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

[uniqueloginname]

First dives with my own reg yesterday, and I didn't wash the first stage, because the dive shop guy yelled at me once for dunking the first stage of some hire regs so I don't know what to do.

How else can I wash it? Should I bother now it's dry, and just do it next time I dive?

Thanks guys!

 

[Herb-alaska]

If you have a tank available hook up the reg and soak the entire first second and octo in warm fresh water for a couple of hours the purge it under fresh water and let it dry. If you don't have a tank available make sure the cap is on the first stage and rinse it all but don't soak and don't hit the purge. You want to get as much salt off as possible and allow it to dry clean. It's always best to rinse under pressure but never rinse with the cap off so that water can get into the first stage

 

[uniqueloginname]

OK cool, no tank available, so I'll rinse the first stage but not submerge it. Thank you!

 

[4sak3n]

If you have a DIN regulator and a dust cap with a flat sealing surface for the DIN o-ring to seal against then you can soak your 1st stage without it being pressurised with no worries as long as that cap is on properly. That said, most DIN dust caps do not have such a surface and, in addition, yoke dust caps won't work for this at all since the o-ring is on the valve rather than the regulator so for that purpose this method is useless.

The safest thing to do is either soak it while pressurised (attached to a cylinder) or give it a quick rinse with as hot water as possible while the dust cap is on and avoiding purging. This is because hot water will dissolve the salt build up faster than cold water.

 

[graham_s]

yoke dust caps won't work for this at all since the o-ring is on the valve rather than the regulator so for that purpose this method is useless.

That's not entirely true, My regulator has a hard plastic blank with an o ring in it so I can tighten down the blank just as if I had a cylinder fitted.
If your (Yoke) reg doesn't have one, I've seen them in dive shops.

 

[Karl_H]

As a one off it won't do too much damage to the metal reg itself, however dried salt crystal on o-rings is a problem is this basically acts like sand paper on the rubber o-ring. Warm water is better for cleaning the salt off but be careful about using water thats too hot as this is going to strip the grease off the o-rings as well as the salt.

I prefer to use my thumb to cover the first stage opening (it's a better seal than most caps!) when rinsing, I'd also second the not soaking unless pressurised arguments above. Some dustcaps do seal well, others don't - unless you know if yours does (and 99% of yoke reg caps don't seal well) it's best not to soak for too long.

A little flooding the first stage now and again with fresh water isn't a disaster either, just leave the dust cap off after soaking and leave the reg in a ventilated area (ideally somewhere with AC or heating) and it will dry out itself. Regular flooding with pretty much anything wet is bad.....

 

[uniqueloginname]

Thanks for the help guys. I rinsed the first stage with lukewarm water and am satisfied that's OK. (I like the idea of sealing it with my thumb... will remember that next time!)

Now I'm worried I might have purged the second stage / octo when rinsing them. I think I'll take the regs into my LDS and just get them to hook it up to a tank and purge the second stages a few times to ensure the lines are clear.

 

[Karl_H]

Now I'm worried I might have purged the second stage / octo when rinsing them. I think I'll take the regs into my LDS and just get them to hook it up to a tank and purge the second stages a few times to ensure the lines are clear.

Unscrew the second stages from the LP hoses and leave them to dry for a day or two, that should work fine. It's okay to press the purge button if you are only rinsing under running water and the reg opening is facing down - it's still not recommended though!

 

[halocline]

OK cool, no tank available, so I'll rinse the first stage but not submerge it. Thank you!

Sorry, this is definitely wrong, you're not getting good advice. You should absolutely soak the entire reg after use in salt water, in fact that's probably the single most important way to take care of your reg. The dust cap will definitely seal the first stage for soaking; that's precisely what it's there for. I really don't know why this mis-information of not submerging the first stage persists so.

If you want to test it out, it's easy; put the cap in place firmly, then try to take a breath off the 2nd stages. Most likely you will not be able to. But, if you are, it still does not mean the dust cap isn't sealing, it just means there's a vacuum leak somewhere. If you want to check that out, put the reg on a tank, keep the valve off, and try pulling some air again. There will likely be no change in what happened with the dust cap on. This means vacuum leak or a seat saver 2nd. If you can get air with the dust cap on but not with the 1st stage attached to a tank, then you know the dust cap is leaking, so replace it.

I work on regulators all the time, and I see first hand the difference between regs that have been well-soaked after salt water use and those that have not. Believe me, you don't want salt water to dry on your reg. Now that it is dry, I would soak it for a good 24 hours at least in nice warm water, once you've done the vacuum test.

 

[Ana]

who started spreading the stuff about the cap being so uber needed in order to soak the regs?

Are we actually equating the pressure from a tank (even if almost empty) to a plastic silly cover?

Does anyone bother to disassemble their 1st & 2nd stages once in a while and see what type of holy spirit inside keeps them alive? It may eliminate the mystery of how to maintained, avoid a lot of potential issues, along with BS detection.

I may be about to die any moment now, but I lost count of how many times many of my regs have been soaked without being attached to a tank or having a cap. I switched to DIN very long time ago and most of the times they are without a cap; in the bag, soaking or laying flat on a shelf.