Regulator and BCD Post-Dive Cleaning

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

NEVER EVER dunk the reg in water if it is not pressurized. the dust cap of the 1st stage is a DUST cap... and the pressure of 1 inch of water is enough to press the purge of the 2nd stage and let water in.
maye you can shower it but under no consideration you should immerge it in water.

Agreed it's not a good practise to dunk a non-pressurized reg underwater, but I don't agree that 1 inch of water pressure can depress a purge (1 PSI is = 27 inches of water), more likely a careless finger or other solid object will depress the purge.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
If you have a wing then another trick is to totally undo the dump valve which will allow all the water to drain. I then leave the dump valve off for a few days to a couple of weeks to allow the inside of the wing to totally dry and then I lube the valve and screw it back on. Allows me not only to clean the BC well but gives me a chance to lube the valve and examine the spring for rust.

IIRC, in another thread, Tobin, the guy at Deep Sea Supply, strongly recommended against taking apart the valves. Or at least not taking apart the valve in their wings (but also probably not taking apart the valve in most wings).
 
I mentioned in another recent thread that I don't dunk anything, which goes against what most say. I figure when you dunk in a bin full of water the salt comes off then the item sits in somewhat salty water. I rinse the BC inside & out (baby shampoo and fresh water for the inside). After the dive I use a towel to dry both the reg. first stage opening and the dust cap. Then I use tank air to further dry the dust cap (not the first stage though--it could blow salt water inside there)). I always rinse under the "hose protectors" as well. With my 9 year old (bought used) reg the only repair problem I've had was for letting sand get in there. I just hose off everything thoroughly (even my weights).
 
IIRC, in another thread, Tobin, the guy at Deep Sea Supply, strongly recommended against taking apart the valves. Or at least not taking apart the valve in their wings (but also probably not taking apart the valve in most wings).

Do you recall his reasoning? I cannot imagine why. Certainly in my Halcyon the valve is a smile disk with a spring and a plastic gate. I cannot imagine why undoing it would be detrimental ? Perhaps he was referring to the inflator mechanism which for the untrained is a little more complex.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 05:52 AM ----------

I did find Tobins quote and it is listed below

Tobin from DSS: 'As I have repeatedly stated there is zero need to disassemble your wing to clean it. Doing so requires special tools and some experience with the fittings.

Rinse out the bladder with fresh water and blow as much of the water as practical. You will *never* get it all out and that's ok, there are millions of wings and bc's all over the planet with a bit of moisture in them."


As stated before, in my Halcyon, removing the valve is dead simple and you need neither special tools nor some experience. There are exactly two moving parts to the valve. I hear what he says about the moisture but for myself I tend to dive heavily during the summer and then nothing during the winter and so for those 4-6 months i would prefer a dry bladder - sounds sick - maybe not absolutely needed but easy to achieve and so why not.
 
there really isn't any reason to disassemble. If you empty the wings properly, which is leaving them under pressure while you drain them, then there really isn't a whole lot that can be left in there. Leave it pressurized during storage and it'll be fine if you rinsed it properly. His hose flushing kit is really a brilliant little thing to hold onto in your dive kit.
 
Thanks for re-posting what Tobin said, I had been wondering about the water/dampness in my wing I couldn't remove.
 
Do you recall his reasoning? I cannot imagine why. Certainly in my Halcyon the valve is a smile disk with a spring and a plastic gate. I cannot imagine why undoing it would be detrimental ? Perhaps he was referring to the inflator mechanism which for the untrained is a little more complex.

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 05:52 AM ----------

I did find Tobins quote and it is listed below

Tobin from DSS: 'As I have repeatedly stated there is zero need to disassemble your wing to clean it. Doing so requires special tools and some experience with the fittings.

Rinse out the bladder with fresh water and blow as much of the water as practical. You will *never* get it all out and that's ok, there are millions of wings and bc's all over the planet with a bit of moisture in them."


As stated before, in my Halcyon, removing the valve is dead simple and you need neither special tools nor some experience. There are exactly two moving parts to the valve. I hear what he says about the moisture but for myself I tend to dive heavily during the summer and then nothing during the winter and so for those 4-6 months i would prefer a dry bladder - sounds sick - maybe not absolutely needed but easy to achieve and so why not.

Silly boy - take it to the LDS and pay for it. You need specialist training to unscrew anything. You don't open jars yourself do you?
 
To be fair at no point was he suggesting anyone need take it to the LDS, just that they are better off not removing the valve, 'at your own risk' I guess, as Craig66 said it may be different on the DSS ones.
 
Silly boy - take it to the LDS and pay for it. You need specialist training to unscrew anything. You don't open jars yourself do you?

Agreed and you only have to pay $70 for the privelage. Now how does it go again lefty loosy or was it righty loosy. Damn better take it to my LDS. Now if only I could remember if my front door opens to the left or the right.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk

---------- Post added September 9th, 2014 at 01:56 PM ----------

To be fair at no point was he suggesting anyone need take it to the LDS, just that they are better off not removing the valve, 'at your own risk' I guess, as Craig66 said it may be different on the DSS ones.

Jaz for me it is also a chance to lubricate the valve disk, inspect the spring, inspect the plastic for cracks.


Sent from my iPod touch using Tapatalk
 
There are dust caps and there are dust caps.

Most yoke regulator dust caps, firmly secured, are perfectly capable of keeping out water as you rinse. Some DIN dust caps, particularly ones that slide or push on and don't seal with the o-ring, can let in water. The Scubapro DIN cap is probably the worst offender in that it looks secure but isn't. Mosscaps at least don't even pretend. As a general rule of thumb, if your DIN dust cap screws onto the DIN thread and has a depression in the bottom that will allow the o-ring to mate with the sealing surface then it will be okay.

A bit of care in selecting what cap you use and a bit of care in using it will keep the interior of the first stage dry. Keeping the regulator pressurised on a cylinder will do the same but that is really advice for the lowest-common-denominator diver as it stops them making mistakes born of ignorance.

Immersing in fresh water for a while then rinsing will remove more salt than simply spraying with a hose.

Whatever you do though, do not depress the purge button or allow it to rest face down in the water so that it depresses the lever even slightly.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

Back
Top Bottom