How do you secure your wing nuts?

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Ryan Neely

Contributor
Messages
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Location
Akeley, MN USA
# of dives
100 - 199
After completing my GUE Fundamentals course in February, my wife and I took the plunge and purchased a back plate and wing setup. We're very happy with it. (I wanted to go back plate and wing straight out of Open Water, but one must take baby steps for everyone's comforts.)

Anyway, what I've noticed is that I really need to crank down on the wing nuts that hold our single-tank adapter to the back plate. If I don't, they tend to loosen over the course of a dive and the tank starts to wobble.

How do you all secure your wing nuts to prevent this while still maintaining their ability to disengage after a dive for cleaning and drying?
 
I do not have lock washers. Good point. I'm just using what was sent with the gear. We've only had the chance to dive them a handful of times, so I haven't put much thought into modifying things beyond what the manufacturer sent. I like those thumbwheel nuts though. Thanks for sharing.
 
Everything @tbone1004 said.
 
Oh, I've already ordered the thumbweels. :D

They won't help me on today's dive, though, so I'll get some lock washers for the time being. Best of both worlds!
 
even with lock washers, you will want to tighten your wing nuts from time-to-time. If you don't plan on using doubles (e.g., you are going to only do the single tank adapter) you might want to consider using lock nuts. I have used those in place of wing nuts, but I only run a single tank configuration.
 
Thanks @covediver. I am also only running a single-tank configuration. I still want to be able to take the rig apart after each dive to clean and dry it properly, and being able to do this fast is an added convenience of the wingnuts. Likely the thumbwheels will be just as convenient. With lock nuts, do you need to use a wrench or a socket set to tighten down STA?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/
http://cavediveflorida.com/Rum_House.htm

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