Air in your 1st stage?

[jamespitt]

Hi,
just quick question because i always get differing answers.
when drying your dustcap of yr 1st stage, is it wrong to direct air into the 1st stage to dry it off. i would say yes it is wrong and damaging to the reg, as it forces salty water into the 1st stage and also forms salt crystals (maybe?) which will cause the components inside to corrode.
the thing is that i have seen instructors doing it and advising students to do the same. unfortunately they take their advice and not a DMs.
thanks for listening.
James
:dork:

ps. and i know the best way of drying your dustcap is with a cloth but most times that is not practical.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by jamespitt
Hi,
just quick question because i always get differing answers.

Hi James, Welcome to scuba board....
You might get different answers here to....
But I agree with you that it is not a good idea to blow salty water at your regulator....
I am not sure why you need to dry it off in the first place....
I must not be reading your post right....
Is this before or after the dive....
Is this before or after the rinse....

 

[jamespitt]

hi pug,
sorry....
after dive, before plunging in rinse tub.

jimmy

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by jamespitt
hi pug,
sorry....
after dive, before plunging in rinse tub.

jimmy

I'm with you... no blow....
Hold your finger over the inlet or tighten down an o-ring sealed dust cap and rinse in fresh... but no blow....

g'night...
see you tomorrow... or today if you are on the other side of the date line...

 

[dlarbale]

James, james, james!!

Having taught you all that you know I was just wondering when you'll ever learn.

We've had this discussion numerous times and NO you definately don't blow air into the 1st stage - period, just recall the guys that you saw doing this, try to remember what equipment they had and how they looked after it (or not as the case may be).

What are people attempting when they try this. The reg has just been detached from the cylinder and therefore NO water will be present around the filter. There may/will be some water around the face below the lip that sits against the o-ring but that wont go anywhere near your 1st stage inlet with the dust cap in place.

Blowing air around the face will atomise the salt water and possibly blow salt crystals and/or salt water into the inlet - this is fine if you want to service the reg monthly!!

Nice photo BTW

Later - your friend and mentor Dave.

 

[jamespitt]

mr L,
how the hell are you? believe it or not but i was thinking about u this morning while in the shower (dont get the wrong idea, i am still NOT interested in you) and here is a post from you! as you can imagine i am very bored at work so hence the photo and obscure posts. i am starting diving with Silentworld (ex Prodive) and DMing a boat dive this weekend i hope. should be good.
i will be interested in reading your posts, i can see them now - "how do you know when you are a real techhie?", "is painting my fingernails black really taking tech-black too far?" and "does my bum took big behind these twin tanks?".
hows the job going?
good to hear from u guru.
'ave a great week matey.
James
ps. are we going to be in competition with number of posts here? last one to senior member has to take charlie on a deep dive! just kidding.