vixtor
Contributor
Hello,
I am using a Scubapro Mk17/G250V+Mk17/G250V setup for my regulators for about 6 years. Every year, during anual service, I was told that pretty significant corrosion was found inside (not something irreparable, but enough to be considered unusual by the service guy). Last year, I have considered trying something new, and have stopped doing something learned on this forum, which I was normally doing after each week-end of diving.
Basically, what I was doing in the past was to leave the regs to stay overnight in the bathtub with warm fresh water, to disolve any salt deposits they might have had (in case the hose washing performed at the dive center was not enough). For this purpose, I have replaced the standard Scubapro DIN caps with some threaded DIN caps which were sealing the first stage completely. I had no tank at home to purge them after the soaking, but when I was taking them out of the water, it seemed to me that only very little water was flowing down from the second stages (and because of this i was happy that water was most probably not getting inside). Of course, I was taking a lot of care to submerge the second stages very slowly, in a position with the mouthpiece down, so the membrane was not opened by the very action of submerging. The first stage was only submerged later. So I was not throwing them in water carelessly. Taking them out, I was first raising the first stage, and only later the second stage. To me, this seemed like good regulator care. I didn't had conditions to submerge them under pressure, but taking all these precautions seemed enough to me.
Except for the corrosion issue, they were in good state, and cleaned properly every time. All service kit parts were replaced every time, so there was no bad seal or leak on them.
Anyway, last year, I have decided to change something and during the whole year, I have just washed them under pressure, with the hose, at the dive center. No more soaking in fresh water. During this winter's service, for the first time, the service engineer told me they were in excellent condition, like new. He is the same guy doing it every year, so he knew from the past the condition they used to be after one year. He didn't know about my change of habits, so he was not influenced in any way. Now I plan to do the same for the second year, and observe if I get similar results.
I took this decision observing that the rental regulators of the dive center, which were never getting a similar treatment to what I was "giving" to my own regulators, and which were most probably used with less care by various people, were usually in better condition after one year.
Except for not soaking the regs in fresh water every night, I have made no other change in my diving habits last year. I had a similar amount of dives, both boat and shore, I have done similar valve shutdown drills underwater, and had to change the regs from one tank to another between dives with the same level of care as always. So to me there is no other explanation for the (lack of) corrosion, except this overnight soaking which I have discontinued.
What do you think?
I am using a Scubapro Mk17/G250V+Mk17/G250V setup for my regulators for about 6 years. Every year, during anual service, I was told that pretty significant corrosion was found inside (not something irreparable, but enough to be considered unusual by the service guy). Last year, I have considered trying something new, and have stopped doing something learned on this forum, which I was normally doing after each week-end of diving.
Basically, what I was doing in the past was to leave the regs to stay overnight in the bathtub with warm fresh water, to disolve any salt deposits they might have had (in case the hose washing performed at the dive center was not enough). For this purpose, I have replaced the standard Scubapro DIN caps with some threaded DIN caps which were sealing the first stage completely. I had no tank at home to purge them after the soaking, but when I was taking them out of the water, it seemed to me that only very little water was flowing down from the second stages (and because of this i was happy that water was most probably not getting inside). Of course, I was taking a lot of care to submerge the second stages very slowly, in a position with the mouthpiece down, so the membrane was not opened by the very action of submerging. The first stage was only submerged later. So I was not throwing them in water carelessly. Taking them out, I was first raising the first stage, and only later the second stage. To me, this seemed like good regulator care. I didn't had conditions to submerge them under pressure, but taking all these precautions seemed enough to me.
Except for the corrosion issue, they were in good state, and cleaned properly every time. All service kit parts were replaced every time, so there was no bad seal or leak on them.
Anyway, last year, I have decided to change something and during the whole year, I have just washed them under pressure, with the hose, at the dive center. No more soaking in fresh water. During this winter's service, for the first time, the service engineer told me they were in excellent condition, like new. He is the same guy doing it every year, so he knew from the past the condition they used to be after one year. He didn't know about my change of habits, so he was not influenced in any way. Now I plan to do the same for the second year, and observe if I get similar results.
I took this decision observing that the rental regulators of the dive center, which were never getting a similar treatment to what I was "giving" to my own regulators, and which were most probably used with less care by various people, were usually in better condition after one year.
Except for not soaking the regs in fresh water every night, I have made no other change in my diving habits last year. I had a similar amount of dives, both boat and shore, I have done similar valve shutdown drills underwater, and had to change the regs from one tank to another between dives with the same level of care as always. So to me there is no other explanation for the (lack of) corrosion, except this overnight soaking which I have discontinued.
What do you think?