Frequent CCR divers, what do you do between dives?

[KentB]

I normally just dive 1x week so i fully clean ,sterilize and dry.
scrubber into dry bags

if I’m diving day after day (rare) I’ll sterilize when I’m done or every 4-5 days with daily rinse and dry and lots and lots of clean water through the loop.

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

If between dives is more than 24 hours. I disassemble completely and flush with steramine. I let it drip dry then bring it inside my house in the A/C - I have a small fan that I place to blow the components dry overnight. Then I stow it disassembled in my dive locker which is in the AC and completely dark.

I use this procedure now on my Choptima, I used the procedure on my rEvo and my Optima.

 

[TTPaws]

On my APD EVP with the Silent Diving travel kit, it really depends on where I'm at and the time between dives. If I'm in St Croix I dive every day, I'll do a really good fresh water rinse (including the CLs) and take everything except apart. Even the scrubber head comes off so it will dry. But I only use steramine once a week. Everything gets torn apart and steramined AND dried before I travel.

 

[ofg-1]

Between dives, they all sit back and ponder what they would be worth if, instead of a box of death, they had bought Bitcoin when it was $400 per coin.

 

[mikesz]

I have a KISS Spirit LTE and I dive it once or twice a week. Many of my dive days are just 1 dive of 60-90 minutes. With a scrubber good for about 4 hours, it does not make sense to dump it after one dive. So what I do after each dive is:

• Write down my dive time on a scrubber chart on the wall next to my gear station at home
• Rinse off the entire unit with a spray hose
• About 1/2 the time I fill and dump the BC bladder with the hose
• Flush out the loop with the hose and spray in steramine
• I leave the loop to dry for a day or so, stretch it out to drain, lube the orings, reconnect to heads
• 
  
• If I have 3 dives or 4 hours on the scrubber I dump it
• Rinse lungs, loop, canisters, spray steramine, hang to dry. Sometimes a couple days, sometimes less than an hour.
• Rebuild and fill for the next dive day

How do you store a partially used scrubber until next time you want to dive it?

 

[davehicks]

How do you store a partially used scrubber until next time you want to dive it?

I don't touch the canisters and store it in the sealed unit. I'll let the hoses dry out for a day or so and reseal the unit. I'll keep it at least a few weeks between dives before dumping it. I am ok to run my unit's scrubber for 4 hours. If I only have 1 hour on the scrubber I'll used it for two more dive in a in single day. If I have two hours on the scrubber already I'll only use it for a single additional dive. I will always dump spent scrubber if I've already dove it on two separate days regardless of run time.

 

[macado]

How do you store a partially used scrubber until next time you want to dive it?

Scrubber gets put in a dry bag on work bench. I write date and mark hours used on scrubber. Unit stays open so that it can dry out.

There was a study not that long ago about storing partially used scrubbers. (I'm sure someone will post a link) but you could technically just leave the scrubber out on the counter unsealed if it were just overnight, there is really no harm or significant lose of CO2 absorption capacity. If left it unsealed for ~30 days it looses efficiency. I always just put my scrubber in a sealed dry bag.

About a month is how long I would go. After that I would chuck it the trash but in theory as long as it's sealed and stored in suitable conditions it's probably good for much longer. I really wouldnt have any hesitation using older partially used scrubbers if they had very little hours/time on them.

EDIT: Study here: Storage of partly used closed-circuit rebreather carbon dioxide absorbent canisters

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

Scrubber gets put in a dry bag on work bench. I write date and mark hours used on scrubber.

Me too. I also use the stack timer with my Shearwater Petrel 2 to track usage.

 

[mikesz]

Scrubber gets put in a dry bag on work bench. I write date and mark hours used on scrubber. Unit stays open so that it can dry out.

There was a study not that long ago about storing partially used scrubbers. (I'm sure someone will post a link) but you could technically just leave the scrubber out on the counter unsealed if it were just overnight, there is really no harm or significant lose of CO2 absorption capacity. If left it unsealed for ~30 days it looses efficiency. I always just put my scrubber in a sealed dry bag.

About a month is how long I would go. After that I would chuck it the trash but in theory as long as it's sealed and stored in suitable conditions it's probably good for much longer. I really wouldnt have any hesitation using older partially used scrubbers if they had very little hours/time on them.

EDIT: Study here: Storage of partly used closed-circuit rebreather carbon dioxide absorbent canisters

Perfect. That’s exactly what I do as well. I use a vacuum bag for the scrubber and then put into a weather sealed storage box. That way I protect the scrubber and moisture content in the sofnolime.