Regulator filter filled with salt!

[Mo.Diver]

They took it apart to clean every piece from salt. The filter is now clean as new.

 

[tursiops]

They took it apart to clean every piece from salt. The filter is now clean as new.

Was there salt in it?

 

[Mo.Diver]

Yes on the filter but nothing inside was damaged, or at least according to this shop.

 

[BoltSnap]

Where did the salt come from? From inside the tank??

 

[JackD342]

Where did the salt come from? From inside the tank??

Well, that has been the very question from the start. Also, there is the possibility it is/was something other than salt. (did anyone lick it to check?)

 

[BoltSnap]

Well, that has been the very question from the start. Also, there is the possibility it is/was something other than salt. (did anyone lick it to check?)

If I were the owner or the technician, I wouldn't be able to sleep until I found out why for sure. It is unacceptable not to know for me.

 

[JackD342]

If it was contaminate from the tank, how would you ever know for sure at this point? I assume there is no chance of tracking back to that specific rental tank, much less getting the owners to drain it and take a look. The only reasonable chance on that end would be if they were asked, and replied that yes, they had noticed a problem with a cylinder or two, or with their compressor for some period.

And then while the thought will not be popular with the OP, there is always the possibility of "user error" of some sort, which would also be very difficult to figure out at this point. The one thing I am certain of, is that it was NOT salt water entering the system from the external environment while pressurized on that first dive.

 

[Mo.Diver]

I don't suspect it was the tank as the tank valve was cleaner than the regulator and also the other 9 divers with me on the boat didn't face anything similar.

The dive instructor did actually lick it to confirm it was salt.

I was suspecting a back flow from my second stage assuming it would be faulty but I don't think the air pressure will allow any water backflow. Similarly if it was a faulty O-ring, I don't think the air pressure would allow salty water to accumulate on the valve.

I can't wait for the next time I go diving to make sure it won't happen again.

 

[Scared Silly]

If it was back flow the filter would not have looked as it did as the whole reg would have been mucked up. The fact that the others did not have a similar issue means little. You could have had the lucky tank that crap.

The tech is the one who can give a definitive answer.

 

[happy-diver]

I often have ocean boat wash salt spray crystallise in my valves and on tanks
this when combined with hot conditions, but I do it on the way back from diving