Dust cap left off while soaking Reg

[DeepSeaExplorer]

There's really no need to soak regs in the first place. (I have five M20/25s.) Regs only require just a quick rinse, like 5 seconds. Other than that, the only thing I do is put the hose in the mouthpiece to force water out the exhaust valve. That keeps the exhaust valve from getting 'glued' shut with dried salt.

 

[duckbill]

I still wonder how much of a problem it would be even for this kind of reg. If it's sitting at 6" depth, that's a 1.5% increase in pressure if I got the math right. A good portion of the dead space in the reg setup as a whole must be in the secondary hose and it's otherwise a closed system, right?. Unless the water runs down or creeps along the hose due to surface wetting (is the inside surface rubber?), it doesn't seem like it's going to get very far up the hose, much less all the way back to the primary.

If you put the reg in water that is colder than the temperature of the reg before you put it in, the air in the regulator system will form a vaccuum as it cools, pulling water in. Once water is in the system, it will move around as you move the regulator and hoses around, as well as saturate all the rest of the air in the system with moisture.

Soaking the regulator is fine, but water must be kept out.

 

[duckbill]

There's really no need to soak regs in the first place. (I have five M20/25s.) Regs only require just a quick rinse, like 5 seconds. Other than that, the only thing I do is put the hose in the mouthpiece to force water out the exhaust valve. That keeps the exhaust valve from getting 'glued' shut with dried salt.

Yeah, that's what I thought about my regulators and depth gauges as well......until I relaized that salt crystals were forming around the threaded areas or under the rubber boots. Only soaking will draw the salt out of the tight spots. A simple rinse will not do the job.

 

[jbrians]

I have no proof that this has helped me over the years but I put an old tank valve O ring into the dustcap groove and I'm pretty much 100% convinced that no water has ever gotten into my 1st.

 

[halocline]

There's really no need to soak regs in the first place. (I have five M20/25s.) Regs only require just a quick rinse, like 5 seconds. Other than that, the only thing I do is put the hose in the mouthpiece to force water out the exhaust valve. That keeps the exhaust valve from getting 'glued' shut with dried salt.

I'm not sure where you're getting this false information, but I can guarantee you that if you dive in salt water, your MK20s are going to have A LOT more corrosion and junk in the ambient chambers than my MK5s that get soaked. Whenever I take apart a first stage, I know immediately whether the owner is a soaker or a rinser.

 

[Tigerman]

I soak mine with the dust cap on, but I also have a DIN reg which I guess might be more effective as to keeping the water out

 

[Couv]

I'm not sure where you're getting this false information, but I can guarantee you that if you dive in salt water, your MK20s are going to have A LOT more corrosion and junk in the ambient chambers than my MK5s that get soaked. Whenever I take apart a first stage, I know immediately whether the owner is a soaker or a rinser.

Reading Matt's response to DSE has me thinking about the veracity of this thread. The problem with a poll such as this one is that it solicits the opinion of too wide a spectrum. IMHO a more reliable answer would come from a more select group. Why not ask the people who rebuild regulators-for a shop, repair facility, or DIY, if they rinse or soak? I would be interested in the results of that poll. It wouldn't hurt to know what sort of water each person is diving in either. Perhaps a quick rinse to get a bit of dirty fresh water out of or on a regulator is all that is required, but for salt water it certainly is a different matter.

c

 

[David_57]

I dive fresh water most of the time never rinse just leave them attached to my doubles remove one reg from the DIN tank valve to refill and that's pretty much it, Different story when diving in salt water normally give them a dunk in the tank. I have XTX 200's 300 + dives on them no problems.

 

[Tigerman]

I dive fresh water most of the time never rinse just leave them attached to my doubles remove one reg from the DIN tank valve to refill and that's pretty much it, Different story when diving in salt water normally give them a dunk in the tank. I have XTX 200's 300 + dives on them no problems.

Heh, if its clean freshwater youre diving its like giving them a good long soak every time you jump in. Living by a big lake, I do that a bit myself as well

 

[Zung]

Yep, my dream procedure.
On the way back from a dive trip in the sea, a quick dip in the lake of Geneva: the ultimate show off, rinsing your gear with Evian water (Evian, the city and the water plant is only 20 miles away).