CCR (rebreather) maintenance: how often visit authorised service center

Owning a CCR (closed-circuit rebreather) like the Liberty is not just about enjoying long bottom times and silent dives — it’s also a commitment to ongoing care. In this article I break the topic into two parts:

What maintenance the CCR user should do themselves, after each dive or on short cycles

What needs to be done by a trained service technician or factory, and how often

By combining both, a diver maximizes the reliability and safety of the rebreather — avoiding unpleasant surprises far from home.

Part 1: User-Level Daily and Routine Care

Think of your CCR as a delicate instrument: the better you treat it after each dive, the fewer problems you’ll face later. Here’s what every Liberty user (and CCR diver in general) should adopt as habits.

a) Rinse, flush, and dry

• Rinse external parts with fresh water immediately after surfacing. Salt and debris can creep into small gaps, causing corrosion or salt crystals that lead to leaks.

• Flush breathing hoses / loop with fresh water(diluent side, if permitted by your loop design) to remove saltwater or contaminants.

• Flush counterlungs (both inhalation and exhalation bags) with clean fresh water, then drain and let them dry thoroughly.

• Keep the scrubber canister open or ventilated while drying, but never let scrubber granules go soggy or be left wet.

b) Disinfection of the breathing loop

Because your loop and counterlungs become an extension of your lungs, microbes matter. In between dives (especially over multiple dives in a day) you should:

• Remove any fluid from exhaust hoses or water traps,

• Use a mild, CCR-safe disinfectant to treat the breathing loop, DSV, BOV, and counterlungs (e.g. virucidal/disinfectant solutions recommended by manufacturer or known safe agents).

• Rinse thoroughly with fresh water afterwards, to avoid residual chemicals.

c) Inspect and lubricate O-rings and seals

• Each time you assemble or disassemble components (lungs, covers, ports, valves), inspect all accessible O-rings for nicks, cuts, deformation, or hardness.

• Use a proper oxygen-compatible lubricant (thin film) on O-rings. Don’t over-lubricate — excess grease can attract grit or degrade over time.

• Replace O-rings that show any sign of wear.

d) Battery care and power management

• Maintain optimal battery charge levels. Avoid deep discharges or leaving cells entirely flat for extended periods, as this degrades capacity over time.

• If your CCR uses removable or rechargeable batteries (for electronics, controllers, displays), store them partially charged if storing the unit long term.

• Monitor battery voltage and state-of-health — if cells begin to show early degradation, schedule replacement sooner.

e) Desalination after saltwater dives

• After diving in seawater, especially in warm tropical conditions, thoroughly flush all metallic, anodised, or exposed parts (bolts, housings, manifold, external parts). Salt crystals accelerate corrosion and may cause tight spots, galvanic behaviour, or leak paths.

• In humid, salty environments, even storing in protective bags doesn’t completely spare salt creep — ensure full rinsing.

f) Wing / buoyancy bladder

• Don’t forget your wing (lift bladder). Rinse it internally (inflate partially, flush inside), disinfect internally (if geometry allows), rinse, and ensure it is dry (or at least moisture-free) before storage.

• Inspect internal seam lines, inflator hoses, inflation/deflation valves for salt deposits or evidence of wear.

Why this user care matters

As the training site RebreatherPro notes:

“If you take the time to keep up with day-to-day maintenance then you will reduce the possibilities of failures, but also help to make it work more efficiently and extend its life.” Rebreatherpro-Training

In short: diligent user maintenance doesn’t replace factory service, but it reduces the risk of sudden failures, extends component life, and keeps your unit in shape until its scheduled professional servicing.

Part 2: Authorised / Factory Service — What, When, and Why

No matter how careful you are, certain maintenance tasks are better left (or required by warranty) to authorised service centers or factory technicians. A CCR is life-support equipment, and many internal parts are not accessible or advisable for user servicing. Here’s how to structure your service schedule and what to expect, with some Divesoft-Liberty–specific guidelines.

Why professional service is essential

When you’re heading off to a remote dive destination, you can’t afford to discover a cracked counterlung, a failed O-ring, or misadjusted regulators right before your first dive. Regular professional service is your guarantee of reliability — professionals will disassemble, inspect, pressure-test, replace wear parts, verify alignment, and ensure all parameters (e.g. intermediate pressure, electronics, solenoids) are within specification.

Indeed, many CCR manufacturers stipulate service intervals. For example, an authorised Poseidon service center states that Poseidon CCRs must be serviced at least every two years (104 weeks) by qualified personnel. altalena.com.au

Divesoft / Liberty service guidelines

Divesoft publishes a schedule of recommended services and quoted parts for the Liberty. Some highlights (as of current published data):

• Replacement of corrugated breathing hoses every 5 years for loop hoses (backmount) or side mount, as salt aging/creep may degrade hose materials. divesoft.com

• Replacement of intermediate pressure (IP) hoses and high pressure (HP) hoses every 5 years (or per configuration) divesoft.com

• Regular service of MAVs, first stages, OPVs with sealing components, cleaning, relubrication, and pressure testing. divesoft.com

Also, the Divesoft service operations page includes cost and scope for many of these tasks — e.g. full refurbishment, replacement of hoses, cleaning + disinfection, etc. divesoft.com

Recommended service intervals (general CCR practice, adapted)

Below is a realistic schedule (you should always follow Divesoft’s latest manual recommendations):

Note that some service centers (for other CCR brands) recommend doing the full body service every 36 months (3 years) as a baseline. For example, East Coast Divers describes a 36-month service involving disassembly, cleaning, inspection, and replacement of recommended parts. They also note that for heavy use, you might shorten that interval. East Coast Divers

Example: what a Liberty full service should cover

Although I don’t have the full internal Divesoft service checklist (your “attached documents”), based on what Divesoft publishes, the service should include:

• Disassembly of MAVs, first stages, OPVs, cleaning, replacing all sealing parts, relubrication, assembly, and underwater pressure test

• Disassembly, cleaning and inspection of the ADV (membrane), replacing O-rings, testing

• Cleaning + disinfection of gas paths and components exposed to breathing gas

• Calibration of electronics, firmware update, sensor diagnostics

• Replacement of recommended hoses (if 5-year threshold), replacement of sealing / O-ring kits

• Inspect structural components (frame, backplate, manifold), connectors, wiring, cable terminations

• Final leak test, functional test, full certification and service report

If any wear or damage is found beyond tolerances, the service center should contact you to approve additional repairs or part replacements.

Consequences of skipping or delaying service

• Increased chance of in-dive failures (leaks, O-ring blowouts, sensor faults)

• Degradation of hose materials, leading to microcracks or collapse under pressure

• Corrosion or salt intrusion in internal passages, leading to restrictive flow or malfunctions

• Warranty invalidation (many manufacturers require regular authorised servicing)

Loss of trust in your own equipment — the last thing you want is a failure during an expedition

As a diver put it on a forum:

“Note, just because a manufacturer offers parts for sale, it does not mean that you can get parts in a timely manner … Shearwater will not send you parts to fix their products.” scubaboard.com

That is, in remote locations, you may not be able to source critical spare parts — so you must rely on the fact that your CCR is already fully serviced and trustworthy.

Final Thoughts

Owning a CCR Liberty (or any advanced CCR) is an investment — in performance, freedom, and safety. But that investment only pays off if you match it with proper maintenance discipline and regular professional servicing.

User-level care after each dive (flushing, disinfection, inspection, lubrication, battery care) is your first line of defense

Professional service at scheduled intervals is your safety net, ensuring that hidden wear or degradation is caught and corrected

Skimping on service is like skipping oil changes on a high-performance engine — sooner or later something will go wrong at the worst possible moment

If you’re headed off on a remote dive trip, you don’t want to discover a cracked counterlung, a leaking hose, or failed electronics right before your first dive. Regular servicing is your insurance.

Author: Jakub Šimánek