Crumbled regulator

[NJDiver18]

Now I won’t get into the long drawn out story of why I had a 9 year gap in diving. But I will say choose you spouse appropriately. Got all my gear back post divorce and was inspecting and cleaning so I can get into doing what I love. I went to purge my reg I use for on my pony bottle and my finger went right through to the diaphragm. Now it had been stored my home until it was moved into a shed ( not by me ) for over 3 years. And this was the end result. Sure parts wear out and I was going to upgrade my gear anyway but until that time I was hoping to use my old stuff after it was serviced. I already found the replacement part for this but just thought I’d share anyway.

I never would have gotten back in the water without checking and servicing my stuff. But let this be a warning to those who might. If it’s been awhile really go over your gear. Follow the service recommendations. And choose your spouse carefully.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

That's interesting: I guess I associated that kind of fast plastic "decay" to sunlight.

Was it exposed to hydrocarbon fumes in the shed? E.g., stored with lawnmowers and gas tanks for same? Or paint thinner? I'm not sure this would cause brittleness like you saw, but maybe?

As for spouses, whenever I get a couple in my SCUBA classes and they're both doing well, I tell them not to mess up the relationship. Having a diving spouse is a blessing. (Mine doesn't, but is tolerant.)

 

[lexvil]

Well known with those, better to just replace it

 

[NJDiver18]

It was s

That's interesting: I guess I associated that kind of fast plastic "decay" to sunlight.

Was it exposed to hydrocarbon fumes in the shed? E.g., stored with lawnmowers and gas tanks for same? Or paint thinner? I'm not sure this would cause brittleness like you saw, but maybe?

As for spouses, whenever I get a couple in my SCUBA classes and they're both doing well, I tell them not to mess up the relationship. Having a diving spouse is a blessing. (Mine doesn't, but is tolerant.)

It was stored in a plastic bin. Yes there was a lawnmower in the shed also but gas tank was bone dry. Probably just broke down over time.

 

[NJDiver18]

Well known with those, better to just replace it

Yes I am in the process of narrowing down what refs I want to go with now. I may fix and service just to have a spare. We will see what my LDS says.

 

[lexvil]

Yes I am in the process of narrowing down what refs I want to go with now. I may fix and service just to have a spare. We will see what my LDS says.

Those covers may no longer be available . Not sure if there are replacements.

 

[lowwall]

There were some flexible plastics used for scuba purge covers starting in the late '90s or early '00s that weakened and became brittle over time. These were adopted because it let the manufacturers save a few cents and grams by getting rid of a separate purge button. It took years for enough of them to break for the problem to be recognized and the formulation changed. Some regs like the plastic Mares Proton were out of production by then so never got updated covers (however, the covers from the metal Protons could be substituted until those ran out too).

But you are in luck. If you want to keep using that reg, an updated replacement cover is available: Oceanic Alpha 8 2nd Stage Replacement Purge Cover for sale online | eBay

 

[davehicks]

I had a similar problem on a Hollis 2nd stage used on a CCR BOV. The one of the plastic parts of purge cover that acted as a spring just fell apart. I ended up 3d printing a replacement purge cover using a TPU disk as the spring a PETG cover/frame to hold it in place. I designed my own, but in my investigation I found a few other 2nd stage purge cover replacements on the 3d print libraries such a Thingiverse and Printables.

 

[BoltSnap]

I will say choose you spouse appropriately.

I can't agree with you more. Good for you and now it is time to live your life to its fullest and enjoy what you enjoy doing without their spoiling your enjoyment and making your life a living hell.

 

[Umuntu]

Once bitten … I feel for you

I don’t understand people who choose to jump back into that fire.

I would just replace those regs. The choices have improved much since you purchased those.

Lots of excellent used regulators show up for sale here on Scubaboard for little more what it will cost you to bring those back into service.