Assembling Regulator

[yongsw]

Hi,

I was self-assembling my newly bought octopus and gauge to the first stage. However I've had some problems with a Mares octopus.

My problem is this: I can't seem to pull back the hose protector(the thing my thumb is on) on the octopus to tighten it with a spanner to the first stage. Is there a trick to doing this? Everything else seems to be fine, LP to LP and HP to HP...

 

[buddhasummer]

Take the hose off, use some hot water to soften the protector and then slide it back. If you lightly smear the end of the hose with grease or similar you'll be able to more easily slide back up once hose is tightened.

 

[yongsw]

Thanks, I'll try that out...

 

[emoreira]

When using hot water with the hose off, avoid any water entering inside the hose.

 

[yongsw]

I wasn't able to pull the hose protector back, but even worse I accidentally pulled it out. Now I have a hose protector that is really stiff that I can't put through the octopus...should I try boiling it to put it back?

 

[teknitroxdiver]

I wasn't able to pull the hose protector back, but even worse I accidentally pulled it out. Now I have a hose protector that is really stiff that I can't put through the octopus...should I try boiling it to put it back?

No, throw it in the garbage. They do nothing useful, and trap salt on the hose end and then prevent you from seeing the condition of the hose.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I337 using Tapatalk

 

[yongsw]

Really? That would make everything much simpler...without the hose protector, I would be able to easily tighten the octopus to the first stage..

 

[buddhasummer]

I removed all hose protectors from my regs, it makes cleaning so much easier and easier to inspect hose for damage and as teknitroxdiver posted they are salt traps. Leave it off you'll be fine. But yes, if you boil the protector you'll be able to refit.

 

[Chugwhump]

Dive shops typically use a t-handle device that threads over threaded end of the hose.
So it works like this......
T-handle, through the hose protector, threaded onto the threaded end of the hose.
Pull hose protector (salt catcher, rinse inhibitor) down the shaft, onto the hose a fair length.
Then remove t-handle from hose, and grab a wrench and attach hose into reg.
Then slide the salt catcher, rinse inhibitor, back up over the hose tight to the reg, to better facilitate corrosion.

Chug
Wants to know why ferriners' call a wrench a "Spanner".

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Really? That would make everything much simpler...without the hose protector, I would be able to easily tighten the octopus to the first stage..

Absolutely. Even without a hose protector you'd have to do horrific things to your regulator to actually damage the hose. And not having one makes life much easier; ease of tightening, easy to inspect the hose, your regulators pack smaller, hoses route better while diving, and you don't have to boil any water.

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