Should I be rinsing the cylinder valve and opening after dive?

[William Ryan]

Hello all stupid question here about cleaning my dive tank after a dive. I just got my first AL80 and as a new diver just want to make sure im not going to hurt my new tank. After a dive and after the first stage is taken off should I be rinsing the cylinder valve and opening where the air comes out with fresh water? Or is it bad to let even clean water hit the part of the valve where the air comes out? Thanks for answering my noob question!

 

[davehicks]

Don't do it. Too much opportunity for water to get trapped and create a problem. If you want the rinse the tank and valve do it with a regulator attached and pressurized. If the tank valve is getting too much build up, is hard to screw in a DIN, or is hard to open or close then get the entire valve serviced.

 

[johndiver999]

I blast my valves and handle and air hole with a garden house before getting them filled many hundreds of times. It helps with corrosion.

However, don't do it on any empty tank and always remember to blast the water out by opening the valve afterwards.

 

[SlugLife]

I wouldn't wash the valve, or if you do, dry it immediately after with compressed air.

• Your risk residue or corrosion inside the valve.
• You risk water entering your first-stage, which can damage your first stage.
• You gain little to no benefit from washing the valve. While in use, your valve is covered by a regulator. While not in use, it should be getting that dirty, especially if you use a valve-cap.

If you want to keep your valves clean:

• Scuba Choice Scuba Diving Tank Valve Cap Protector | eBay - A valve cap should keep most debris and dirt away.
  
• DGX Threaded Dust Plug for DIN Valve, Delrin - For din, you can get a screw-in cap.
  
• DGX HP Sealing DIN Plug - Or a plug, to prevent air-loss (din only), though you can get pressure buildup behind the plug making it difficult to loosen.
  
• DGX HP Sealing DIN Plug w/Pressure Release - Or a pressure release plug.

 

[Divin'Papaw]

I rinse mine very thoroughly after each day of diving. Salt water is the enemy. I spray them thoroughly with freshwater and also give them a good soaking in freshwater without a regulator attached if possible. They are pressurized after all. Unless they are empty, which they shouldn't be, there is zero chance of water intrusion during this process. I find this helps a great deal to keep them clean and working smoothly.

It is critical to make sure and thoroughly dry the valve before either attaching a regulator or having the tank filled. This is critical. I do agree that this will cause issues if you forget to do it. This is easy to do and part of my normal post-dive gear rinse process. It is second nature at this point. It just takes a towel over the outlet and blast or two of air from the tank. The towel is key! No sense hurting your ears and the ears of those around you!! You'll get some nasty looks if you blow out your valve without covering the outlet first. Don't be that guy.

 

[RIHappyDiver]

So, as you can see, not a stupid question. Just another one that has no definitive answer. Based on the fact that there are very experienced divers doing both, I would say your good either way. If you do rinse, take the advise of @JimBlay just to be safe. Interestingly, I’ve been diving on and off for a few decades and never even considered rinsing my valves. Now I’m going to thinking about this all day.

Erik

 

[parzdiver]

If I dive freshwater, I give the tanks a quick spray with the hose and make sure they are dry before storing in the garage. If I use them in salt water, I give them a thorough rinse, including high pressure host spray of the valve and handle. As, @JimBlay said, "salt water is the enemy".

 

[NothingClever]

I habitually rinse off my valves while the 1st stage is still attached. I rotate the valve knob back and forth to get the saltwater out from underneath. There have been times while loading up that I noticed salt had crystallized at the edge of the knob indicating that I had not rinsed thoroughly. Also, if I take my valves off for any length of time (other than getting a fill), I cap the 1st stages and plug the DIN valve.

 

[Wibble]

Do nothing. The valves are designed for that.

Blasting air out of a cylinder is supremely annoying to those around you.

 

[CT-Rich]

All my gear gets a fresh water rinse after a day’s diving. As long as the tank has a decent head of pressure, water is unlikely to get in the tank. I don’t bother with dust caps (I would if they were around very fine sand or might end up valve down in the dirt. Tank valves are not super complicated and and other than gouging the metal or losing the o-ring are not particularly delicate.

It’s always good to take care of one’s toys, but tanks, as long as you keep 500 psi and store them properly, will last a really long time. I have seen pictures of industrial air banks that were using steel tanks from the 1930s. Aluminum tanks should last decades. I have a steel tank and valve from the seventies. My 120s are from the 1990s and have never had problems with the valves.