Basic Gear Care for Newbies?

[Jarrett]

So I am about to go spend stupid amounts of money on new gear for my daughter and I. I am wondering if there is a basic gear care plan that everyone uses or if its just a RTFM kinda deal for each manufacturer's product. We got some basic do's and dont's about the gear in our course, but nothing really about good prodcedures for long term care and feeding.

I was planning to ask my LDS (ScubaToys) about this before I hand them the wads of cash, but would love to hear what the board members think about it as well. What do you do for gear care before and after a dive? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[dlndavid]

Rinse, Rinse, Rinse in fresh water if you are diving salt. Dry thouroghly out of the sun.
Store in cool dry place. Have Regs serviced annually.

 

[gfisher4792]

Rinse, Rinse, Rinse in fresh water if you are diving salt. Dry thouroghly out of the sun.
Store in cool dry place. Have Regs serviced annually.

That just about cover 95% of the gear care advice you need. Other suggestions include:

Inspecting hoses and hose connection points for cracking/corrosion (check under those hose protectors!)

Inflate your BC about twice a year or so, and leave overnight. If it loses air, you might need some repairwork done.

Apply silicone grease to battery housing o-rings (camera housing, lights, etc.) once or twice a year (or when needed).

 

[Jarrett]

Thanks for the info thus far. Cool, that sounds easy. I just assumed there was a lot more to it than that.

So if diving in fresh water, don't worry about rinsing?

 

[markfm]

It's still good to hose things off, gets rid of any little junk that gets on your gear, just that it's not as big a hassle (no corrosion/salt issues).
A little clean water swished in the BC is also nice, perhaps a dab of listerine, to keep down the microbe farm that'll otherwise start to grow

 

[dlndavid]

When diving fresh, you should still rinse for dirt, but for salt you should soak and rinse.
When diving in Cancun, I like to finish my dives with a fresh water Cenote dive to get a good soak and rinse at the same time.

 

[spectrum]

I use 3 rinse containers.

1 clean white pail filled with freshwater. Hook regulators to cylinders and presurize. Leave soaking as long as possible. Hose down hoses, 1st stages and cylinders includng in the boots. Then swish and purge, amazing what ends up in the pails after a silty or cloudy dive. Repeat for Primary, Alternate, Gauges.Console and QD connectors. Let dry some or wipe valve area dry. Depressurize, cap and hang the regulator set and take cylinders for fills. Be sure to keep 1st stage inlet and tank outlets dry.

2. Big barrel; Remove BC weights and place in barrel. Drain dive water form BCs Place BCs in barrel, let them soak. After a while remove BC. Hold inflator dump valve and add at least a pint of water, slosh around, drain through all dump valves, repeat 3 times total. Hang all properly on BC hangers to dry. Assemble when dry or for next dive. For back to back dive days you can shave this some especially if it's fresh water. Problem is that bioloads are hard to guess and stuff can stink quick. Orally inflate the hanging BCs so that the insides of the bladders are not clinging to opposing surfaces. Check for remaining inflation when setting up for the next dive.

2. A tub filled with fresh water for all the neoprene. Dunk slosh and hang on hangers or a homemade drying rack. Anything that goes on your head, then your main suits, gloves, footwear. Make sure you have a means for them to all drain and dry. Let the suits dry inside out, you'll have the best chance of doning dry next time.

Also rinse any lights, reels etc

Refill the big tubs after use. That way you have nice sun warmed water to come home and rinse in. Nicer for you on a cool evening and I think it frees contaminants better.

It takes my wife and I about 30 minutes to do it all along with hanging towels, stowing coolers and all that other stuff.

It's a big investment take care of it. Your lives may depend on it. Spending time with your gear gives you a chance to notice stuff.

BTW all of my dive gear manuals have been pretty useless so I think you are doing the right thing by asking for input.

Pete

 

[hermosadive]

http://www.divevets.com/equipmentcare.htm

 

[Jasonmh]

Most agencies have an Equipment maintanance class, which in my case I found extremely helpful.

So I am about to go spend stupid amounts of money on new gear for my daughter and I. I am wondering if there is a basic gear care plan that everyone uses or if its just a RTFM kinda deal for each manufacturer's product. We got some basic do's and dont's about the gear in our course, but nothing really about good prodcedures for long term care and feeding.

I was planning to ask my LDS (ScubaToys) about this before I hand them the wads of cash, but would love to hear what the board members think about it as well. What do you do for gear care before and after a dive? Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[The Kraken]

Every now and then, rinse your gear in fresh water with a little bit of vinegar in it . . . neutralizes any salts that my be left over or hiding.

Occasionally fill the bladder of your B/C or wing with fresh water, add a couple of caps of mouthwash or B/C cleaner and give the bladder a good washing to kill any bacteria that may be flourishing in there.

Keep it out of the sun and a dry high heat.

Rinse, Rinse and Rinse

the K