Possible Fresh Water Penetration In Apeks First Stage, Should I Service?

[StringerBell]

Hi guys and gals,

Yesterday I was returned my regs which I lent to a guy in my club, but they were covered in salt crystals and had one of the HP blanking plugs removed (he'd used a transmitter and forgot to put it back on..).

Anyway, I was rinsing them off gently in the shower (thinking nothing of it) but I was concerned afterwards about water getting inside the HP port or the DIN port.

If it was, it would be a very small amount of water, and I checked immediately afterwards and it doesn't seem that there is any water inside, but how worried should I be? I can blow the air out later today when I get home to my tank, but I'm going diving at the weekend.

Cheers,

 

[Alastor]

If you are asking this, probably you don't service the regulator by yourself.
This could be a chance to learn how to disassemble and reassemble the regulator. It is not difficult, and having the right tools neither too long
and you have not to replace parts.
In the past, rinsing the regulator from a dive, there always someone doing it without the cover ... and it always led to a beer paid from the guy and 15 min in disassemby, drying, cleaning ... etc for the diving staff ...

Cheers

 

[StringerBell]

If you are asking this, probably you don't service the regulator by yourself.
This could be a chance to learn how to disassemble and reassemble the regulator. It is not difficult, and having the right tools neither too long
and you have not to replace parts.
In the past, rinsing the regulator from a dive, there always someone doing it without the cover ... and it always led to a beer paid from the guy and 15 min in disassemby, drying, cleaning ... etc for the diving staff ...

Cheers

You're right, I don't. I think it's qutie unlikely that any water went inside the first stage, but I'm concerned about the possibility of it failing on a dive. I'd rather not tamper with it myself since I don't have the tools/experience to do so.

 

[Pao]

Unless the HP port and DIN connector were "inundated" it should be OK. The HP port only has a pinhole and the inlet has a filter. You can remove the DIN connector and see if the conical filter is wet. You can blow the filter then the regulator dry but remove everything else before you do or you might blow water into the hoses and worse into the SPG.

 

[StringerBell]

Unless the HP port and DIN connector were "inundated" it should be OK. The HP port only has a pinhole and the inlet has a filter. You can remove the DIN connector and see if the conical filter is wet. You can blow the filter then the regulator dry but remove everything else before you do or you might blow water into the hoses and worse into the SPG.

That's what I plan to do. Remove both LPI hoses, and the SPG, and slowly open the tank valve to push anything out, I'm gonna put some paper towels infront of the first stage to see if any water did get inside. My thinking is that if it's fresh water then I'm okay because corrosion is unlikely, and I think it's unlikely that any got into the HP hose for the SPG, but I wouldn't know how to get it out if it did.

 

[Pao]

You should check the filter first so that you will not push more water into the regulator. I think you can get away with it by just peeking into it with a flashlight through the DIN connector.

 

[Alastor]

In case some drops of fresh water went in the HP hose, you can easily blow them out, removing the SPG and letting some air gently through the hose as well. Air from a tank is dry, and would remove a couple of drops that went in the very small hole.
Before doing that, please check the filter. If you find it wet, let it dry.

 

[Pao]

Yes you can. I tried it on my XTX50. And that filter is way down there.

 

[StringerBell]

You should check the filter first so that you will not push more water into the regulator. I think you can get away with it by just peeking into it with a flashlight through the DIN connector.

No filter in it since it's DIN, I have however looked at both ports with a bright torch and seen no water/moisture or anything.

 

[StringerBell]

In case some drops of fresh water went in the HP hose, you can easily blow them out, removing the SPG and letting some air gently through the hose as well. Air from a tank is dry, and would remove a couple of drops that went in the very small hole.
Before doing that, please check the filter. If you find it wet, let it dry.

I'm not sure as to how to remove the SPG, it's a Suunto one with rubber covering the swivel.
This happened last night, and I saw no moisture in either port, i've got them air drying in my office at the moment.