regulators: hanging to dry

[Starfish]

I just purchased my own regulators, so this is the first time I have to seriously worry about proper cleaning beyond the dive shop asking me to dunk thing in the tank and hand it to them.

I rinsed everything properly, without getting water into the unpressurized areas I shouldn't let it get into.

I would have layed the regs on a towel to dry, when I saw my husband attaching his reg to the BC drying hanger. I watched as he screwed the reg onto the indented circle at the center of his hanger.
He says that's what it is there for.

Correct or is he making up his own way to do things??

 

[joewr]

Starfish,

Regs need to be cleaned and dried before storage. The one irrevocable rule is: do not kink the tubing! So, usually the best way to store them is to hang them with everything being sorta free-hanging. This can be done all sorts or ways--the technique Mr. Starfish uses is fine--I made a little gadget in my shop that supports the first stage, takes wt off of it and lets the whole thing hang free. But a hanger from your friendly LDS will do the job just fine. Next time you go diving with a dive shop, check the way they take care of their gear: since they usually want it to last a long time, they will store it properly! Usually!

Joerw

 

[Mario S Caner]

Hey there Starfish, your hubby is absolutely right. That's exactly what that spot is designed to do.

 

[BetterLateThannever]

Mario said: your hubby is absolutely right

I bow to your courageousness Oh Mario. Just be sure to duck when you say something like that.

 

[Starfish]

Mario has no need to duck. Husbands can be right, well once in a while anyway --Starfish

 

[Mario S Caner]

LOL! Wow, close one eh! It was just a momentary lapse of reason, sorry, it won't happen again!

 

[large_diver]

I know there are many folks out there who hang their regs to dry.......but I have have been advised by several people NOT to hang your regulator due mainly to hose stress. Below is a quote from a reg maintenance guide on scubadiving.com:

Store your regulator with the hoses lying flat or
loosely coiled. Do not hang your regulator by its
hoses, as the weight of the second stage and console
will bend hoses and stress swedge fittings

See the their complete guide on reg maintenance and storage at the link below:

http://www.scubadiving.com/gear/saveyourgear/#regmain

 

[joewr]

L-D,

The little hanger I "invented" in my shop does exactly that. As I wrote above, the octopus hangs on it and it has a slot that the console slips into to support it. My second stage is a Sherwood Oasis and is very light. Thus, it can hang freely without putting stress on the octopus or the fittings.

I like hanging it as opposed to setting it on a shelf because nothing will get tossed on top of it and kink the hoses, etc.

Joewr

 

[socaldiver]

LD,

I also will store my reg in it's case (laying flat and loosely coiled) but only after it has been thoroughly rinsed and hung out to dry on the hanger that I bought from the LDS for the reg and BCD.

 

[Mario S Caner]

Originally posted by large_diver

Store your regulator with the hoses lying flat or
loosely coiled. Do not hang your regulator by its
hoses, as the weight of the second stage and console
will bend hoses and stress swedge fittings

Large Diver, The hanger system doesn't secure the reg by any of the hoses. It's the 1st stage that attaches to the hanger. Therefore the excess weight of the 1st stage stressing the hose would not be a factor.