How do you clean your equipment?

[Dee]

Alot of it depends on where I've been diving...salt or fresh water, silt or sand, clean fresh water or high alkaline.

If I've been to Blue Lagoon where the waters PH is super high, I sit and scrub every suface of my gear with a scrub brush. The water there will eat the chrome off your regs really quick. We keep fresh clean water rinse buckets handy when we're onsite and don't let the alkaline water dry on any surface.

Depending on your brand of 2nd stage, I take mine apart and clean all the sand and silt out of it. That same alkaline water is also very silty. That powder fine stuff seeps into places you didn't know you or your gear had, no matter how careful you are.

We have a big plastic barrel that we fill with water. Everything goes into this barrel and soaks for up to an hour...depending.

Normally...about an hour will do it. While we're doing such a thorough job of cleaning gear, we're also inspecting it to make sure there's nothing to cause a potential problem next time.

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by chepar
I overheard a DM telling someone that he spends over an hour cleaning his gear after each dive - but I don't think I come very close to that as far as time spent cleaning my gear. Am I doing something wrong? Should I be spending that much time on it?
I rinse out the bladder of my BC about 4-5 times, try to rinse the salt off my reg and soak it for a bit, rinse my wetsuit, spray off my fins, mask, etc. - what part of this process takes so long?

Any input is appreciated. If I'm doing something wrong, I'd like to correct it before I really mess up my gear.

chepar...
You are doing just fine.... relax!

Sometimes we break everything down and soak it over night in a barrel of fresh water....

Sometimes we just throw the lights, hoods and other loose stuff in the barrel....

Sometimes we just leave it in the back of the truck....

Sometimes we rinse it with a hose - but not a pressure stream....

All of my gear is in great shape and as long as it stays wet I don't worry about it....

If it is going to be dry for awhile then it is more important to rinse it well....

 

[bazzurco]

I have one bit of advise for you if you are diving in Hawaii clean your gear as soon as you can after you are done diving. If you don?t the salt will start to build up and terrorize you equipment. I usually soaked my regulator (2nd stage only) for 30 minutes or so. If I go on a live-aboard trip I will soak for a 24-hour period then I charge with air. Your wet suit we let you know if you are not rinsing it thoroughly.

 

[HERB KING]

I have a barrel I keep just for this purpose. When I get home from a day of diving I fill with warm water and soak all my gear over night. If I am on an extended trip I generally throw it all in the hotel shower and run warm water over it for about an hour.
Then soak when I get home. All of my diving is salt water though.
Have done this for ten years and all my gear works and looks like new. Just remember not to hang anything in the sun as this breaks down most gear.

 

[Triton]

:think: MMMM….I really like that barrel idea.

Currently I’m using a large cooler filled with water. That allows me to fit most of my gear in which I leave for a couple of hours unless I’m too tired and then it will stay there over night.

The wetsuit and BCD I usually hang under a tree in the back yard where the sun won’t hit them and give them a really good rinse making sure to wash the BCD bladder.

Every once in a while I will throw the wetsuit in the tub along with a little sink-the-stink so as not to offend anybody. :yuck:

Triton

 

[Uncle Pug]

Recipe for a Rinse Barrel:

Take one 55 gallon pastic barrel and rinse well through the bung...

(Barrels that have not been used for hazardous materials are preferred)

With a circular power saw cut the barrel in half while slowly rolling it on the ground.... use a 1/2' setting on your blade....

Rinse out plastic debris from both halves and re-install the bung in the upper half....

Give one to your favorite dive buddy or go ahead and use both... one for a pre-rinse tub....

~or~

Buy a plastic stock tank and fill it with fresh water for rinsing gear...

I have been using plastic barrels for a long time but think that I will go with a stock tank so I can throw the whole twinset in all rigged up... as well as the scooters....

I have a metal stock tank in the garage by the fill station but I am concerned about salt contamination & build up... plus I don't want to end up with water all over the floor...

 

[The Chairman]

That Depends...

Springs... 0 minutes!

Lakes & Rivers... 10 minutes!

Pool... 20 minutes!

Ocean... 30-45 minutes!

Polluted anywhere... An hour or two!

I do not count "soak" time where needed as I am usually here on the board typing a trip report! I also spend a minimum of fifteen to forty-minutes prepping my gear for diving.

 

[Rick L]

About 3 beers
Rick L

 

[monster]

I have a bathtub at home that isn't being used anymore, so I wash my gear there. I do all my diving in salt water, and although I rinse at the resorts that I go to, I always rinse again when I get home. Soak the regulators in warm water, slosh warm water around in the BC bladders (with a mild soap every once in a while).

My main objective is really just to try and get the salt out of my gear, especially the regs, as dried salt deposits can cause lots of different problem. You also don't want salt crystallizing inside your BC bladder, as it can scratch it up and weaken it.

It typically takes me about 30 minutes to re-rinse everything, including my wetsuits, fins, masks, lights, and whatever else I've used. Every once in a while, I'll do a very thorough rinse involving some minor disassembly and a lot of brushing to get rid of sand and salt. This usually takes a couple of hours.

 

[Ari]

I am taking my wetsuit, vest, booties, swiming shorts, watch and comp, under the shower, thus giving everything a good rinse inside and out. Than I hang it to drip dry, before taking it back home. At home, everything is in the open air.

As for the rest, I soak it in fresh water wiggle it around for a few seconds and hanging it to drip dry.

Reading all of your posts, it looks like I will have to rethink my system.

My dives are all salt water.

Ari