Maintenance after Chlorinated Pools

[daval]

Hello Folks,

I am new to diving, I did my in-class and confined course about a month ago and will be doing my open water in the spring. I would do it sooner, but I am in Toronto and it's a little nippy out, none of the schools who I have spoken too will do anything untill the end of May. I've only ever done two open water dives at a resort and absolutely loved it.

I have bought my own gear - a SeaQuest Pro QD+ BC, Aqualung Titan LX Supreme regs, and an Aqualung ABS Octopus.

Every week our school has time at a local pool - a 5 meter deep Olympic sized pool where we can swim around and practice our skills. My freinds and I have been going every week trying to master buoyancy (as much as can be done in a pool) as well as other skills.

My question is - what maintenance procedure should I be doing every week with my gear? Is a quick rinse in the showers or something sufficient for the BC? Do i need to do anything with my regs?

Thanks!

 

[pasley]

Rinse well, and soak in fresh water if possible. The pool chemicals are hard on the equipment. It is recommended you have your regulator (1st and second stage) under pressure anytime it is in water. Don't forget to drain any water that gets into the BC out. I hang mine upside down by the D-rings at the very bottom. Then after you have drained any water out, rinse with fresh water at least two times.

Every once in a while you might use cleaners made for the job to shampoo your gear. You want to avoid drying out he neoprene or removing the grease from the moving parts.

See the discussion on rinsing your gear in this forum. Also don’t forget to have your life support equipment serviced once every 12 months or 100 dives which ever comes first.

 

[Michael Schlink]

Ok here is something I know a whole lot about. Pool chemicals are NOT hard on scuba gear. In fact PROPERLY balanced pools and spas are better than most tap water. Now improperly balanced pools is another ball game. If there is a strong chlorine smell, more than likely the pool or spa needs to be "shocked". In this case not only should your scuba gear not go in the water NEITHER SHOULD YOU. The two primary aspects of water chemistry are Ph/alkalinity balance and sanitizer level. If the pool is out of "balance" that is the Ph is too high or low and the Alkalinity is out of range. In the case of the sanitizer (usually chlorine) it is either too low or the water needs to be "shocked".
Repeated exposure to pool water doesn't damage scuba gear, repeated exposure to improperly maintained pools does.
Lot's of fresh water should be more than enough to rinse off any "chlorine" that may "bleach" your scuba gear.
Other than that, the more time in the pool the better. The only thing better than diving in the pool is diving in OW.

 

[pasley]

... Lot's of fresh water should be more than enough to rinse off any "chlorine" that may "bleach" your scuba gear.
Other than that, the more time in the pool the better. The only thing better than diving in the pool is diving in OW.

We agree. As I said in my post, “pool chemicals are hard on the equipment”. It may well be that a perfectly balanced pool would have a lower chlorine level than tap water. But really, how often do you see the average pool in proper equilibrium? Harsh chemicals may be hard on the neoprene and dry it out. That is the enemy, chemicals that would dry the neoprene. Now I will also ad that this is not my field and I am going on the “conventional wisdom” that was taught in my class. So, for my money, I would rise well after a pool session, just as I do after an ocean session.

 

[RonDawg]

Pasley is right, unfortunately most pools are not properly balanced, especially publicly-owned ones.

Regardless of who's right, it doesn't hurt to thoroughly clean one's gear after each use. After I had to send my nearly-new reg set back to my LDS because the octo kept free-flowing, I got a nasty note from them accusing me of "Improper regulator rinsing." :11: