That Liquid!!!

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soudan

Contributor
Scuba Instructor
Messages
200
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0
Location
Currently (Tasmania Australia), Previously (Alexan
# of dives
100 - 199
Hey every one,

I haven't been around here for quite some time now. But I am here with a question!

I am Overhauling my second and soon first stage, and I have taken it apart, and i know i am supposed to clean it with a liquid (i remember it was a blue liquid) But i don't really know what it is!!

So what i wanna know is what is that liquid and where can i get it? And if i am not able to get that liquid, what other things can i use to clean my second stage??


Thanks guys..
 
I've tried both a very mild vinegar solution and Salt-X to remove corrosion. Both work well, but I'm using Salt-X now. I just soak and keep track of time. I also use Simple Green for cleaning off regular gunk.

My regulator service experience is extremely limited - so far just cleaning off old eBay regs. But I'm sure others will chime in.

Henrik
 
Usually I scrub the parts with a nylon brush (toothbrush or similar) in a tub with dish soap first. Then put them in the ultrasonic cleaner with 1/2 vinegar 1/2 water. If you don't have an ultrasonic cleaner you can just use the water/vinegar solution. Make sure you thoroughly rinse the parts off with fresh water when done.
 
Thats what i sis USFishin,

After taking my 2nd stages apart and soaked them for about 5 minutes in a 50/50 Vineger/Water solution.

Then rinsed them quite well and soaked them in some water.

After that i put some Johnson and Johnson baby shampoo in a bucket and filled it with water and mixed them well then soaked the parts in there for about half an hour.

Then washed every thing well, then soaked it all in some watter to make sure there is no shampoo residue!!

Yes it did take too long, but i thought that was the safest thing to do with the stuff i had.

And i did use a tooth brush to clean some of the grooves!

Thanks guys for the help!
 
It's not really an exact science. Just as long as the parts come out clean and corrosion-free. I do like to wash/lightly scrub them in soapy water with dish soap first. That helps to get rid of anything greasy (or old christolube) before I soak them in the vinegar/water solution (I actually use an ultrasonic but it's not a must).
 
Yeah.. i think it ain't science... you just have to know how NOT to screw anything up :)

And i hear that a lot of folks like to use an ultrasonic cleaner, i guess it does a good job! but since i don't have one, i just have to it all manually and make sure that everything is as clean as a whistle :)

Thanks a lot for the help USFishin :wink:
 
409, simple green, vinegar, soap, ....
 
OK you pretty much have a handle on what to do. After you de-grease all the parts in the warm soapy solution (I like liquid dish soap). Then give the metal parts a 50/50 vinegar/water bath- rinse/agitate/soak the metal parts-all stuff covered before.

Here are the DO NOTs:
-do not use muriatic acid (that may sound strange, but I've seen it done)
-do not put your non-metal parts in the 50/50
-do not leave your chrome parts in an ultrasonic cleaner or 50/50 bath too long
-do not put the reg back together before the parts are thoroughly dried
-do not use a metal pick to remove seals unless it is absolutely necessary-then throw the o-ring away.

The cleaning solution you are thinking about is probably Chromesafe….I've never used it so I can't say if it's any better than 50/50.

Good luck and welcome back to the Dark Side.

Couv
 
I reccomend always starting with the soap and water wash first, and then going to the vinigar cleaning. Some soaps, shampoo and hand soap especially, have oils and will leave a film. The vinigar should remove the film with any other gunk and will rinse clean from any surface. Simple Green, most non-scented dish soap and a good detergent type cleaner will not have the additional oils.
 

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