Hose Dryer

[James79]

Because randomness, and I'm trying to figure out better storage and transport of DH regs, I found myself wanting a reasonable way to dry hoses quick-ish. So I threw together an old 5v wall wart, a couple 30x10mm 5v fans left over from an old project, and some printed bushings. Instant low velocity hose blower/dryer:

Respectfully,

James

 

[rhwestfall]

Cool! I just hold one end and spin them above my head, launching droplets of water everywhere.

 

[James79]

Cool! I just hold one end and spin them above my head, launching droplets of water everywhere.

That's still step one, lol. I still have some of the old neoprene hoses, and need them truly dry before packing away.... And the convolutions just seem to stay damp forever if I don't get air circulating in there.

 

[Luis H]

Nice little blowers.

I have tried a number of different blowers to dry my hose loop, without taking the entire loop apart.

Too much flow and it can actually rip the one way valves, so I don't do that anymore. Gentle, continues flow, seems to work best.

I like to dry my hose loop when I am done diving for the weekend. Ok, I just retired, so I am not sure why I am still thinking about weekends...

Here are a couple of pictures (in my basement) of a couple of different 12 volt blowers that I use.

The vacuum cleaner on the right blows way too hard, but I still use it for some flow testing. It has never been used to pick-up any dust or dirt.

 

[scrane]

Is it OK to occasionally throw silicone hoses into the washing machine gentle /cold cycle to scrub them out? I shudder to think what resides inside my exhaust hose.

 

[James79]

Is it OK to occasionally throw silicone hoses into the washing machine gentle /cold cycle to scrub them out? I shudder to think what resides inside my exhaust hose.

Bryan at VDH has a write up about the washing machine for hoses.... I just wash them in the sink with dish soap, and rarely a long, soft bottle brush (like for cleaning a CamelBak).

 

[Luis H]

Bryan at VDH has a write up about the washing machine for hoses.... I just wash them in the sink with dish soap, and rarely a long, soft bottle brush (like for cleaning a CamelBak).

On rare occasions I also clean the inside of my hoses with a bottle brush. But I still think that drying the inside as soon as possible is the best way to control any potential growth.

OK, I am not a biologist… not even close…

My observations is from cleaning and drying wetsuit and wet suit booties are that the quicker I dry them (with blowing air) the fresher they stay and the less they smell. This was particularly true with my old kayaking booties. I tried many different chemical and cleaners, but drying them quickly with forced air worked much better that anything else.

I am obviously making several assumptions by directly relating the smell with biological growth… so please correct me if I am wrong. Note: Fresh water diving (or kayaking) appear to produce the strongest biological load and smell if not rinsed and dried.

In any case, my hoses never smell, but I am still under the impression that by drying them with gentle forced air it will not give much of a chance for bacteria to grow.



Note: I am totally open to some knowledge by someone that actually knows something about biology.

Added: for wetsuit, Sink the Stink does seem to help a lot, but I still use some form of fan to dry ASAP.

For hoses, I would not use anything stronger than dish washing soap.

 

[scrane]

James,
Sorry for the hi-jack. I found the procedure you referred to here:

Care & Maintenance | Vintage Double Hose

vintagedoublehose.com

Thanks.

 

[rx7diver]

Wait! We're supposed to dry the inside of our DH hoses? Supposed to wash and dry the inside?

I have only ever just used potable (chlorinated) drinking water from a garden hose, with the can mounted on a cylinder and pressurized. So, I suppose this means I actually have never cleaned/flushed the inhale side ...

ETA: @scrane, we were posting simultaneously. Thanks for posting the VDH instructions.

rx7diver

 

[James79]

James,
Sorry for the hi-jack. I found the procedure you referred to here:

Care & Maintenance | Vintage Double Hose

vintagedoublehose.com

Thanks.

No worries at all... More good info getting shared is always better!

I have only ever just used potable (chlorinated) drinking water from a garden hose, with the can mounted on a cylinder and pressurized. So, I suppose this means I actually have never cleaned/flushed the inhale side ...

In theory, as long as they get dried nothing gets a chance to grow... And the inhale side should stay dry as long as there's no leaks into the mechanism side can. I scrub new to me hoses, after that it's rinse and dry unless I start to feel there's a particular reason to scrub them out.

Respectfully,

James