Post dive care of equipment

[uncfnp]

Currently post dive, I soak the entire BC with Oceanic XS Air attached in bin of water with added vinegar. At end of dive trip, I disconnect the XS Air and thoroughly rinse the BC bladder, usually with a rinse marketed for BCDs. Is this the best after dive care? And would it be harmful to place disconnected XS Air in bucket to soak in warm water?

i also rinse all the other dive gear as well in a vinegar solution, press all buttons and work the zippers. Is this a good thing and is there anything else I should be doing?

Last question, after soaking wetsuit, any reason you can not use the washing machine on spin to remove excess water to speed the drying?

Thanks for all input.

 

[Xaryo]

as long as the reg is still pressurized when you soak it.

Reg are allergic to water when unpressurized and shod never be put in the water even with the DUST cap on.

 

[halocline]

as long as the reg is still pressurized when you soak it.

Reg are allergic to water when unpressurized and shod never be put in the water even with the DUST cap on.

No offense, but that's a bunch of nonsense. The dust cap is specifically designed to keep water out. If yours leaks, get a new one. This topic comes up frequently, it's too bad there's so much misunderstanding about it. There's a simple test to see if the cap is sealing. Put it on, try to suck some air out of a 2nd stage. Can't get any? It's sealed. If you can, the issue is likely with the 2nd stage; some fancy-smancy 2nd stages with seat saver features will allow air to be drawn in through the mouthpiece, down the hose, into the LP chamber of the 1st stage, and back out to the other 2nd stage.

Getting back to the OP's questions, I'm not sure I see the need for vinegar. Just a nice soak in clean fresh water is fine. As long as the vinegar solution is very weak I don't imagine there'd be much harm in it, though. If the "XS air" is oceanic's octo-inflator combo, I honestly don't know if it's okay to soak it but I'd be surprised if it's not. It is, after all, a 2nd stage and LP inflator, and those get flooded all the time.

I wouldn't spend any money on a specific rinse for BCs, but if you want to do that it's certainly not going to hurt anything. I just flush out the bladder with water, fill it with air, and wait a bit for the little bit of remaining water to drain to the bottom, then flush it out the OPV. If you're really, really wanting to be ultra-clean, you should use scuba air to fill it post-rinse, meaning use the LP inflator hooked up to a tank. Scuba air has no moisture and will help to dry out the bladder. It's definitely not something to worry about, though! Just store the BC with some air in the bladder.

I don't know about running the wetsuit in the washer. I wouldn't do it, I'm not sure what the advantage would be. It probably wouldn't hurt it. I just hang mine up and let it drip dry.

 

[uncfnp]

Thanks halocline, that's great info that directly addresses my main questions.

The vinegar is suppose to aid in removing deposits and reduce odors.

It is the octo-inflator combo.

The advantage of running the wetsuit through spin is that it removes a significant amount of water and can significantly decrease drying times when repeat dives are planned but its not worth it if it will damage the wetsuit.

 

[elan]

Fresh water diving rocks!
Rinse the mouthpieces. Done!

 

[mikeycanuk]

Fresh water diving rocks!
Rinse the mouthpieces. Done!

I still like to rinse out our gear after freshwater dives. Got a setup on my deck with XS hangers attached to some big hooks from Home Depot. Give me a beer and to town with the hose I go. 3sets of gear too.

Funny being that currently it's -20c outside....*sighs*

 

[Bellaco]

Yea I don't know about the freshwater around you guys but if you don't give your gear a thorough rinse after a dip in the quarries around here it will get FUNKY.

When it comes to rinsing regs I always err on the side of caution & never soak mine unpressurized

 

[theduckguru]

You might want to slide down the hose protectors and clean/inspect every once and a while.

 

[uncfnp]

You might want to slide down the hose protectors and clean/inspect every once and a while.

Yes, I read about that in another thread. Thanks for reminding me.

 

[BDSC]

When I get home I run our oversized garden tub with warm water and add a little baby shampoo. I put the wetsuits, BC's, regs, fins, masks, booties, etc. Probably the only thing I don't put in are our computers. I usually run warm water over them at the sink. I let it all soak for maybe a couple of hours and then drain the tub and refill it with just water and let it all soak another hour or so. Then it all gets to dry out. Been doing it this way for 21 years and so far never a problem of any kind with my gear.