What lubricants to use when servicing / cleaning regulators?

[websitedragon]

I'm looking to clean / service my regulators. What lubricants should I be looking to use on the o-rings etc?

Also whilst here, what can I use to clean the plastic parts of the reg? I've heard of people using mouthwash for the mouthpiece...?

Much appreciated!


p.s. I'm competent and understand I need to learn, I've seen lots of thread on this site, so please no lectures on the whole self-servicing vs "professional" servicing subject.

 

[Ed Palma]

For regulators not seeing oxygen service, you can use silicone grease. For high PPO2 applications, you'll want to use christolube.
Make sure to apply the lube sparingly. The rings should just glisten, but not have globs of grease.

For cleaning plastic parts, regular soap and water work well. I think mouthwash is overkill.

For the rest of the things, in the absence of a ultrasonic cleaner, regular white vinegar (diluted) works well.

Oh, and welcome to Scubaboard!

 

[websitedragon]

Cheers on both accounts , hopefully we've got some silicone grease lurking around somewhere, if not then I'll pop down the local DIY place tomorrow.

I'm loving this forum - tons of great advice!

 

[herman]

Welcome to the board.
I use Dow Corning 111 but I do not have a need for O2 cleaned regs (and I have easy access to it ), otherwise use christolube. Be careful with generic or unknown silicone greases, there are some that do bad things to Orings. Good old soap or dish detergent and water is fine for plastic parts and for mouth pieces I use tooth paste and a old tooth brush....taste better than soap.
For cleaning dirty metal parts I use a ultrasonic cleaner and a 50/50 mix of white vinegar and water. A small ultrasonic cleaner is well worth the cost. DO NOT use it on aluminum parts, for them it's back to the soap and water.

 

[widget]

The basics are pretty much covered above and all the materials are available at your local grocer / supermarket.

..............but if you feel like making things "interesting" - take a trip down to your local agricultural / dairy / farmers store and buy a small tub of the detergent they sell to dairy farmers to flush the pipes in their milking machines at the end of the day, its usually in a soluable crystal form, may only cost a few bucks and will last forever if you only use it to clean your regs - however my guess is, your wife / family, like mine will find countless other uses for it and you may end up using so much of it you find yourself scouting the farmers magazines for cheaper bulk sources.

Anyway, refer to the directions and mix accordingly. This is (obviously) 100 % non toxic and safe for human consumption, has a mild cleaning action, great anti-bacterial properties and is absolutely safe for all metals and plastics, rubbers etc.

Strip your regs, drop everything into this solution, leave it to sit there for a few minutes, flush / wash with clean water and you have the sweetest smelling, cleanest, bug free regs around.

 

[Old Skool Diver]

Pre ultrasonic cleaners, we used muriatic acid which I don't recommend and hated using. Then one day the Scubapro rep recommended saniflush toilet bowl cleaner . No joke, it works great to remove the corrosion. I would suggest rinsing in simple green afterwards. You will be O2 clean. I on't think an ultrasonic cleaner is worth the expense for onece or twice a year. The bowl cleaner is cheap and you can use the rest around the house.

 

[herman]

Harbor Freight has a couple of ultrasonic cleaners that are fairly inexpensive. The small one is plenty big for most regs and is $30. The next larger one is $60 and does a nice job.

 

[oxyhacker]

Cleaning and choice of lubricants is covered in most of the books on reg servicing and the manufacturers service literature, which suggests you may want to familiarize yourself a bit more with the available service literature before you dig in.

I used Christolube for all valve and regulator lubrication. Many reg manufacturers now recommend using it for 02, nitrox and air regs alike, simply because it is a better lubricant than the silicones traditionally used (which are not particularly great lubes, but were orginally adopted because they were food safe and easily available). Plus it lessens the chance of an incident should higher FO2s somehow find their way into the tank. It's expensive but one tube will last the average diver for years.

Soft and plastic parts are normally cleaned with soap and water. There's no point in using acid on them - the only reason for using acid cleaners is to remove corrosion from metal parts.

The reason for using mouthwash is because it is a readily available disinfectant, an OK idea, perhaps, for rental gear, but hardly necessary on one's own gear, and anyhow, most mouthwashes contain alcohol which can be hard on some rubbers and plastics.

I'm looking to clean / service my regulators. What lubricants should I be looking to use on the o-rings etc?

Also whilst here, what can I use to clean the plastic parts of the reg? I've heard of people using mouthwash for the mouthpiece...?

Much appreciated!


p.s. I'm competent and understand I need to learn, I've seen lots of thread on this site, so please no lectures on the whole self-servicing vs "professional" servicing subject.

 

[pescador775]

There remain a few diver apps for silicone grease. These have to do with the dielectric properties of Dow Corning and similar products. Before inserting a stainless steel screw into aluminum smear the screw with silicone, and galvanic corrosion will never proceed to the no return point at which the screw becomes frozen.