Soak your regulator!

[mockney]

I want to keep my kit in the best possible condition, I was advised that good/correct maintenance for my regs was to rinse in warm water after a dive in salt water which is exactly what I have been doing.

I have never left mine to soak in fresh water for any period of time.

Are we saying that soaking regs for up to and over an hour is in fact the best practise method and there is no negative impact in following this cleaning routine?.

 

[chillyinCanada]

I always soak my regs(all gear) in warm water after a trip. I do leave it in overnight and longer if possible with a water change. Even so, my gear still has salt build up here and there.

 

[buddhasummer]

I want to keep my kit in the best possible condition, I was advised that good/correct maintenance for my regs was to rinse in warm water after a dive in salt water which is exactly what I have been doing.

I have never left mine to soak in fresh water for any period of time.

Are we saying that soaking regs for up to and over an hour is in fact the best practise method and there is no negative impact in following this cleaning routine?.

Yes, well that's what I suggest anyway. A rinse does not get into the threads etc which is where the salt causes most damage. Rinsing alone is kinda like smoking, looks ok on the visible outside but the inside is a completely different story. Ideally a rinse straight after the dive and then an overnight soak IMO is best practice.

 

[mockney]

ok thanks for the advice, I will start to follow this approach and give my regs a good soak after each dive. I guess I will then need to consider soaking my BCD, I use the Air2 instead of a separate occy so that would also need to soak.

 

[halocline]

They're Atomics (B2 primary, Z2 octo) so I'm fairly certain they do. I've been following the "always keep the 1st stage elevated when dunking the 2nd stage" rule out of an abundance of caution but it sounds like that's actually a requirement in my case.

Yes, you would need to soak your regulators while pressurized. This is a great use for a pony tank, if you have access to one. You could try soaking them with the first stage elevated, and then blow some air through them after they're soaked.

 

[admikar]

My routine is to rinse after a dive, and soak after a dive trip. I hook it up on a tank, dunk everything in a tub for 6-8 hours, while leaving a small trickle from a hose, pointed at 2nd stages, to help extract any salt.

 

[fmerkel]

I use the Air2 instead of a separate occy so that would also need to soak.

Those present a particular problem. You will get straight salt water in your BC. External rinsing, while worth doing is of minimal value to the reg. When drying the hose generally hangs down. Accumulated salt water in the corrugated hose works down and sits in the reg.....where it dries and does it's dirty work....inside where the important parts are.

You need to rinse the inside of your BC well, purge the hose and reg well, then try to have the reg and hose UP, while things dry out so any residual salty water drains away from it.

After a major vacation I'd probably pull it off and soak it in warm water for a long time. Then hook it up and blow everything out. Don't put it back on until the BC is completely dry.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

I have been using air 2 for 20yrs. You don't need to do all of that. Rinse the BC out well and soak it with regs. All the rest mentioned above is overkill

 

[fmerkel]

I have been using air 2 for 20yrs. You don't need to do all of that. Rinse the BC out well and soak it with regs. All the rest mentioned above is overkill

What's hard about rinsing it out and trying to dry with the reg and hose up?

FWIW I (did) overhaul my own (I've passed it on to someone that uses them). It does accumulate whatever is in the hose if the hose hangs down and the parts are subject to whatever they are 'bathing in'. Rinse it out really well > no problem. Doesn't seem like interior BC rinsing is a high priority for some people.

The removal and serious soak are only after a dive trip where good rinsing and other care get compromised. I certainly would not do that every dive.