Water in SPG

[tmassey]

I just got back from a trip and I now have *2* gauges with water in them. They’re both 2” gauges: one a HOG and one a DGX. I think they’re both made in Italy, so likely the same (rebranded) gauges.

So, if I want to replace these with something less likely to break, what do I buy? I like the compactness of the 2”, but if they’re more likely to fail then I guess I could go with the 2.5” ones. Is there some sort of maintenance that I can do to improve the results I’m getting?

 

[Endler's]

Is there some sort of maintenance that I can do to improve the results I’m getting?

Do NOT soak your regulators unpressurized. Red Sullivan explains why @7:34 here:

S3:E02 | Scuba Gear Technician talks dive equipment, how to take care of it, & work bench horror

If you can't soak your regulators pressurized, then rinse them only.

 

[tmassey]

I haven’t watched the video but I’m not sure how pressurizing the air path will affect water under the glass. The water in the gauge body isn’t entering from the air path — if it could, then air could get out, and there’s no bubbles.

But either way, these regulators are never soaked. You know, except when I’m using them.

 

[Tracy]

I just got back from a trip and I now have *2* gauges with water in them. They’re both 2” gauges: one a HOG and one a DGX. I think they’re both made in Italy, so likely the same (rebranded) gauges.

So, if I want to replace these with something less likely to break, what do I buy? I like the compactness of the 2”, but if they’re more likely to fail then I guess I could go with the 2.5” ones. Is there some sort of maintenance that I can do to improve the results I’m getting?

You know me, I only use the finest quality equipment. I have great luck using plastic SPGs removed from 1980s consoles. Once they get some saltwater inside, the needle starts rusting like this one. But even with the rust, It is still one of my go to stage regs for many years now. The upside to them, they are free.

 

[Endler's]

I haven’t watched the video but I’m not sure how pressurizing the air path will affect water under the glass.

Red points out that the o-rings on the SPG spool (and also the second stage swivel), only seal when the regulator system is pressurized. When the regulator is soaked unpressurized, water enters at those two connections.

Watch the whole video, it is worth your time. (There is a second, equally entertaining interview with Red.)

 

[tmassey]

Red points out that the o-rings on the SPG spool (and also the second stage swivel), only seal when the regulator system is pressurized. When the regulator is soaked unpressurized, water enters at those two connections.

Which to my understanding would be relevant if I were asking about water inside my first stage. But I can’t figure out how that is relevant for how water got inside the face of my SPG. Your point is valid and accurate, but as far as I can tell not related to my question.

The only reason I’m replying and not simply skipping what seems to me to be an accurate but unrelated answer (you know, a typical ScubaBoard reply… ) is that I’m not 100% certain that the only reason you can get water in the gauge face is because of a case failure, and *not* a failure somewhere else.

Intuitively, that seems like it would be true. If there was a way for water to get into the gauge from the air pathway, there would be a way for *gas* to get into the gauge as well, which would at the very least bubble out, if not forcibly detach things like the glass face!

You mention pressurized versus unpressurized. That is a way where water could get into the gas pathway where it normally couldn’t, but I still don’t see how that gets water into the gauge face.

I mean, in my mind, you should be able to take an SPG completely disconnected from its hose down to 100 feet and not get water in the gauge face. You would certainly get water in the tube, but even then you shouldn’t get water in the face… And if that’s the case, then loose spools or bad O-rings or anything else aren’t relevant: they certainly aren’t creating a situation worse than no hose at all…. That is, if I’m right. And I’m not certain about that: just because I can’t imagine it doesn’t make it so!

Is there a way to get water into the gauge face through the air pathway? Alternatively, can it be accurately said that the only way to get water into the gauge face is through the case, and not through the air pathway? (I’m specifically excluding a situation where there is water in the air pathway and then the air pathway fails, pushing water into the gauge, because that would immediately be followed by gas being pushed into the gauge, which is not relevant here, nor in any of the other numerous failures of water in gauges I have seen.)


I’ll try to make myself sit down and watch that YouTube video. I just hate videos for instruction. A 28 minute video that except for the clickbait “horrors!“ shown, could be condensed into a page of text information that I can read in seconds — and easily search for and refer to in the future just as quickly.

Oh well. I’m old: get off my lawn.

 

[Tanks A Lot]

Is there a way to get water into the gauge face through the air pathway?

The simple answer is no, as otherwise gas would leak through it as well. It would mean that the tube has a crack, rendering the SPG useless.

Water inside the SPG housing is always a failure of the housing. A crack in the housing, a poorly fitted vent plug, a broken O-Ring of the faceplate, etc.