Flooded 1st Stage

[Hatul]

Thanks to everyone. I plan to get the reg serviced for "peace of mind".

Also as far as the choice of future regulator goes, while Atomic gets rave reviews it may not be the one for me, as I tend to dunk everything in the rinse tank, and with their 2nd stage seat saver, Atomics warn not not submerge their regs unless pressurized.

Adam

 

[themagni]

I leave my regs sitting in fresh water for 40-60 minutes after each dive day.

Several people will point out that dust caps are not, in fact, waterproof.

 

[halocline]

I leave my regs sitting in fresh water for 40-60 minutes after each dive day.

Several people will point out that dust caps are not, in fact, waterproof.

If they fit and are not damaged they are waterproof. There's an easy way to check, put it in place and try to get some air through the 2nd stage. Your second stage can't have a leak for this to work. If you get no air, the dust cap is sealing.

 

[tfsails]

I think if this had happened to me on a dive trip, I would have first dried out the first stage by removing one or more LP port plugs and blowing LOTS of air from a tank through the reg. The LP side of a first stage moves lots more air (and water) than the HP side. I would first remove the SPG and HP plug from the reg so I didn't contaminate the SPG. Removing just the HP plugs and SPG doesn't help the LP side of the first stage. You have to move a lot of air through the LP side in order to clean it out.

If my reg had gotten flooded with salt water I would flood it again with fresh water after blowing it out the first time, then repeat the process. This is a much worse situation than a freshwater flooding.

I fix regulators for a living; I think the reg will be ok if you blow it out before the water in it has a chance to evaporate and leave corrosion, provided it was a freshwater flooding. If it was flooded by saltwater, I'd rebuild it as soon as I could. If I were on a trip and it was the only reg available and it had been flushed with freshwater after a saltwater dunking I'd probably use it again, but I'd rebuild it ASAP after getting home.

 

[Hatul]

I took my flooded reg to Pacific Wilderness in Orange and for less than $30 he cleaned and overhauled my reg and approved it for another year. With all the negative comments about LDS I thought I'd mention my positive one. I've been taking my regs there for the last few years and have had nothing but good experience with them.

Adam