That is most certainly not the question in our opinion as we say yes – get your scuba diving kit serviced.
A recent debate in the warren was triggered by a bunny asking if their scuba diving kit needed servicing as they had not used it in three years and it was well within its service interval at the date of the last dive. This queued several master bunnies falling off their chairs in apparent disbelief… although it was quite late in the day at the time…
‘Yes’ was the unanimous reply.
Master Bunny, Phil, explains
“This is the stuff that allows you to exist under the waves so It’s a little beyond me why anyone would consider not having scuba diving kit serviced. I have my equipment serviced religiously every 12 months, regardless of use and my regs should be on a 24 month service interval.
“Why would you spend say £600 on regulators and then not spend £80 keeping them in top condition?
“If you haven’t used your equipment for some time I’d argue it is more important than ever to have a qualified technician give it the once over – you have no idea what has been quietly rotting whilst it’s locked in the suit case or loft”
And servicing is much more than a quick clean and look over. Phil continued:
“Everything from O-rings to diaphragms to bits you never knew existed are replaced. It’s quite surprising how many parts are involved, and the servicing centre will always return the old parts so you can see what has been replaced”
But what about the cost. It can prove expensive at anything up to £85 for a set of regulators to be serviced.
“Each set of regulators needs a servicing kit from the manufacturer and that alone can be more than £30. Given that it will take around half a day for someone to service the regs you are then paying something in the region of £14 per hour. Compare that to your last car service.”
Phil was also keen to point out that BCD’s also need servicing and should never be ignored.
So our advice – servicing is part of the ownership of dive equipment and is no different from owning a car or indeed a pet which needs a once over from the vet every year. If you don’t want to commit to servicing then opt for the rental route.
Happy diving!
