Did I Ruin My Reg?! >.<

[Bob DBF]

You pretty much have to take a sledge hammer to ruin a reg. Most other misuse just means it might have to be serviced more often than when in normal use.


Bob

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

Soak everything with the 2nd out of the water. Just flush it.

BTW, If you DO hook it up to blow the water out of it, take the HP hose off. The SPG is a dead end and you don't want to blow water into it. It's good to hook something up to the LP hoses so you can flush those also but it's not critical as a tiny bit of fresh water being flushed into your BC or even drysuit is not a big deal.

Who knows, maybe he wants a new SPG?

While not a big deal, if you really want to soak pressurized, just pick up a little 6 cf argon bottle and keep it filled with air. Convenient and affordable.

 

[Joneill]

I suspect the vast majority of divers soak their regs just as you did: dust cap on but not pressurized. The "soak your reg pressurized" advice is what you might call "best practice," but in reality most divers do not own their own tanks. I would be willing to bet that most divers come back from a vacation and dump their regs in a tub of water just as you did. It's what I recall being taught to do by my instructor. If soaking while pressurized were REQUIRED, we would see a whole lot of ruined regs out there.

edit: This is generic advice. I don't know Atomics specifically. From others' replies, it sounds like they may be more finicky that most.

I bought a little 6 cu. ft. tank so I can soak my T3 pressurized when I get back from a dive vacation. While on vacation, If I soak it (usually don't), I soak first/second stages separately and always make sure I keep the 1st stage above the 2nd stage when soaking/rinsing to avoid water draining back into the 1st stage.

 

[guruboy]

The Atomics need to be pressurized if you are going to soak them.

Atomics do NOT need to be pressurized to soak. However, you do need to prevent water from potentially traveling up the hose from the 2nd stage back into the 1st stage (however unlikely that is to begin with).

When you soak the 2nd stage, you just have to make sure the hose goes UP out of the water and then hang dry with the 1st stage at top and 2nd stage at bottom.

 

[Doby45]

Who knows, maybe he wants a new SPG?

While not a big deal, if you really want to soak pressurized, just pick up a little 6 cf argon bottle and keep it filled with air. Convenient and affordable.

Thats what I do with my little 13cf, exactly.

 

[guruboy]

The second stage has a "seat saver" feature that lifts the seat off of the orifice when unpressurized. I have mixed feelings about this, but that's neither here nor there. Short answer is when you rinse your T3, rinse it pressurized.

Or just keep the hose on the 2nd stage pointed up out of the water so that the water can't travel all the way to the 1st stage...

 

[guruboy]

It would be almost impossible for the water to travel through the low pressure side of the reg and into the high pressure side.

Yes, they are shiny, aren't they? I have 10 of them. I can't help myself. In the future, you are welcome to soak the first stage as long as you want. Leave the second stage out of the rinse tank. Then, when the first stage is all wrinkly and pruney, hold it up and vigorously rinse the second stage. As long as the first stage is higher, I promise water will not flow uphill.

Just don't throw it in the rinse tank and come back days later.

I never ever rinse mine.

Why tell people to soak atomics pressurized only to explain how to soak them UNpressurized later?

 

[Wookie]

Why tell people to soak atomics pressurized only to explain how to soak them UNpressurized later?

Keeps y'all on your toes. I wouldn't want you to get away without working hard.

 

[CptTightPants21]

Atomics do NOT need to be pressurized to soak. However, you do need to prevent water from potentially traveling up the hose from the 2nd stage back into the 1st stage (however unlikely that is to begin with).

When you soak the 2nd stage, you just have to make sure the hose goes UP out of the water and then hang dry with the 1st stage at top and 2nd stage at bottom.

Please stop commenting on something you don't understand. Atomics are not like every other reg. At least Lorenzoid had the decency to edit his post.

What wookie described was not a "soak" as much as a multi-stage cleaning process. If you want to dunk and forget, Atomics need to be pressurized.

 

[Joneill]

What wookie described was not a "soak" as much as a multi-stage cleaning process. If you want to dunk and forget, Atomics need to be pressurized.

Exactly!