Cleaning Air 2?

[redacted]

ew1usnr once bubbled...


No! The Air2 is a 2nd stage regulator (see attached). If you let water into the air inlet it will corrode the low pressure nozzle. Put the rubber cap over the air inlet before you rinse out the regulator. The cap is not there for decoration. It is meant to keep the inside of the regulator dry and free of debris. Just like the dust cap on a first stage. For the same reason, don't press the purge button while rinsing it either.

There really shouldn't be anything in a second stage that could be damaged by flooding. The problem with letting water upstream of the LP seat is it can then get to the 1st stage which is much more susceptable to damage from this source.

So, after rinsing in clean FW, make sure to dry it or blow it out so the "rinse" doesn't find its way into the 1st. Then cover it so crap and critters stay out. Also, it's not a bad idea to check the hose end connector for dirt before you hook it up.

 

[LowTide]

There really shouldn't be anything in a second stage that could be damaged by flooding. The problem with letting water upstream of the LP seat is it can then get to the 1st stage which is much more susceptable to damage from this source.

So, after rinsing in clean FW, make sure to dry it or blow it out so the "rinse" doesn't find its way into the 1st. Then cover it so crap and critters stay out. Also, it's not a bad idea to check the hose end connector for dirt before you hook it up.

I was thinking along this line since when I clean my BC it isn't attached to my reg, but if I want to be extra safe I will pressurize it.

 

[redacted]

Anytime you can soak your gear under pressure in clean FW, that is the preferred way to go. That way, clean FW can get to everywhere SW can get but not to any of the places it shouldn't. The only thing you need to be real careful to protect is the inside of 1st stage and the SPG. With the 2nd stage, all parts are normally exopsed to water when diving. That includes parts of the orifice, the orifice o-ring and the LP seat. These material are not damaged by this contact.

 

[MechDiver]

ew1usnr once bubbled...

Notice how it says "set up on a scuba tank and pressurized". That is so that water will not go in the air intake while it is being rinsed. A grain of sand or a salt crystal can damage the knife edge of the LP nozzle and cause a leak. [/QUOTE]

Thats the object of rinsing it in fresh water. To get RID of the sand, salt, crawdads or whatever. Its hard to rinse the stuff out if you have it closed up. And what in heavens name is a second stage "air intake"? You into jet engines there dude?

 

[ew1usnr]

MechDiver once bubbled...
Notice how it says "set up on a scuba tank and pressurized". That is so that water will not go in the air intake while it is being rinsed. A grain of sand or a salt crystal can damage the knife edge of the LP nozzle and cause a leak.

Thats the object of rinsing it in fresh water. To get RID of the sand, salt, crawdads or whatever. Its hard to rinse the stuff out if you have it closed up. And what in heavens name is a second stage "air intake"? You into jet engines there dude? [/B][/QUOTE]
********************************************
I said "air intake" (i.e. "inlet") to stress the difference between water going in from where the air hose connects versus the mouthpiece. Water does normally go into the mouthpiece, and the mouthpiece opening should be rinsed out with fresh water after a muddy or salt water dive. But, it is not normal practice to remove the hose of an ordinary octopus and run water into the air inlet (i.e "intake"). You might do it and not damage the regulator, but there is no point to it. And this is what you are, in effect, advocating doing with the 2nd stage of the Air2. There is no need to rinse out the LP nozzle after each dive. The surrounding water never comes in contact with the inside of the regulator because it is filled with dry compressed air. There will be no salt, sand, or mud in the internal mechanisim the regulator beneath the LP seat, so why do you feel it necessary to rinse it out? The internal mechanism being different than the external surfaces of the regulator, that water normally contacts, and which are contained inside the Air2 case. When you dunk an "open" Air2 into a rinse tank you take the unecessary risk introducing sand and salt into the inside of the regulator. The cap is attached to the hose. All you have to do is put it in place and then nothing will get into the normally clean dry inside of the regulator. You have not done this for the past three years and your regulators still work. Good for you. Everyone else can follow your example.

The original question was "Can I just throw it in my dunk tank with my BC as long as the cap is on the hose connector? Or does it need to be pressurized?"

In my opinion, keeping the regulator pressurized will work. But I myself choose to simply put the cap in place before rinsing my Air2. It accomplishes the same thing (keeping water out of the air inlet)and it is a lot easier to move the BC around than having it attached to the tank.

 

[redacted]

ew1usnr once bubbled...


The cap is attached to the hose. All you have to do is put it in place and then nothing will get into the normally clean dry inside of the regulator. You have not done this for the past three years and your regulators still work. Good for you. Everyone else can follow your example. I myself choose to put the cap in place before rinsing my Air2.

With the LP inflator hose attached, The seal between salt water and tank gas is right at the end of the inlet tube. But that cap seals aroung the first groove on the outside of the tube. So there is a small section that has been exposed to SW, not tank air, but would then be "protected" from the rinse FW if the cap is installed. Rinsing under tank pressure would not cause the same problem. Salt and the resulting corrosion on the end of the tube can be expecially problematic as that is the sealing "orifice" engaged by the rubber seal in the QD connector.

I used to install that cap before a simple rinse untill I realized it was the cause of the green on the end of my inlet tube. Now, I'm careful not to do more harm than good, but I use the cap to prevent physical damage (a ding on the end of the inlet tube could be a real problem), not to keep water out of the Air2 while rinsing. But I also don't soak it down and then hook it back up to the LP connector which could allow water to find it way into the innards of the 1st.

 

[ew1usnr]

OK. I'll agree that leaving the air connected while rinsing is the best method. That is, after all, what Scubapro recommends. But, I still think that having the cap in place is better than just leaving the inlet open. An Air2 should not be treated the same as a common inflator.

 

[jamiei]

or should an inflator be treated just as good as the air2 should? Isn't a problem with your inflator possibly just as bad as a problem with the air2? If the sealing surface of either fail, you lose air...

 

[redacted]

jamiei once bubbled...
or should an inflator be treated just as good as the air2 should? Isn't a problem with your inflator possibly just as bad as a problem with the air2? If the sealing surface of either fail, you lose air...

Looks like there is a lot less metal and more plastic on the inflator. The metal QD screws into the plastic inflator body. Air2 and inflator use the same LP seat feeding the BC but the Air2 seats on metal while the inflator appears to seat on the plastic body. Exhaust valves are different but in both cases, they seat on plastic. So I would think the inflator would be a little less sensetive to contaminants. But the same level of care couldn't be anything but a plus.

Both are probably pretty hardy. I had picked up a used Air2 on e-bay out of CA. It had lead a tough life in SW. Smelled like previous owner may have been a sea lion and actually had a bit of green kelp inside. O-rings were more like plastic than rubber. But when I initially hooked it up, it didn't leak and it breathed OK.

 

[ew1usnr]

jamiei once bubbled...
or should an inflator be treated just as good as the air2 should?

True. Perhaps inflators should have the same rubber caps that come with the Air2 and for the same reason. That way, the air inlet on an inflator would always be kept clean and dry while the LP hose was not attached. Perhaps inflators would then be less susceptible to corrosion and sticking.

I'll try to find something to use as a protective cap for my inflators.