In a lot of cases, it’s not the 2nd stage but rather the 1st stage, which has the problem. The 2nd stage leak is being caused because it is acting as an over pressurisation valve for the 1st stage. This is due to there being a problem with high pressure air from the cylinder escaping passed your high-pressure seat on the 1st stage which then causes the intermediate pressure to rise. The air needs to escape to somewhere before it causes major damage to the 1st stage and that place is normally your 2nd stage, hence the leak you are now seeing. Other causes include things like weakened poppet springs or poppet seats that are worn out. No matter the reason why, you must STOP using it. This regulator needs to be serviced immediately before any serious injury is caused.

Inside your 2nd stage regulator there is a plastic/rubber compound diaphragm which pulls down onto the regulator lever when you inhale. Sometimes, due to the large flow of air, this causes the diaphragm to vibrate which in turn makes a burp like noise. This sound generally only happens when the regulator is out of the water and will normally stop with the water pressure. It’s a bit annoying, but not normally anything to worry about. You have good air flow and that’s exactly what we want. Perfect!

As your regulator is your life support system while at depth it is important that your gear is serviced as recommended by the manufacturer. In most cases this means every 100 dives or 1 year, whichever comes first. But this also depends on the brand and the model of you reg set.

Some modern reg sets are only required to be tested on an annual basis and If they pass the test requirements as set out by that manufacture you might not have to have them serviced yearly. You may only need to have them serviced bi-annually and in some cases, you might be looking at every third year for service.

At a minimum have them check annually and if they aren’t breathing well, leaking air or have been dropped or flooded stop using them until you’ve been given the all clear from a recognised service centre like us. It’s just not worth the risk.

The maximum periodic inspection and testing interval for SCUBA cylinders is 12 months and is required by law in Australia. However, if you are using this cylinder for air riffle use only you only have to get your cylinder hydrostatically tested every 5 years from last test date. This cylinder must have a sticker that says NOT FOR UNDERWATER USE.

Testing is conducted to determine whether the cylinder is satisfactory with respect to external examination, internal examination, hydrostatic testing, and where general corrosion is suspected. A mass test shall be carried out.
The filling of SCUBA cylinders can involve the risk of explosion which may cause death, serious injury and property damage. There are many documented cases in Australia detailing the effects on persons and property when a SCUBA cylinder fails. The results can be catastrophic. Everything possible has been done by governing authorities to protect us from the risk.
Research has shown that the greatest risk of cylinder failure is from cylinders manufactured in Australia prior to 1990 using 6351 T6 alloy. This alloy was also used in US manufactured cylinders until the late 80’s (If in doubt you should contact the manufacturer). This alloy can develop sustained load cracking which results in neck cracking. Proper visual inspection and the use of Eddy Current detection equipment has eliminated most of these dangerous cylinders but fill operators need to be vigilant by checking that the cylinder complies with the standards.
Other failures have occurred when aluminium SCUBA cylinders have been repainted using heat such as arc lamps to speed up the drying of the paint. This process heats the metal above 80 degrees C and this weakens the cylinder so that it may fail when filled to its working pressure. Cylinders subjected to heavy impacts or falls may also fail.

This photo demonstrates the forces involved when a cylinder rupture.

Additional marks are added to the cylinder throughout the cylinder life by operators of approved gas cylinder test stations.
The marks include the following information:

A. Serial Number – This is a number unique to the cylinder. The serial number identifies the individual cylinder. The batch from which the cylinder is manufactured is indicated by the use of a letter prefix. This enables the manufacturer to identify the alloy and process used for each cylinder.
B. Standards Code – This is the registered mark of the authorising body approving the manufacture of the cylinder. The following marks are some of those more commonly seen in Australia.
ICC – Interstate Commerce Commission was the authorising body controlling the manufacture of steel cylinders in the US up to the late 1960’s.
DOT – US Department of Transportation the current authorising body.
HOAL 4 – UK Home Office Aluminium design code 4.
ASB 114 – Used for steel cylinders manufactured other than in the US.
AS 1777 – Used for aluminium cylinders manufactured to the Australian Standards code 1777.
BS 5045 – British standard for steel tanks commonly found in Australia
C. Alloy Code – This mark indicates the type of alloy used in the manufacture
3A – Carbon steel. Older steel tanks were made from this alloy.
3AA – Chrome Molybdenum steel used today.
3AL – DOT specified aluminium alloy used today.

Note: Prior to 1 July 1982 permit numbers used the code E6498 or SP6498. These indicated types of experimental aluminium alloys. These alloys have been implicated in some previous SCUBA tank failures. A government alert recommended these cylinders be removed from use due to a risk of explosion.
D. Working Pressure – This mark indicates the maximum safe air fill pressure that the cylinder is designed to contain. This mark may be prefixed by; WP, CP, Fill or in some cases may be included in the cylinder specification. Not all cylinders have the same working pressure. Cylinders should not be filled above the marked pressure.
E. Date of Manufacture – This indicates the date and includes the manufacturer’s test mark. The format is: the month of manufacture, followed by the manufacturer’s test mark, then the year.

F. Water Capacity (WC) – All approved cylinders must indicate their water capacity. Older cylinders were marked in Pounds. Modern cylinders are marked in Kilograms or Litres.

Our External inspection includes looking for
Bulging of the cylinder wall, dents, digs, cuts or gouges, pitting or local corrosion, line corrosion, general corrosion and any burning from welding or fire damage. The parameters in relation to pass or failure of a visual inspection can be referenced in AS 2030.1 -1999 The verification, filling, inspection, testing and maintenance of cylinders for storage and transport of compressed gasses. Your cylinder then has its valve removed and is examined internally. This is to check for moisture, corrosion, rust, internal pitting, neck damage, and or cracking.

The Hydrostatic Test itself is done by filling it with water and applying pressure until the cylinder’s test pressure is reached. After being held at the test pressure, the pressure is slowly released. If the cylinder retains 10% or more of the initial expansion it is condemned. If not, it passes. It’s that simple. Your cylinder is then stamped and a test certificate is issued, your cylinder is refilled and you are now ready to collect it and go diving!

The first step in our service is to run a full diagnostic on your regulator set. To start this process, we hook up your scuba set on our state-of-the-art A.I.R flow meter on our test bench and we run tests to gauge its performance. Testing includes collecting information on your regulator’s static intermediate pressure, its dynamic intermediate pressure, your 1st stages flow rate and your 2nd stage cracking pressures. This gives us a baseline to how your regulator is performing and what problems we may need to address before striping your gear down. All these tests are done at different flow rates to gain a full understanding of your gears performance. As we disassemble your regulators using only your manufacturer’s recommended tools to avoid any unnecessary damage on your expensive investment the checking of it doesn’t stop. All mouthpieces, hoses and 2nd stage diaphragms are checked for holes and other signs of wear and tear.

We then head to the internal workings of your gear by totally removing every “o” ring and component from the main bodies of your regulator set. All metal parts are placed in the ultrasonic cleaner at 34c to remove any salt build up and corrosion. It is brushed off using a brass brush before it’s all washed in an all-natural soap nut solution to remove any excess greases. We then clean it again with a cue tip and soft toothbrush before soaking it in fresh hot water to remove any other contaminants. This is a long process but one that we stand by here at Safety Stop.

It is reassembled using only your manufacturer’s service kits, hoses, mouthpieces and recommended lubricants. Once it is all reassembled the tuning part of your service begins. This happens by reconnecting it to the A.I.R flow meter so we can reset your 1st stage Intermediate pressures and your 2nd stage cracking pressures. Once this is done, we put your gear onto our quick set tool which we use to bed in all your seats before hooking up yet again to A.I.R to fine tune the 1st stage I.P and the 2nd stage cracking effort ultimately setting of your regulators back to the original manufactures setting making them breathe easy just like they did when you bought however many years ago.

We start the service on your BCD by fully inflating it to check for any leaks in the bladder, the dump valves, the corrugated hose and the power inflator mechanism. Once all the leak checks are complete, we unscrew all of the dump valves, remove the inflator and soak your BCD in an all-natural warm eco-friendly antibacterial and antifungal solution totally flushing out the inside of any salt residue. While your BCD is drying, we start the service on your power inflator. We completely strip it down removing all “o” rings and other components before we place it all in the ultrasonic cleaner at 34c to remove any salt build up and corrosion. It is brushed off before it’s all washed in an all-natural soap nut solution to remove any excess greases. We then clean it again with a cue tip before soaking it in fresh hot water to remove any other contaminants. Once your BCD is dry, we check all buckles and clips for cracks and to make sure everything is in a fully functional working order. We DE fluff all your Velcro strips and remove any thread dags from around the BCD, we re-grease all your dump valve threads and put it all back together. Then its back into the water to redo the bubble checks. If it passes this test It is left fully inflated while its dry’s to once again confirm that there are truly no small leaks. For your BCD to pass and be returned to you it needs to hold its airtight integrity for a minimum of 12 hours.

We stand behind our quality of service, so you can breathe easy knowing your service warranty covers all workmanship for your regulators for 12 months from the date of service. This means if it starts leaking for no reason at all (i.e you or anyone else haven’t tampered with it in any way or dropped them and all the parts supplied in the maintenance kits are found to be in good condition) we will re-service it for you free of charge. Of course, if there was a break down caused from the supplier’s parts, we will endeavour to get these replaced by that supplier at no cost (this is at their discretion, not ours and cannot be guaranteed by us.) Although we can’t be held liable for the cost of parts, we will still donate our labour time for you in this circumstance.