Hi, I'm a tadpole and outside of the welcome post this is my first post! I've finally have been able to piece together all my scuba gear and am ready for my first dive with all new equipment. I know that maintenance is very important and I've watched different videos on maintaining your equipment. My question pertains to the bcd. About half the videos say to use fresh water and the other half says to use a small amount of bcd cleaner and fresh water. My question is which is the best method to use to preserve the gear? I'm looking forward to your thoughts and comments. THANKS!
Maintenance - Fresh water only or water mixed with cleaners
- Thread starter Tigerpaw
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NCDavid
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Alaskan Scuba Dude
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Keep your dive gear out of the sun and wait until it's dry before storing.
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Outside BCD I use just fresh water from a hose or in the shower. Inside fresh water and a little baby shampoo. My original BCD was bought used and was still OK when I replaced it 16 years later (well some parts were a bit ragged, but the bladder was same as always).
kyle191
Registered
My wife introduced me to the benefits of mint mouthwash to wash our SCUBA gear. Just add a cap full or tow to a rinse tank or splash a little on your gear. It has bacteria killing properties, it smells great, and it is cheap.
Works on BCD's and all the regs, fins, etc. But it is REALLY great on wetsuits and boots.
Works on BCD's and all the regs, fins, etc. But it is REALLY great on wetsuits and boots.
admikar
Contributor
Shampoo and water. Final rinse with clean water.
5 years and all equipment still smells nice
5 years and all equipment still smells nice
Belzelbub
Contributor
There are several different methods, and lots of opinions. I'll share what I do. I primarily dive in salt. When I do dive in freshwater, it depends on how clean it is. Spring dives don't require much as the water is already quite clean.
For saltwater, I start with soaking and rinsing in a mix of water and Salt Away/ Salt Off. Regs are soaked while pressurized. At a minimum, 2nd stage soaks in a tub and tanks and 1st stage are rinsed well. Small gear such as knives, computers, mask, gloves, booties are soaked at the same time. Larger items like BCs & wetsuits get the next batch with water and Revivex cleaner.
After soaking, all but the BC are hung up to dry/ placed where they can dry. The BC gets an extra step for the inside. My BC (Zeagle Stiletto) has the BX connector. I unscrew the inflator and keep that with my regulator. I then screw on my Salt Away mixer, which is also attached to the water hose. I turn it on and let the BC fill with water/salt away making sure to cycle each of the dumps a few times. After the mixture has run for a bit, I'll run straight water to clear everything out. Then the BC is drained and hung up to dry. After a few hours, I'll remove the excess water from the lower dumps, and repeat until I've got the majority of water out. BC is hung up for storage inside with nothing attached to the corrugated hose.
broncobowsher
Contributor
If you can do a fresh water dive after doing the salt dives, that really helps. It really works to get the deep salt out of stuff that running a little fresh water just can't do.
As for adding "stuff" to the water, I take that on a per case basis. Most cases not.
As for adding "stuff" to the water, I take that on a per case basis. Most cases not.
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