Water in First Stage

[mahjong]

Now I know what to do with my 6cf tank. Good idea, Jim.

No it does not. It only keeps water, silt, mud, etc out of the first stage when it is on a tank and pressurized. The inlet is the route for air to get in. If air will get in water will get in. Oceanic and Aqualung have their own versions of technology that is supposed to keep water out in the event of an accidental dunk or splash. The key is accidental. Hit either with a hose directly and you will get water in there. Drop them in more than say 18-24 inches of water and the pressure will overcome the little spring. Leave em soak for any length of time and I would not count on no water being in there. I personally try to soak regs only if on a tank. I have 6 & 19 cu ft bottles at home for this. If traveling I make sure the dust cap is on if not on a tank and do not use the rinse tank. I take to the room and they get rinsed in the shower with me. I also do not like using a tank to dry the dust cap. It is the way I was taught but if you get lazy you can end up blowing water in the first stage. At least with yoke regs that have the cap fastened to them. Plus it's really annoying. With DIN regs no big deal.since the caps never get wet. I use a towel or my shirt to dry the dust cap.before installing in.
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[Six2Life]

All the above is for clean, fresh water. If you introduce salt water or communal rinse tank water, I would suggest a rebuild as soon as possible. Fresh water is not a problem, residual salt is.

In the event of seawater being ingested by the first stage would it be an option to strip off all hoses, soak thoroughly in clean tap water, and then blast the water out with air pressure? To avoid a rebuild?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

I've seen first stages that seem very dry as in no lube inside. I have a suspicion that they were flooded. I would get it rebuilt after a flood, but that's just me. When you can rebuild your own regs it makes it an easy call...

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Not what I would do. You have no real way of telling if you got all.the salt crystals out. And you may succeed in actually driving them into and embedding them into the soft parts.

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[redacted]

Another option as long as it was clean fresh water is to forget about it. The only harm clean FW is going to do is if it dissolves previously deposited salts. But blowing it out is probably the safest alternative.

 

[Kunundrum]

The DVT plugs on Oceanic and Aeris regs and whatever Aqualung calls their plugs are designed to keep the wayward splash of water from entering the reg. They are not designed to be a substitute for the dust cap. A properly installed dust cap on a yoke reg is sufficient for soaking in the rinse tank.

That might be true for the DVT from Oceanic, I can vouch that the Aqualung ACD can and will keep water out of the 1st stage when completely submerged. The OE dust cap got ripped off my main Legend and I never bothered replacing it. When I last serviced it, it was super clean inside. I will be replacing it with the new Legend's dust-cap that is slightly better design than the old one, though with the ACD on the regulator it's not a priority.

 

[Slamfire]

Today I accidentally soaked my MK10 piston first-stage in warm fresh water after a dive "without" installing the rubber yoke inlet plug. In other words, I flooded the entire first stage. What are the implications of this? Is there anything in particular I should do in response?

Do NOT listen to all this people. Your Mk10 is now a hazard to your life and should be disposed of. Send it over to me for proper disposal of such antiquated worthless regulator. It is sooo obsolete that scubapro discontinued it. And to top it all up, you have now irreparable damaged it by flooding its innards. This is life support equipment. How much is your life really worth?

:cool2:

 

[Chuckitall]

My wife has done it several times. My reg tech says that fresh water is not so bad for the 1st stage if blown out the right way and maybe have a tech have a peek inside. Saltwater is a whole different story, blow it out and still get it serviced. It can cost big money if water got into SPG.

 

[herman]

In the event of seawater being ingested by the first stage would it be an option to strip off all hoses, soak thoroughly in clean tap water, and then blast the water out with air pressure? To avoid a rebuild?

IMO that is a good "first aid" if you will but not a substitute for a though rebuild. It will remove a lot of the salt, help reduce internal corrosion and may save the life of your reg but I would do a complete rebuild as soon as possible. Fresh water is one thing, salt is a totally different matter.

 

[halocline]

Here's how I would dry out the first stage. 1) remove 2nd stages, LP hose, SPG. Plug all LP ports, leave the HP ports open. 2) Run some air through the HP ports; just pressurize the 1st stage for a few seconds, air will come screaming out the HP ports, just let the pressure bleed down until you can remove the reg. 3) Plug the HP ports, unplug the LP ports. Run some air again, although be prepared for ALOT more flow, and the 1st stage will get really cold in just a few seconds. 4) reinstall the 2nd stages, purge 'em a few times, then reinstall the LP hose and SPG and you're good to go. I'd probably change the filter, but I have several laying around and it's very easy for me to do that.

One problem is that rinse tanks are often pretty salty and/or dirty water.