Regulator and BCD Post-Dive Cleaning

[dmoore19]

I just make sure that when soaking the dust cap in on securely and only soak 1 stage at a time. I am also careful to make sure that the stage not soaking is higher than the one that is soaking and never soak them both at the same time.

 

[GiantMoray]

Craig66 I do understand what you mean, I fully agree that there should be no reason that the average Joe shouldn't be able to do simple maintenance on their gear, I just wanted to make clear that Tobin wasn't trying to drum up extra business by his advice.

 

[Craig66]

Craig66 I do understand what you mean, I fully agree that there should be no reason that the average Joe shouldn't be able to do simple maintenance on their gear, I just wanted to make clear that Tobin wasn't trying to drum up extra business by his advice.

Agreed. Tobin has some very strong opinions but on the whole he is an asset to the dive community and he redefines customer service !!!!


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[Dr. Lecter]

IIRC, in another thread, Tobin, the guy at Deep Sea Supply, strongly recommended against taking apart the valves. Or at least not taking apart the valve in their wings (but also probably not taking apart the valve in most wings).

Tobin did suggest that, but his suggestion isn't rooted in anything more than "Durrr, them stupid end-users always be losing parts or put my precious, perfect little BP&W rigs back together all wrong when they dare unscrew an OPV on their own!" It's very difficult to screw up in either manner, whether with the generic OPVs or the DSS beefier but otherwise identical OPVs, and if you do you should notice it.

As a manufacturer, of course, Tobin has to target his suggestions for what some public school teachers like to call the "lowest common denominator."

 

[clownfishsydney]

For more than 25 years and over 3,600 dives, I have done the following:

* Put regs in bin and fill with water
* Use hose to squirt water into mouthpieces and outside of second stages
* Use hose to squirt water into the pressure holes in first stage
* As soon as above done, shake water out and hang up to dry
* BCD soaked for a few minutes, water squirted inside via deflator
* BCD hung upside down and water dumped out, repeated a bit later with perhaps some air added

I have never had a thing wrong with the regs over this time. No need to have pressure on regs, no need to pull BCD valves apart like some seem to do. Most people I know do something similar to the above. Perhaps because we dive so much the severe cleaning mentioned by others is not needed.

 

[tbone1004]

Tobin did suggest that, but his suggestion isn't rooted in anything more than "Durrr, them stupid end-users always be losing parts or put my precious, perfect little BP&W rigs back together all wrong when they dare unscrew an OPV on their own!" It's very difficult to screw up in either manner, whether with the generic OPVs or the DSS beefier but otherwise identical OPVs, and if you do you should notice it.

As a manufacturer, of course, Tobin has to target his suggestions for what some public school teachers like to call the "lowest common denominator."

I think it's more that the dumps are actually extremely easy to crossthread and it is a very common problem with people that don't know what they are doing to crossthread the flange and then it is a colossa pita to get off and you have to get a new one.

 

[dpspaceman]

Thanks all!! All the information is very useful. This is what I did after my first dive with the new gear.

1. On the boat, splash the first stage with fresh water hose.
2. Once home (15-20 min after docking), I filled up a bin with water.
3. Placed BCD, wet suit, fins and mask fully submerged for 15-20 minutes. No regs for fear of leaking into first stage.
3a. Remove wet suit (inside out), fins and masks to dry.
4. Filled BCD with some air, then proceeded to fill with some water. Swashed around a couple of times. Drained out purge valves and deflator on top.
5. Repeat #4 again for BCD. Hang to dry.
6. Finally - I took hose and splashed the first stage again - the Aqualung Titan first stage dust cap is all rubber (made sure it was very tight). DID NOT SUBMERGE.
7. Being careful not to push the purge button on the second stages (main & octo) I submerged these and swashed them around for about 3-5 minutes in the bin. Remove and hang
8. Everything is now drying.

I hope this is okay.

My only question, that no one has answered is -- How do I know if my first stage has been compromised by water leaking into it. Just so I know what the signs are. Or is it purely a malfunction under water?

P.S.
All my equipment is brand new.

 

[Hickdive]

My only question, that no one has answered is -- How do I know if my first stage has been compromised by water leaking into it. Just so I know what the signs are. Or is it purely a malfunction under water?

Look at the sintered metal filter on the HP inlet. Salt water contamination will show up as a blue-green coating on it.

 

[dpspaceman]

Look at the sintered metal filter on the HP inlet. Salt water contamination will show up as a blue-green coating on it.

thanks hick.