Question on regulator cleaning

[redacted]

What you talking about willis? One company has tried it and is still doing it. (Atomic)
No one else has tried it. (It's patented, and copyrighted, so both the same device, and a similar functioning device are covered.)

Old school regs had a thingie on the purge button but that ain't at all the same thing.

I believe Scubapro came out with the seat saver feature in 1997 in the G500. It was also included in the S600 and the G250HP. Their design used a somewhat complex 2nd balance chamber on the control knob end of the barrel which allowed the seat to pull away from the orifice when not under pressure. However, cranking the control know all the way in moved the seat close enough to the orifice to seal and avoid water incursion while soaking. The Atomic design has the orifice floating and will only seal under normal tank pressure.

 

[Skeeter1097]

On a good dive weekend or whine it is time to put regs up for the week. sock in simple green, 1/2 cup in a bucket with water sock for a hour or so and hook up to tank and purge. dry and hang.

 

[redacted]

On a good dive weekend or whine it is time to put regs up for the week. sock in simple green, 1/2 cup in a bucket with water sock for a hour or so and hook up to tank and purge. dry and hang.

From the Simple Green site: "Simple Green All-Purpose Cleaner can be used on any washable surface, from floors and walls to laundry and vehicles (see Applications/Dilution Ratio Chart). It removes the toughest stains including dirt, grease, oil, pet stains, coffee & juice stains, lipstick, blood, adhesives & much more!"

Sounds like it cleans lots of things. But what do you think it does to the lubricated surfaces in a regulator??? Things like 2nd stage balance chambers and 1st stage piston o-rings. Plus the lubricant on some unprotected threads (1st, 2nd stages, and SPGs) that inhibit salt and corrosion formation.

 

[beanojones]

I believe Scubapro came out with the seat saver feature in 1997 in the G500. It was also included in the S600 and the G250HP. Their design used a somewhat complex 2nd balance chamber on the control knob end of the barrel which allowed the seat to pull away from the orifice when not under pressure. However, cranking the control know all the way in moved the seat close enough to the orifice to seal and avoid water incursion while soaking. The Atomic design has the orifice floating and will only seal under normal tank pressure.

Not doubting you, but. I never saw that mentioned that though even though I was still going to SP tech classes then, I think. 1997 is a long time ago.) I don't do SP regs anymore, and I decided to go to the "use one year and re-sell" mode about then anyway, instead of rebuilding my personal gear anyway.

Was it labeled as a seat saver, or just the usual "adjustable set up to leak at the least effort" point? (I know the r380 (?) had one of those silly purge button seat savers for a while.) I have never seen any system that works anything like the Atomic one in terms of never ever putting a set on the seat. That may have to do with the seat material too, though. The SPs always seem to put a set on seats, but that may be the whole SP idea anyway. I know PeterBuilt used to make a machine designed to put a set on seats on the rebuild bench. And he was the long time SP tech guy. So I would assume he thought pre-setting seats was a good idea as a reflection of SP philosophy.

For me the fact that the Atomics (second stages) don't fail from sitting in storage is a ringing endorsement of their way of doing things. Of course, their first stages fail in such a lovely variety of ways to make up for it.

EDIT: Checking FrogKick says yes they have an anti-set feature on the g250HP. I know was definitely out of the SP loop when that came out.

Did it work? It seems fiddly.