Crusty white stuff on gear?

[emttim]

emttim

It does sound like salt but I have to wonder why you are seeing it the extent of it being powdery.

Is you rinse water fresh for every dive day? Other ewise it will turn to brine and be counterproductive.

Fill your rinse containers before you go diving (or after your last dive) so they can be at ambient or sun warned when it's clean-up time. Warm water will do much better at extracting the salt especially if it has dried at all.

Are you rinsing with a spray hose or by soaking and dunking? I much prefer soaking and dunking.

Pete

Pete,

I used the hose outside at the dive washing station at the Travelodge in Monterey, so the water was cold. I also soaked and dunked it in the bath with shampoo and disinfectant when I got home though to kill off any bacteria that might have decided to stake a claim and have a cold one on my gear. I'll make sure the water is warm next time I soak and dunk it though, that may help.

 

[redrover]

Could it be mineral deposits in the fresh water? There was white crud in the bottom of ice cube trays – before I got filtered water.

 

[Parysa]

Could it be mineral deposits in the fresh water? There was white crud in the bottom of ice cube trays – before I got filtered water.

You may have rinsed it with hard (or would it be soft? I forget.) water and it could be residue from that. I get a powdery white residue in my shower from the water and it is a PAIN to clean off!

 

[mudhole]

Pete,
I also soaked and dunked it in the bath with shampoo and disinfectant when I got home though to kill off any bacteria that might have decided to stake a claim and have a cold one on my gear. I'll make sure the water is warm next time I soak and dunk it though, that may help.

The only cure is never let your gear dry. . . refill tanks and keep going. . . annual service on the first stage will keep your regulator from etching from corrosion. I agree with the others a soaking in warm water is about as intrusive as you should go.

From another EMT, don't leave home without a trauma kit. Even though a kit, your mask, and diving cameras all seem to have a message on them to step on, kick and otherwise abuse on any dive boat. You'll have lots of use for dry dressings. After having help flooding many trauma kits. . . I found waterproof containers at shops that sell welding supplies. . . A bright red welding rod container filled with supplies has never flooded in over 20 years of handling by that luggage Gorilla in the commercial.

 

[Bobyjimmie]

I usually not only rinse my gear but then soak it all in a giant rubbermaid trashcan full of fresh water for a few hours before taking it out to dry. Those salt particles can be sharp and do damage to the bladder in your BC. I may be being overparanoid but damn that stuff is expensive. Just some advice.

Soft water is the water where you add salt, if you have soft water in your house then more then likely the hose outside your house is not soft water or you would kill all your plants when you water them. Try drinking some if it tastes salty its soft water. If not then...well its not.

 

[emtgirl86]

Thank God it's not dried vegemite. Then you'd have to haul the affected gear to the nearest active volcano and hurl it in.

ooooo, that is just wrong. Vegemite....YUCK!

 

[djanni]

Hey, anyone happen to know what some small white deposits on gear may be? I swam in the ocean, and thoroughly rinsed the stuff, and it's completely dry now...and there's a few small white deposits (powdery) on my gear. Any thoughts on what this is, whether it's a sign that the gear is getting damaged, etc.? I dried my gear off in the garage, but there's no direct sunlight hitting the gear, although there is sunlight filtering into the room. And no, I can't do anything about that, the people I live with are *******s and won't let me dry the gear in the house in the bathroom or something preferable like that.

I soak my gear in a large rubber trash can overnight and sometimes for 24 hours. BC's, wetsuits, computers, flash lights, camera case, everything except for the regs. I have some white stains on the tank straps where they touch the tank (I don't think it's salt either) but other than that not a sign of any salt build up anywhere and two, 3 year old BC's looks like they just came out of the box.

Everything hangs in the garage till completely dry.

 

[Bobyjimmie]

I soak my gear in a large rubber trash can overnight and sometimes for 24 hours. BC's, wetsuits, computers, flash lights, camera case, everything except for the regs. I have some white stains on the tank straps where they touch the tank (I don't think it's salt either) but other than that not a sign of any salt build up anywhere and two, 3 year old BC's looks like they just came out of the box.

Everything hangs in the garage till completely dry.

Ok fill me in, why not the regs? I do exactly what you are saying, as I posted above. But if I am soaking the regs and shouldnt be, I need to know.

 

[emttim]

The only cure is never let your gear dry. . . refill tanks and keep going. . . annual service on the first stage will keep your regulator from etching from corrosion. I agree with the others a soaking in warm water is about as intrusive as you should go.

From another EMT, don't leave home without a trauma kit. Even though a kit, your mask, and diving cameras all seem to have a message on them to step on, kick and otherwise abuse on any dive boat. You'll have lots of use for dry dressings. After having help flooding many trauma kits. . . I found waterproof containers at shops that sell welding supplies. . . A bright red welding rod container filled with supplies has never flooded in over 20 years of handling by that luggage Gorilla in the commercial.

Trauma kit? How could this be used with dive emergencies? The only injury that you'll probably run across can only be treated with a hyperbaric chamber and/or bright lights and cold steel...best you can do, especially at only the EMT level, is provide oxygen, treat for shock and rapid transport...

Now to keep in the trunk in case of witnessing a car accident, that makes sense, but for diving?

 

[Bobyjimmie]

Shark bite? Garibaldi attack, man your an EMT (as am I) think outside the box!! What if some fool impales themselves on their own knife, or they find out their dive buddy is sleeping with their wife/girlfriend or BOTH! Also scope of practice depends on your area, east coast has a greater scope then us west coasters and us Govt guys have even more scope. I am so going in!