AL legend ACD not waterproof?

[rab1412000]

hi all

i bought a second hand AL Legend last year from a friend and it had somethng like three dives in them. it had the ACD and performed quite well.
AFAIK AL has always advertised the ACD as a wterproof seal to the 1st stage.
recently i noticed that the quality of breathing had deteriorated and brought the regulator in for service.
they told me that the many parts had to be changed including the HP seat and diaphragm, apparently because of water.
i know that sometimes when soaking my reg i sometimes do not put the dustcap in place, secure in the knowledge that the ACD would keep the regulator safe. the technician however told me that the ACD is a metal on metal seal and therefore cannot provide a real waterproof seal. he also said that the 'damaged' parts were most probably casued by my soaking my reg without the dustcap on.
i would like to get your opinions on this. is the technician right in his assessment?

 

[Tortuga68]

"Auto-Closure Device (ACD) seals the regulator’s inlet fitting, both Yoke and DIN, as soon as the regulator is removed from the cylinder valve.

* • This will keep water and contaminants out of the regulator’s first stage during rinsing and storage"


Rinsing not soaking

 

[rab1412000]

so the ACD is indeed NOT a watertight seal?
and the water due to soaking could have been the major factor for HP seat failure?

 

[jamram]

don't want to hijack your tread, I have a question that might be related and i'm also interested in knowing the answer...does depressing the 2nd stage or the octopus during soaking will let water in ? even with ACD

tia

 

[Tortuga68]

Yes, unless it's still connected to the tank & under pressure

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Yep. I'm not familiar with AL's device but the Oceanic Dry Valve technology uses a spring and a plastic bullet. This spring is only good to about 6 feet (2 meters). So if you have it in a rinse tank deeper than that it may leak. Hit it with running water and guess what? Those devices are for convenience against ACCIDENTAL dunking of the reg. I would never trust em for rinsing and soaking. False sense of security is what it is. Better if they had never come up with em. Just a gimmick that costs perhaps $2 in parts and adds $100 to the cost of the reg for the consumer.

 

[rab1412000]

Yep. I'm not familiar with AL's device but the Oceanic Dry Valve technology uses a spring and a plastic bullet. This spring is only good to about 6 feet (2 meters). So if you have it in a rinse tank deeper than that it may leak. Hit it with running water and guess what? Those devices are for convenience against ACCIDENTAL dunking of the reg. I would never trust em for rinsing and soaking. False sense of security is what it is. Better if they had never come up with em. Just a gimmick that costs perhaps $2 in parts and adds $100 to the cost of the reg for the consumer.

thanks. i know what you mean and AL was heavilly advertising this feature even. although looking through their site now i do not see any mention of a waterproof seal, their marketing and ads did give me a very false sense of security that eventually cost me more in the end.
and fwiw, i soaked it about 1 foot of water.

 

[Tortuga68]

Bottom line, use the cap and/or rinse when pressurised

 

[rab1412000]

we were always taught to soak the reg, not just rinse - supposedly to get most of the salt out of the reg.

would you advise the same?

 

[jamram]

Yes, unless it's still connected to the tank & under pressure

thanks...