Improper Regulator Rinsing?

[ShakaZulu]

Hmmm, I always activate the purge valves, that's got to stop ok.............thanks for the info.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

No but I was surprised to hear that enough salt deposits built up over such a short time period (remember 3 months old/9 dives) to cause such a problem. Again both the boat captain at Monterey, and the clerk at my LDS, thought it simply needed an adjustment.

Again it's not like I NEVER cleaned the things. I'm just wondering what I'm doing wrong.

I have seen regs come in the shop with freeflow issues after just a few tropical trips. In experimenting with some of these regs on slow days I have also observed intermediate pressures drop by up to 20 psi just by cleaning the salt out of/off of the reg. A 20 psi increase in IP is normally more than enough to get a second stage to freeflow even if it is in perfect health.

 

[ScottZeagle]

Good info posted thus far!

Another thing to consider is how clean your air fill is. We get quite a few regs in for service that are just filled with crap - more than your average diver acumulates! When questioned, many times we find that the person has recently returned from some tropical island. Quite a few tropical resorts drag the tanks through sand and water on the way to and from the fill station, which leads to "dirty fills". This crap goes straight into your reg when you turn on the air!!!

Just something else to keep in mind....

Scott

 

[redacted]

No but I was surprised to hear that enough salt deposits built up over such a short time period (remember 3 months old/9 dives) to cause such a problem. Again both the boat captain at Monterey, and the clerk at my LDS, thought it simply needed an adjustment.

Again it's not like I NEVER cleaned the things. I'm just wondering what I'm doing wrong.

Sorry, sometimes my humor is a bit hard to catch. What I was trying to say is I too suspect it just needed an adjustment. Not untypical for new regs.

 

[idratherbediving]

i have a mares mr 12 andi use it on my pony, it did fine until i used it in cold water to fill a lift bag, when it started free flowing. i thought it was just a fluke till i took it to another quarry and everytime it touched the water diaphram first or was turned mouth piece up it would freeflow. i took it back to my lds and it was way loose. this was after about 6-8 dives. just my experience with mares regs.

 

[SteveD]

I start with the tank setup: always open the tank valve momentarily to blow out any water, salt, sand, etc BEFORE putting the first stage on.

As soon as I get out of the water at the end of each dive, I purge the 2nd stage, octopus & inflator hose. If there's fresh water available, I give the rig a quick rinse. Before taking the 1st stage off the tank, blow any water out of the dust cap with a quick breath, dry it with your towel and then fit it quickly to keep some positive pressure in the 1st stage.

Get home and soak the entire rig for 30+ minutes. Don't press the purge valve. Shake water off the 1st stage and fit to a charged tank after blowing out the tank valve as before. Purge the 2nd stage, octopus & inflator underwater and then again out of the water. You should see a small cloud of water as you purge. Make sure the dust cap is dry, refit and you're done! Simply air dry in the shade before putting your reg away.

I have an Scubapro Air2 on my BC. After disconnecting it from the inflator hose, I flush water through it while pressing the purge valve, water comes out of the inflator inlet. I then continue to fill the bladder, manually inflate the bladder, slosh the water round, and then empty the fresh water out of the BC bladder. There's no problem getting water into the Air2 2nd stage PROVIDED that it is not connected to the 1st stage inflator hose. Always shake water out and air dry before putting it away.

Water in the 1st stage is a killer. Salt, sand and crap in the 2nd stage is a killer. Get them both clean and dry at the end of every day, and you'll have no problems.

 

[mleong]

Well, I think the best is to press on the purge while it is still mountedt o tank and let it bubbles for a few seconds while soak under fresh water, or just spray water into the mouth piece with a hose and at the same time purging it. This way, water won;t get in since the air is forcing its way out. So far, my USDiver Micra and LPO did not give any problems.

 

[Xanthro]

No but I was surprised to hear that enough salt deposits built up over such a short time period (remember 3 months old/9 dives) to cause such a problem. Again both the boat captain at Monterey, and the clerk at my LDS, thought it simply needed an adjustment.

Again it's not like I NEVER cleaned the things. I'm just wondering what I'm doing wrong.

It's not salt build up, it was originally set too aggressively and someone was doing a CYA.

My octo free flowed on the first dive, and tries nearly every dive. In fact, without the holder in the mouthpiece, it will freeflow at the surface everytime. It never does at depth, and breaths well.

I'm hoping to get mine serviced before Sunday. It was a bit sad on my tired diver tow when my Octo was blowing out air the whole time.

Xanthro

 

[ShakaZulu]

I usually take mine to one of those DIY car washes, don my rig and get my girlfriend to steamclean..........

 

[RonDawg]

I'm hoping to get mine serviced before Sunday. It was a bit sad on my tired diver tow when my Octo was blowing out air the whole time.

Sport Chalet is a bit slow in the servicing department. Nothing is serviced at the store; SCUBA equipment dropped off there is sent elsewhere for servicing (I think to Brea). They promised a week for mine and it took over two.