Soak first stage?

[billt4sf]

I had thought that it was appropriate to soak the first stage (with the dust cap on) along with the second stage after every dive, or at least dunk it after each dive and soak it in warm water after a trip.

Recently a dive shop owner told me that it appropriate only to pour water over the first stage, and soak the second stage, keeping the first stage out of the tub.

What think you?

- Bill

 

[divad]

....................

 

[tursiops]

What is the benefit of soaking the first stage?

Leach salt water out of the threads and crevices in the first stage.

 

[fmerkel]

This discussion goes round and round. You will get people that support NOT soaking, and people that DO support soaking.
Here's the latest one:
Dust cap off first stage while soaking regs

My opinion, your shop owner doesn't know what he is talking about.

More important question....how does someone with 1245 posts not have a solid personal opinion about this question?

 

[2airishuman]

More important question....how does someone with 1245 posts not have a solid personal opinion about this question?

Not everyone geeks out on this sort of detail. Not everyone runs into an op who dispenses advice of this sort.

 

[runsongas]

i soak my din 1st stages with solid caps, but not yoke 1st stages

i don't trust yoke caps to seal completely

 

[frndrfoe]

what if you stick an o-ring in the yoke cap?

 

[KeithG]

agree with the above about lost of different opinions and stupid ideas.

We are vacation divers. All of our dives are salt water. On liveaboards our gears gets sprayed every day (no soak for the whole week). Landbased we splash rinse our gear every dive.

Regardless, our gear does a long soak in the bathtub once we get home. Everything. Our first stages have a water proof "dust cap". Sometimes they soak way too long (a few days?) ...

My reg was purchased in 1989. Still works fine...

 

[buddhasummer]

Soak your regulator!

 

[halocline]

i soak my din 1st stages with solid caps, but not yoke 1st stages

i don't trust yoke caps to seal completely

All you have to do to test your cap is install it and suck on a 2nd stage. No air? No leak at the cap. If you can pull some air, you can investigate further to see if the leak is at the cap (very unlikely IMO) or somewhere in the 2nd stage (much more likely) or in a seat-saver, like with atomic 2nd stages. A good easy way to start this investigation is to put the reg on a tank, leave the valve closed, suck again. Still get air? It's not the cap. No air? Replace the cap with one that doesn't leak.

It's a little frustrating to read over and over and over and over and over how dust caps don't seal, when the vast majority of them do seal just fine. Even so, a tiny bit of fresh water seeping in around the filter is not nearly as damaging to a regulator as salt water drying in the threads, ambient chamber, and elsewhere.