I didn't wash my first stage after diving .. not sure how to..

[halocline]

Letting it sit and soak isn't going to get the sand out.

No, but it will remove more salt deposits from exposed threads. There are lots of places that water doesn't immediately penetrate. Think about using PB blaster or liquid wrench to loosen stuck bolts; you apply it and let it sit for quite some time while the solvent slowly penetrates the threaded area and loosens the corrosion. It's similar, but less severe of course, with salt deposits on a regulator.

And the advice for 24 hours that I gave was on a regulator that had not been rinsed immediately after salt water use, meaning there were dried salt deposits on the regulator. But even if the salt water has not evaporated, in tight spots you're talking about very slow water exchange between the salt and fresh water. More contact with fresh water means the salt will be diluted and leeched out more. Personally, I soak mine for about an hour or so, and if at all possible I try to do a dive in clean fresh water with a reg I've used in salt water. In cozumel, this results in the terrible tragedy of having to do a cenote dive at the end of the week. Here in TX, it used to mean a trip to aquarena springs, hopefully it will open soon. But I digress......

Point is, soak your damn regulator after salt water use and it will look better inside when rebuild time comes around. And for God's sake, don't listen to this absurdity about the terrible danger of water intrusion into the first stage. Just use the cap. After you're finished, pressurize and purge the reg a few times to dry out the 2nd stages, maybe get any trace of moisture out of the lines, and you're ready to store it.

 

[redacted]

Also, don't just think about the regulator stages. Think about the hose connection to your SPG. There is a pretty large volume in that connection along with the threads that fill with water and do not lend themselves to just rinsing.

If you do not get that kind of SW out, there will be a salt buildup over time. If you get your gear serviced often, then it should not become a problem. But then you are paying $100+ not because your reg needs new seats and o-rings but because it just needs a good cleaning (same price). My regs can (and do) go many years between servicing partly because I prevent the harmful salt deposits. Your tech might prefer that you just give your regs a good rinse and help make his Xmas merrier.

 

[Karl_H]

Personally, I’m more comfortable with rinsing my regs straight after diving, but in the case of regs having not been cleaned at all soaking is fine. I’d agree they need a long soak to make it worthwhile too, once salt water is dried on it takes a while to come off, a quick soak is no different to rinsing in terms of what is removed. I also try to adjust all movable parts while rinsing also, things like adjustment knows, din screw wheels etc (not purge buttons), although this shouldn’t be needed if the reg is soaked for a long time.

A bit of common sense on the dust caps needs to be applied also, some will definitely seal, those with an o-ring seal in the cap or in the reg, while some definitely won’t; the Scubapro standard dust cap for DIN valves for example. I still preffer using my thumb but at the same time I’m not going to sit and hold my reg while it soaks J

The two main failure points for the first stage are salt build-up on the o-rings causing frictional damage, or salt water corrosion causing the chrome plating to peel from the brass body, which could block the orifice. Both of these problems are related to salt water and not fresh water, although flooding the 1^st stage with fresh water is never a good idea either.

If water does get into the first stage don’t just blast it out straight away, make sure you remove the SPG first as you really don’t want this filling with water. Most SPGs use a bourdon tube and are designed to work with air in the tube, not water – once water is in there is not easy to get out so the gauge becomes unreliable, especially at low pressures.

Also remember it take a while to get the water out, it will tend to ice up slightly inside the first stage, make a short blast then wait 20-30 second and repeat, you’ll notice less comes out each time. If you make a long continuous blast of air the water inside the first stage will just freezing inside and stop leaving the 1^st stage, once you stop the blast it will slowly melt again back to water.