This is the least interesting article on this site. It is also the one that most directly affects whether your equipment does what you expect at thirty-five metres.
What needs servicing, and how often
| Item | Typical requirement |
|---|---|
| Regulator (first and second stages) | Per manufacturer schedule — commonly annual or dive-count based |
| Alternate air source | Same as the primary second stage |
| BCD inflator and valves | Periodic inspection |
| Cylinder — visual inspection | Periodic, per applicable standard |
| Cylinder — hydrostatic test | Less frequently, per applicable standard |
| Dive computer | Battery and pressure-sensor check; seal integrity |
| Wetsuit, mask, fins | No servicing; rinse and inspect |
Regulators
A regulator reduces cylinder pressure to something you can breathe, twice, through mechanisms with moving parts, o-rings and seats — in salt water.
What degrades: o-rings perish, seats deform, lubricants dry out, salt crystallises inside, filters clog.
What that feels like: slightly harder breathing, a small free-flow, creeping intermediate pressure, or a regulator that breathes fine at the surface and not at depth. The failure mode people fear — sudden total failure — is rare. The common one is gradual degradation you stop noticing because it happened slowly.
Storage is not preservation. A regulator stored for three years needs servicing as much as one that has been dived. Perishing happens on a shelf.
The question to ask before buying a regulator in Lebanon
This is the practical point of this article.
Cylinders
Cylinders hold gas at high pressure and are inspected for good reason.
Visual inspection — internal and external examination for corrosion, pitting and damage, done periodically.
Hydrostatic testing — pressure testing to confirm the cylinder still meets its specification, done at longer intervals.
Valve servicing — periodically, alongside the above.
A fill station that fills anything presented to it is not doing you a favour. You want the one that refuses, because that is the one applying a standard to every cylinder it handles, including the ones you will be diving next to on the boat.
Air fills
Breathing gas quality is not something you can assess yourself at the moment of use, which is why the source matters.
What to ask a fill station:
- When were the compressor filters last changed?
- Where is the compressor intake? It should be well away from exhaust fumes, generators and traffic.
- Do you test air quality, and how often?
- Can you supply nitrox?
These are normal questions. A professional operation answers them without hesitating.
Nitrox specifically
Nitrox needs blending or membrane equipment, and cylinders prepared for oxygen service. Availability in Lebanon varies by centre and by season.
Confirm supply before you take the course. Nitrox is the highest-value short course for divers working Lebanon's deep wrecks, but only if you can actually get the gas on the days you dive.
Also: analyse every cylinder yourself, every time. That is not distrust of the fill station, it is the standard procedure the course teaches. Label it, set your computer to the analysed mix, and know your maximum operating depth.
What you can do yourself
After every dive:
- Rinse everything in fresh water, with the regulator dust cap on and dry
- Depress the purge only when the regulator is pressurised or the dust cap is on — otherwise you push water into the first stage
- Rinse the BCD inside as well as out; fill partially with fresh water, slosh, drain through the dump valve
- Dry out of direct sunlight
Before every dive:
- Check hoses for cracking and bubbling, particularly at the crimps
- Check the pressure gauge for water inside the face
- Breathe from both second stages before entering the water
- Check the BCD inflates and both dump valves work
Before every season:
- Full function check, and service if due
- Inspect straps, buckles and o-rings
- Change the computer battery if it is marginal — not mid-season
What it costs
Ongoing, and worth budgeting for from the moment you buy gear rather than discovering later. Servicing, fills, cylinder testing and consumables add up across a diving year.
That is one of the reasons the what to own versus rent calculation tips towards renting until you are diving fifteen or twenty times a year. The broader cost picture is in what diving actually costs in Lebanon.
