Regulators and hard water

[TSandM]

I recently took apart a leaking second stage, and the person who was mentoring me through the process remarked on the amount of corrosion present, given that we had worked on the same regulator less than six months ago. This is not the first time I have had a reg tech make a comment about excessive corrosion in my regs -- different brands of regulators involved, too.

I think we take pretty good care of our regulators. They are always rinsed after use. They are almost always soaked for at least an hour or two, and shaken out and stored. I don't understand why they seem to get so cruddy . . . but yesterday, when I was showering, I had a thought. The shower heads in our bathroom have about a quarter inch of mineral deposit on them. Nothing takes it off, and nothing I've ever bought dissolves it. (I have never been brave enough to put the muriatic acid I bought on the bathroom surfaces )

I'm wondering if what I've got in my regs is hard water deposits. Has anyone ever run into that problem? The thought of buying purified or distilled water to wash regs in is truly daunting, given the amount we dive.

 

[ajtoady]

Gotta say, if you are cleaning your equipment in hard water, it's going to build up over time. Hard water and the minerals in it are not selective as to where they accumulate. Only option would be rinsing in distilled water. No minerals, but costs to do so. If you are having no adverse affects on the performance of your regs, use your best estimate as to your rinsing procedures and techniques so as to keep them functioning at their expected levels. Another option would be to add a water softener to your rinse water, such as Calgon Water soft beads or something in that line.

On a side note, I still look forward to your comments and posts on the forum here, Thanks, Tony

 

[fisheater]

I've had the same problem.

Reg tech told me not to soak, just to rinse well and be done with it.

I'll know if that's the answer in a year when I have them stripped again.

 

[Cave Diver]

I have to admit to a bit of amusement how one of your threads always seems to evolve into another.

Maybe you could cut down on the soak time? I normally just swish regs through a dunk tank, seldom do I leave any soaking for a considerable amount of time. Perhaps a good rinse and dry might be more beneficial than an extended soak.

 

[Couv]

Diving gear aside, let's address the hard water issue in your home first. If your shower heads are showing that much buildup, then probably your water heater, dish washer, washing machine, etc. will suffer premature deaths. IMHO it's well worth the investment to install a whole hose water softener just to extend the life of expensive appliances. You can get a discontinued model at Sears pretty cheap. The money you save on soap more than makes up for the salt needed to back flush the resin bed.....but again, the real savings is on extending the life of everything in your house water runs in and on including your dive gear.

Re the dive gear. Two things caught my attention. First: "They are almost always soaked for at least an hour or two..." I know you do both a lot of cave/fresh water diving and salt water diving. For fresh water diving a 2 hour soak is probably just fine, but for saltwater an overnight soak is a much better idea. Second: ” and shaken out and stored." This could be the problem-better would be to use some of the remaining air in your tanks to thoroughly blow out and dry the regs prior to storing.

Muriatic acid is an old school way of removing corrosion and deposits on equipment. The problem is after the acid bath, one has to follow up with a baking soda and water bath to neutralize the acid then rinse the soda bath water off.

 

[Cave Diver]

Reg tech told me not to soak, just to rinse well and be done with it.

For fresh water diving a 2 hour soak is probably just fine, but for saltwater an overnight soak is a much better idea.

I sense a poll in the making...

 

[TSandM]

Oh, heavens NO! The muriatic acid was never intended for dive gear! It's the stuff they sell for pools, and it was my last-ditch abortive attempt to clean the deposits off the tile in the bathroom. But I was never brave enough to dilute it and use it.

Yes, we go through coffee makers every few years -- haven't had a dishwasher fail for hard water yet, although we just lost one . . . We're on a well, and have the most delicious water, and I've been very reluctant to mess with it.

The guy who taught my HOG repair class, who was the one who made the comment, looked at me and said, "I never get corrosion like that in my regs, and I don't rinse them OR soak them. I just dive a lot . . . " So maybe the answer is just more diving

 

[JamesK]

Consider adding a water softener to a wash sink and not the entire house if you like your water taste.

 

[Belmont]

It's easy to install a water softener to feed your appliances and your rinse tank and run a bypass to your drinking water faucets. This way you get the best of both worlds.

 

[Bonuss]

I'm not the water expert but dad was; and we have allot of wells out hear in CO. Most water is delicious because it DOES have some minerals (nothing wrong with that, soft water does not taste as "good").

But as was stated, "soft water" will not scale appliances, tile, fixtures, etc. It would be informative to have your water tested "just for kicks", particularly on a well. You could then choose to soften most of your water but have a non-treated line for drinking water as well. I do think it is possibly that those are mineral deposits on your regs.

Bob in CO