How often should I service my dive gear?
Every year around this time you hear, bring in your SCUBA gear to get serviced. Don’t forget, etc etc. Then Grady puts on a SCUBA gear maintenance class. This usually is a couple hours one day. He goes over everything that needs servicing and the y’s as well as how to keep your gear clean. There is a reason we service and maintain our gear like we do.
One reason there is a push for servicing gear in January is that this is the SCUBA off-season. For the most part, your SCUBA gear lays dormant, waiting for warm water or the air temperature to rise.
Primary Reasons for Servicing Your Gear Regularly
No matter how clean of a person you think you are or how good of care you think you take of your equipment, it still builds up grime over time. This is especially true if you dive primarily in salt water. Salt water is extremely hard on dive gear. It is always best to bring your dive gear home and dive in fresh water. This doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t get your gear serviced, it just helps keep it clean.
Another primary reason to have your gear serviced is O-rings have a shelf life. There are sometimes upward of 20 O-rings in a given piece of equipment. Over time these o-rings can get brittle. Especially if your gear is exposed to prolonged heat. The shelf life can also be affected by prolonged exposure to salt, sunlight, etc. It’s a good idea to get them refreshed in your equipment on a regular basis.
When your gear is serviced, residual lube is cleaned out. All moving parts and O-rings are coated with fresh lube. While diving, when parts are in motion, with water around them, it can wash this lube away. This leaves the O-rings and other moving parts dry. This “dry” can cause excessive wear to the internal parts of your equipment.
One other thing to consider… If you loan out your dive gear, you don’t know exactly how the person has taken care of it while it was out of your possession. So please, make sure that when your gear is returned to you, that it is cleaned appropriately.
And the Number 1 Reason to Service Your Gear
And the number 1 reason you should regularly maintain your SCUBA gear is it is your life support system when diving into the depths of the deep blue sea. I think your family would agree that keeping a life support system is extremely important in keeping you safe so you can come home to your family.
Yuckkkkk