Charlie99
Contributor
- Messages
- 7,966
- Reaction score
- 169
- # of dives
- 500 - 999
You can get a dust cap for yoke regs that uses the same o-ring as on tanks. Considering that it seals to 3000psi, it's probably watertight too.matt_unique:
Cleaning with no tank
- Thread starter mdsd
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
what Matt Unique said. do not allow water into the valve opening. The ony way to ensure this is under pressure of by not soaking. with the valve opening pointing down and dust cover in place I will pour water over the 1st stage if I don't have fresh water handy while the reg is connected to the tank. With the 2nd stage hanging down, you can dip it into a fresh water bath like a tea bag. As mentioned don't allow the purge to function.
keelhaul123
Contributor
Have to disagree Matt. I usually make sure the dust cap is on properly...tight, but not "squished", and put the whole thing in the tub with warm water to soak for a few hours. Then I rinse the whole reg. system, 1st, 2nd, octo, comp. under a low flow stream of warm water. So far in 4 years I have had no problems. The way I see it, the rubber surface of the dust cap is really no different than the rubber O-ring that seals the first stage filter of the reg. when its under water. The pressure exerted by the yoke screw of the 1st stage provides the same protection that the air pressure does when the whole unit is underwater. I could be wrong, but so far...if it ain't broke, don't fix it.matt_unique:
matt_unique
Guest
keelhaul123:
Unless you service your own regs or receive a full condition briefing from your tech you would not likely know if water were leaking in. I own Scuba Pro and Sherwood regs and both came with the same dust cap (for yoke). I used to rinse with a soak and just the dust cap. One year when picking up my gear after the annual service the tech began our conversation with the following: "you rinse with just the dust cap, don't you...." My answer was of course yes - I had never been taught otherwise. My reg worked fine all through the winter. The degradation in performance happens slowly over time with the way you are rinsing and you do not notice it. The first time I dove with the equipment after the servicing I could immediately notice an increase in performance. I did not need to learn this lesson twice.
--Matt
matt_unique:
New information (did not know it was relevant until reading the last two posts)
I have a Sherwood Oasis reg. It bleeds when diving which means it is open (there must be a technical term for this).
So does that mean soaking would let water into the 1st stage? Sounds like a situation to avoid?
matt_unique
Guest
mdsd:
It's a one way valve by design, the water gets in through the dust cap.
mdsd:
msds:
Sherwood calls it a dry air bleed system to balance the piston in the first stage.
On to the subject of dust caps and rinsing:
matt unique has it 100% correct! It is called a dust cap because it is just that, a dust cap, not a seal. It is not designed and was not intended to be used as such for the purpose of keeping out water. Hello! It's a "Dust Cap". Soaking the first stage of any reg using just a dust cap for any length of time(unless recommended by mfg) makes no sense and IMO is bad maintenance. Rinse the first stage while under pressure and be sure to keep the tank intake area dry while removing it from the valve. As matt said, performance degrades slowly over time and may go unnoticed until one of two things happens; it fails(bad, very bad), or proper service restores it to normal. You are supposed to be doing preventative maintenance, not creating a potential problem.
For those who do practice soaking with a dust cap:
Unless the mfg says it's ok, not a smart move IMO. Given that, do what you feel is acceptable for YOU, but NEVER tell someone else it is ok because YOU have had no problems in the past. Instead, tell them to follow the recommendations of the mfg and be vigillant in staying current with annual servicing. Why would someone suggest otherwise? Save money? It ain't broke so don't fix it? Again, not a smart move IMO.
Summary:
Treat your gear like your life depends on it, cause it DOES!
Jet
Excellent points. And youve certainly gotten me rethinking what Ive been doing for lo these many years. I probably won't change the way I rinse my gear, but I'll be more aware of the risk. Thank you.
good input, sherwood needs to rewrite their mini-manual which I just found, too many gaps
eg, they say you can rinse it but no mention if it should be under pressure, an earlier post pointed out the bleed valve is one-way, so i guess the ambiguity means you can assume it is one way
eg, they say you can rinse it but no mention if it should be under pressure, an earlier post pointed out the bleed valve is one-way, so i guess the ambiguity means you can assume it is one way
mdsd:
mdsd,
If you go to Sherwoods site, they have a fairly good description on how the first stage is designed and the dynamics of it under pressure and u/w. They do describe the valve as a one-way type.
Jet
Similar threads
