleaning of the valve and inner tank to avoid an oxygen explosion. 7. Your BCD While your Regulator is in for service, you may as well bring in your BCD as you can’t go diving. Your BCD is just as important as your Regulator and you want it to perform correctly under all circumstances. A neglected sticky inflator/deflator button could very easily result in a dangerous runaway ascent causing serious injury or even death. Your BCD’s inflator/deflator is taken off, inspected for any cracks, cleaned and parts replaced as necessary. We check that all dump valves are working as well as checking for leaks and performing an air tightness test. 8. How well you look after your equipment - Self-maintenance How well you look after and store your dive equipment will have a major impact on how it performs and how long it lasts. The golden rule is to rinse all equipment as soon as possible after use in fresh water and then allow it to drip dry in the shade. Store your equipment in a dust, rodent proof environment that is protected against rapid fluctuations in temperature. Diving is a very gear intensive hobby and the consequences of inadequate care of your gear can be catastrophic. If we don’t want to risk the unnecessary expense of having to purchase something twice, or hurting ourselves or others we need to learn correct pre- and post-dive care procedures. This user maintenance means that you have to visually inspect, clean and properly handle all the equipment, before and after each dive. By doing this you will be insuring that your gear is always safe and ready-to-dive. Here is a rundown of how to care for and check over your equipment. Note that a rinse is a quick dunk whilst a soak means to leave fully submerged for a longer period of time.
If you have any specific enquiry about how to care for your dive gear, please feel free to contact us. CONCLUSION Dive gear is incredibly dependable in providing you with the life support system you need to venture into the underwater world. If you service all of your gear annually and clean and store it correctly, then you should have no problem with any of it. But you still need to be aware of the possibility of gear failure and how to deal with each scenario. Our dive courses are designed to help you to dive safely and effectively deal with emergency situations if they arise. If you want to be a better and safer diver then please consider signing up for some of our ongoing education programmes. If at any time you are in doubt about how well your gear is working or have picked something up during your regular self-maintenance checks, then come and see us for a FREE inspection. We are more than happy to test your equipment and give you advice. Our service technicians have many years’ experience and have undertaken manufacturer’s approved technician’s courses for most of the popular brands of dive equipment. If you have any specific query about your particular brand of equipment and how best to care for it, please feel free to contact us. |