Rinsing dive gear

[sandiegoaes]

You talk about a fresh water rinse. Have you ever tired to soak your gear submerged in fresh water?

Yes. I write about it extensively in the post above.

 

[MaxBottomtime]

On our boat, we have a freshwater shower on the deck that we rinse everything as soon as we're out of the ocean. We soak our cameras and computers in a Rubbermaid tub and push all buttons. My three favorite beach dive sites, Vet's Park in Redondo Beach, Marineland in Rancho Palos Verdes, and La Jolla Shores all have showers available to rinse everything before we get to the parking lot. We don't let saltwater dry on our gear.

 

[johndiver999]

Keeping gear wet is completely impractical for me. Vinegar is an acid and is corrosive. I would not want to soak a reg (especially unpressurized) in an acid solution after every dive outing. I am a big fan of soaking regulators (generally pressurized) in freshwater.

 

[Bigbella]

Common sense goes a great, long way in terms equipment maintenance; and there were already a number of good suggestions; but soaking your regulators while pressurized has always been my primary concern -- high above that of methods for soaking wetsuits; drysuits; hard over soft water; or acidic solutions.

Our local tap-water is about 375 ppm, in terms of total dissolved solids -- damn hard; but I still don't bother with any additives; just wipe things down afterwards . . .

 

[sandiegoaes]

Vinegar is an acid and is corrosive. I would not want to soak a reg (especially unpressurized) in an acid solution after every dive outing

Exactly why I use it to remove salt off my reg. Using a highly diluted vinegar solution helps strip the salt off and cleans the reg very nicely. As noted above, soaking an upressurized reg isn't a big deal.

 

[TMHeimer]

Actually there are a few threads on this somewhere. Here's my process.
-- hose to rinse everything.
-- no soaking. That's OK if you hose afterwards. Soaking logically means it sits in it's own washed off salt.
-- BC -- dump salt water first. Little baby shampoo to the inside and flush with much fresh water. Outside with hose of course.

BC lasted 16 years & still worked. Reg. was bought used in 2005, still using it (not too mush repair work done).
2006 wetsuit bought used got replaced in 2017 (rips, etc.).
4 AL 80 (new in about 1993) tanks always passed visual & hydro and I did not rinse with reg attached and pressurized.

I'm not getting any fussier than that. Takes me about an hour & 15 minutes to complete the rinsing thoroughly. I do it after each dive day.

 

[Manatee Diver]

Following a dive, there are three points I like to remember: 1) Once you go diving, salt water under pressure is going to force its way into tiny places in scuba gear that, no matter how hard I try to clean and how much fresh water I run over it post dive, the fresh water rinse will never visit the places inside that the salt water is at;

Or you can visit Ginnie or Little River and let the pressurized fresh spring water clean your gear.

 

[Bigbella]

-- no soaking. That's OK if you hose afterwards. Soaking logically means it sits in it's own washed off
4 AL 80 (new in about 1993) tanks always passed visual & hydro and I did not rinse with reg attached and pressurized.

To each, his own.

Having worked upon regulators for years, I have seen the sheer damage — the corrosion and pitting — that even accidental water intrusion, both fresh and salt can produce, either from haphazard or mediocre maintenance; or, most commonly, by clumsily-rinsed / soaked, unpressurized regulators — often, with the mistaken view, that those piss-poor dust caps that the scuba industry has continued to produce, for the last fifty years, offers anything but the most cosmetic protection . . .

 

[TMHeimer]

To each, his own.

Having worked upon regulators for years, I have seen the sheer damage — the corrosion and pitting — that even accidental water intrusion, both fresh and salt can produce, either from haphazard or mediocre maintenance; or, most commonly, by clumsily-rinsed / soaked, unpressurized regulators — often, with the mistaken view, that those piss-poor dust caps that the scuba industry has continued to produce, for the last fifty years, offers anything but the most cosmetic protection . . .

You're the expert and probably right about the dust caps. I do tighten the Hell out of it prior to using the hose.

 

[Scott]

To each, his own.

Having worked upon regulators for years, I have seen the sheer damage — the corrosion and pitting — that even accidental water intrusion, both fresh and salt can produce, either from haphazard or mediocre maintenance; or, most commonly, by clumsily-rinsed / soaked, unpressurized regulators — often, with the mistaken view, that those piss-poor dust caps that the scuba industry has continued to produce, for the last fifty years, offers anything but the most cosmetic protection . . .

Hence the name dust cap and not submerge caps.