Scubapro Air 2 combo octo/inflator

[Hemlon]

I recently bought a used Scubapro BC with a combo octo/inflator. My question is related to how I should clean it.

With my other BCs, I have always used a garden hose to purge and rinse the inflator hose, allowing water to fill the bladder.

But with the combo octo/inflator, will I be damaging the octo by cleaning it this way?

 

[redacted]

Fresh water will not hurt anything in the Air2. I do not use the rubber cap except to protect the connector from damage during transport.

 

[austinspace]

I also just bought myself a used Scubapro Classic Plus BC with the Air II regulator. Looking forward to using it. Glad to hear that nothing special has to be done with the reg to clean the unit.

Finding your question through Google led me to join Scubaboard. Thanks for that too!

 

[redacted]

My ride to the superbowl party was waiting so I got in a bit of a hurry.

Just like with any power inflator, shake as much water as you can out after a good flushing and/or soak and then let it dry before you store it.

 

[beanojones]

Just putting my two sense in here. If you rinse any second stage (Air II included) out with water from the LP hose side, reliabilility will suffer.

awap and I disagree on this. I am in the tropics though so anything exposed to open air gets attacked in general.

I love the Atomics/Zeagle/Seaquest system which allows you to uncouple the whole alternate inflator unit from the BC, and makes the whole thing a moot point since you never have to uncouple the LP inflator hose from the reg. In fact the Seaquest unit is actually hard wired to the reg, which would be the ultimate in reliability.

 

[redacted]

Just putting my two sense in here. If you rinse any second stage (Air II included) out with water from the LP hose side, reliabilility will suffer.

awap and I disagree on this. I am in the tropics though so anything exposed to open air gets attacked in general.

I love the Atomics/Zeagle/Seaquest system which allows you to uncouple the whole alternate inflator unit from the BC, and makes the whole thing a moot point since you never have to uncouple the LP inflator hose from the reg. In fact the Seaquest unit is actually hard wired to the reg, which would be the ultimate in reliability.

beano - You still have not told me exactly what you think is happening as a result of the inlet tube, the upstream side of the orifice and its o-ring, and the upstream side of the LP seat getting wet with FW. Is the problem verdigris? Where is it forming?

The problem is that I don't care how careful you are, you just cant reliably keep water out of the inlet tube. I've watched divers disconnect the QD after a dive and drip water off themselves into the inlet. And then there are drills or actual problems where you disconnect the QD UW. Even water in the BC can work its way back into and through the inflator valve. So planning on keeping SW out is not a good solution. But, so long as you clean out all that SW with a good FW soak and rinse, problems can be avoided. But, in a tropical environment, it may be harder to dry things throughly before putting it away. In the tropics, do you ever actually put your dive gear away?

 

[SteveAD]

Just putting my two sense in here. If you rinse any second stage (Air II included) out with water from the LP hose side, reliabilility will suffer.

awap and I disagree on this. I am in the tropics though so anything exposed to open air gets attacked in general.

I love the Atomics/Zeagle/Seaquest system which allows you to uncouple the whole alternate inflator unit from the BC, and makes the whole thing a moot point since you never have to uncouple the LP inflator hose from the reg. In fact the Seaquest unit is actually hard wired to the reg, which would be the ultimate in reliability.

Sorry beano, you're wrong as can be here. Water in a first stage, where the tolerances are tight and the water can get stuck in dead ends is bad, but there is no problem with getting water in a second stage. In fact I recommend to air2 users to make sure that they do run water thru the lp nipple.

 

[andrethediver]

Related question - is there an easy way to uncouple ScubaPro Air2 inflator unit on a Knighthawk for transport in a checked luggage? Thanks.

 

[knowone]

Unscrew the corrugated hose from the bladder. Use a plastic serrated hose clamp from the garden shop. Soak your air source for as long as you like then hook it up to air and purge it.