anti-freeze caps?

[JDostal]

Anyone ever made an antifreeze cap for their regulator? I'm thinking specifically of my Poseidon Jetstream/Odins....I dove in 33 degree fahrenheit water this weekend and I ended up with a big ball of ice around one of my first stages. I ended up aborting the dive due to the goofy breathing on the regulator, especially considering where we were diving (river, some ice cover, tons of underwater structure).

We are looking at getting some caps for them, but just wondering if there is a simpler homemade solution. It's just a cap that you throw some rum into anyway...

 

[SDAnderson]

I don't have first hand experience with this but there are some local folks that have taken to wrapping something like this around there first stages with a bungee when it gets cold enough to start icing first stages:

REI Handwarmers

If you try it, let us know how it works.

Steven

 

[JDostal]

Do those things even work when underwater???

 

[DA Aquamaster]

No....they require free O2 to work and are designed for pockets etc If they are in open air they can get too hot. In the water, they would just get wet.

In the old days I owned an old Mk III and environmentalized it by filling the ambient chamber with silicone and then covered the rather large ambient ports with a rubber ring cut from a bicycle inner tube to keep the silicone from leaking out. It was not pretty but was quite functional until a bought a new Mk III with a SPEC kit included.

I am not sure what youhave to work with with a Posiden first stage but in general silicone grease is easier to keep in place than a liquid and anything that will contain the grease and is still flexible to allow ambient pressure to be transmitted to the grease in the ambient chamber will probably work.

 

[mddolson]

I have a Mr22 Abyss with anti-freeze kit.

Mr22 is a diaphram 1st stage, the exposed spring and cavity are filled with silicone oil and covered with a flexible rubber membrain.

Freeze ups are still possible, but less likely.

I dive all year round, in Great Lakes Ontario Canada.

regards

Mike D

 

[Bob3]

You could probably get away with chopping the thumbs off some rubber gloves or something & zip tying the critters on.
Don't go sticking grease in the thing, rum is usually the preferred antifreeze.
The older kits had a metal latching ring to hold them on, now they're using zip ties.
Otherwise $15 isn't too much to spend on an antifreeze kit.

 

[JDostal]

Yeah, I know it's not much but I can be a cheap SOB some days

I ended up just ordering a couple of the caps, they should be here by this weekend so I can go dive the river again.