How to make sure the gear is working well the day before the dive..??

[Icarusflies]

Hello all;

I am a newly certified diver and one concern that I always have, since I use my own equipment with the exception of the tank, is the proper connection of the hoses to the first stage. In my first pool dive I had a broken HP "0" ring. It took us 1 hour to find a replacement!!!...

I recently installed MANUALLY the hose protectors....talk about a work out!...Any suggestion how to insure that the hoses are properly connected (again I don't own a tank so no way to check for air leaks at home?)

An my last question (yes, newbie here...), my buddy involuntarily dropped the first stage in a rinsing tub (fresh water) without the dust cap on (a matter of a couple of seconds). How can we make sure the first stage is not damaged, what are the signs and I don't mean the out of air signs ....

btw...great forum and excellent people

 

[Wildcard]

Welcome to the board and the world of diving. What kind of first stage? Some are "wet proof" now.... Your best bet is to spend a couple of dollars and put together a "save a dive" kit. "O" rings, multi tool, zip ties, extra fin/maks strap, ect.

 

[Diver Dennis]

Yeah, I agree with Wildcard the "Save-a-Dive" can do just that, not only for you but someone else on board.

 

[pakman]

I recently installed MANUALLY the hose protectors....talk about a work out!...Any suggestion how to insure that the hoses are properly connected (again I don't own a tank so no way to check for air leaks at home?)

If you can, try to take the reg to a shop where you could test it out. Usually they'll have cylinder sitting around for that purpose... sure beats finding out 1hr out on the water on a boat or halfway around the world on a trip...

 

[ChrisA]

Hello all;

I am a newly certified diver and one concern that I always have, since I use my own equipment with the exception of the tank, is the proper connection of the hoses to the first stage. In my first pool dive I had a broken HP "0" ring. It took us 1 hour to find a replacement!!!...

I recently installed MANUALLY the hose protectors....talk about a work out!...Any suggestion how to insure that the hoses are properly connected (again I don't own a tank so no way to check for air leaks at home?)

An my last question (yes, newbie here...), my buddy involuntarily dropped the first stage in a rinsing tub (fresh water) without the dust cap on (a matter of a couple of seconds). How can we make sure the first stage is not damaged, what are the signs and I don't mean the out of air signs ....

btw...great forum and excellent people

You need the assemble a "spares kit". The size of the kit should depend on how expensive your dive trip is. For example, there is a beach 10 minutes from my house. If I have to not dive due to equipment problems there nothing is lost but if I paid $2,000 to fly across the Pacific and lost a dive because I didn't have a spare 5 cent o-ring I'd be upset. For a long and expensive trip it makes sence to have things like a spare regulator, mask, hoses and computer or timing device. It's not really wasted money either. I have a pony bottle with it's own reg so I'd used that reg if my primary failed. Build up the spares kit over time. Buy a medium sized Pelican case and fill it as you can with r-rings, tools, silicone grease, fin strap, mask strap, some first aid items, snorkle keeper, zip ties and some hoses and maybe a spool for the SPG swivel, computer batteries and so on...... I even bring a spare set of cheap drug store glasses.

Then before you dive, while you still have time to get something fixed test your gear, Turn it on and breath through it and see that the BC holds pressure. Yes you will need to buy a tank. Spen $75 on a used AL80. You will need air to clean out a reg 2nd stage using the perge.

As for dunking the reg in the rince water. Likely no harm done but the safest thing is to have the reg serviced. I let my reg sit overnight in a rince tank with the cap off. I took it in and asked if there was any problem. He said "not really" but I had 50 or 60 dives since last anual service. So I paid $25 kind of as a "fine" for being dumb but got some new o-rings inside the reg too.

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

The only way to know for sure if a hose is properly connected is to hook it up to an air source. If you already own all your own gear having your own tank is nice as you always have some air to play with if need be. It's also one less trip to the dive shop which could end up saving you some money as it seems I buy something everytime I go in there, even if I hadn't intended on doing so. Not to mention it allows for spur of the moment diving opportunities.

I also highly reccomend you purchase yourself a save-a-dive kit, even before purchasing a tank. There's a pretty good pre-packed one that ScubaToys sells (http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?PRODUCT_ID=deluxe_saveadive). I have it and it has most of the items you would ever need. I've never had to use it for me, but it's been used twice for others and boy were they happy their dive day wasn't done. You'll find over time you'll add to the kit. I've added a swiss army knife, a pair of fingernail clippers, more zip ties, extra glow sticks, extra lp hose, and a few other thing I can't recall off the top of my head. In fact its time for a bigger case, I'm thinking of getting a waterproof tackle box and using that.

 

[diverdown247]

+1 on the save-a-dive kit. Store bought is ok, but putting one together to match your gear is even better.

Just remember, O rings are cheap, so stock up!! The other thing is that your kit may save the dive for a dive buddy at some point. Then it's time to convince your buddy to put one together too.

You'd be surprised at the many uses for a knife sheath strap. I've used them for fin straps, replacement knife straps, gear tie downs, transport tie downs, tank carriers, and even mask straps (didn't work so well, but it got us by for 1 dive).

 

[Icarusflies]

Thank you for the advices.

I already have the Save a Dive kit however it did not included a HP "o" ring. Now I have included 2 of them. I might buy a pony bottle just to make sure that the hoses are well conected before a dive.