Mk2 gets flooded, now what?

[oncor23]

Yeah, the SP Mk2 (and R190) on my pony bottle got flooded on a dive. A lot of you are going to ask how that happened. Let's just say a screw up on someone's part, but not mine. That probably won't satisfy you, but that's all I'm revealing.

So, now what? A flooded regulator with a button gauge, and tank pressure turned on...underwater. It was freshwater. I did purge it once I got out of the water. I have opened it up since then...blew it out, but I'm guessing it needs to go in for service. Does the Mk2 retain water somewhere inside that purging won't eliminate? Can the Mk2, and for that matter, the R190, dry out without being taken apart. The button gauge...is either toast or it's not.

Thoughts....comments...more interested in hearing about what to do with my regulator than how to make sure it doesn't happen again. I know what to do to make sure it doesn't happen again.

 

[redacted]

I flooded mine by turning the yoke nut UW (salt) in stead of the tank valve during a sluyng pony recharge. Doesn't hurt to admit the cause anfd might help others. (After that I exchanged the plastic knobed yoke for a metal yoke screw.) The problem with a Mk2 is water gets up above the head of the piston, and since it is not flow through, it tends to stay there. I remover the cap to dry it out (and eventually threw away the button gauge. In FW, it may not be so bad. If you are up to removing the cap to dry it out, things are easy. If not, you could just hold the Mk2 with the yoke down and try shaking the water out of the cap. A few cycles of shaking and then blowing it out an ope LP port should do a good enough job.

 

[oncor23]

Thanks, awap. How would I remove the cap?

As for what happened...someone else decided to "adjust" it...underwater. They turned off the air, then hit the purge...what's not to love?

 

[DA Aquamaster]

If you have a pin spanner, you can just put the pin on one of the ambient pressure holes and screw it off - righty tighty, lefty loosey.

You can't really screw it up, just pull the cap off, and remove the piston as it will come with it. wipe out the inside of the cap and the top of the piston and you should be good to go.

If it has been serviced in the last five years and has the plastic boot on the piston stem and inside the spring, you should not have to worry much about accidentally wiping off any lube either.

 

[redacted]

Thanks, awap. How would I remove the cap?

As for what happened...someone else decided to "adjust" it...underwater. They turned off the air, then hit the purge...what's not to love?

I would not expect that to have let water into the Mk2. Why don't you start by pulling the LP hoses and see if there is any water. Since it was FW, it is really unlikely to cause a problem.

 

[halocline]

Try this:

Remove all the hoses and the button gauge. Plug the LP ports, leave the HP port open. Put it on a tank, blow some air through it. Look for any sign of water exiting the HP port. After you turn the air off, and the reg bleeds pressure down, plug the HP port and unplug one of the LP ports, run a blast of air, then continue for each port, then maybe run a final blast with all the LP ports open. If there is no sign of moisture leaving any of the ports you're probably fine. Actually, if it was flooded with clean fresh water, you could likely just dry it out this way and have no problems, although it would be better to dry out right away rather than a few days after the flooding.

It will get pretty cold when you blast air through it, which I guess could cause some condensation, so you'll have to differentiate between that and water actually coming out of the ports.

After, if you want to dry out the R190, just attach it and run several healthy purges through it. I routinely do this with 2nd stages after soaking my regs after a dive.

 

[elan]

Those regs are robust. I have one of those MK2 like regs on my dry suit inflation. I flooded it many times when I ntered the water forgetting to scre the reg on the inflation bottle. So those were total solid 100percent floods. I finally serviced it last week after 3 years that it was abused. There was no corrosion inside and regs worked fine. Not saying you do not have to care but do not stress out - its fresh water.

 

[Doppler]

I regularly run a drill in fresh water having students swop out a piston first stage from one stage bottle to another... Regs do not "flood" yours MAY have a little water in it but more likely that water can be blown out... however, I do not have an SPG of any sort on my sacrificial reg.

 

[oncor23]

If you have a pin spanner, you can just put the pin on one of the ambient pressure holes and screw it off - righty tighty, lefty loosey.

You can't really screw it up, just pull the cap off, and remove the piston as it will come with it. wipe out the inside of the cap and the top of the piston and you should be good to go.

If it has been serviced in the last five years and has the plastic boot on the piston stem and inside the spring, you should not have to worry much about accidentally wiping off any lube either.

Thanks.

I'll locate a pin spanner and give it a shot. I did try running tank air through the various ports after opening them up. I did not notice any moisture come out. The only moisture I noticed was the first shot through the R190 when I purged it. That was moist, but by the second hit, it was coming out pretty dry. My button gauge appears to be working. I pulled it off and placed it on a warm surface to dry out. I don't know if any water ever got in there. I also tried AWAP's suggestion of shaking the 1st stage to see if any water came out. I did not notice any water coming out and can't hear anything sloshing around inside. Of course, that doesn't mean it isn't damp in there.

I will attempt the cap removal and have a look. I'm assuming I can just screw the cap back on...I'll be very careful with the piston...just wipe the head where it's damp...if it's damp. This unit was serviced about 1 year ago.

 

[halocline]

The only moisture I noticed was the first shot through the R190 when I purged it. That was moist, but by the second hit, it was coming out pretty dry.

I will attempt the cap removal and have a look. I'm assuming I can just screw the cap back on...I'll be very careful with the piston...just wipe the head where it's damp...if it's damp. This unit was serviced about 1 year ago.

Moisture coming out of the 2nd stage during a purge after diving is completely normal, it happens every time I soak my regs post-dive and then push some air through to dry the 2nd stages. You can pull the 1st stage apart but honestly if you saw nothing coming out of any port, I bet it's dry.