What NOT to do... ruining your equipment

[Fish_Whisperer]

SwampDoggy!! The scene on the boat must have been hilarious!

 

[Thalassamania]

My wife has strong prescription lenses glued into her mask. After a trip in January, it apparently did not dry around the lens edges where they contact the mask silicone. Discovered a fantastic black mold crop in April when packing for a Curacao trip. Got back from there and tried to clean the now-dead mold with a toothbrush, but it didn't work well. The nooks and crannies were too small. I emailed TUSA about using bleach or hydrogen peroxide, but got impatient waiting for a reply. So, I used undiluted hydrogen peroxide that did a great job after during an hour soak. This was followed by straight bleach for an hour to be sure all mold spores were killed. Great results. Two days later, TUSA replied telling me, in effect, don't do it. So, I may have a slow disintegration disaster on my hands. Time will tell.

A 10% bleach solution is about all you ever need.

 

[mfalco]

While we are talking about ruining gear. How bout ho to not ruin gear.

If you have a little mildew on your mask, after it has sat for a few months, what is a "safe" way to clean it?

 

[The Chairman]

Read the post just above yours for the answer.

 

[TSandM]

I'll confess to my stupidity . . . Shortly after getting the LED upgrade module for my Photon Torpedo backup light, I flooded the light (you have to be VERY careful about assembling it, or the o-rings stick and deform. I didn't assemble the light before the dive where it flooded ). The light survived the flood -- sort of. It became very unreliable, and sometimes very dim. I tried cleaning the contacts with a moist cloth, and sanding the corrosion off the copper strip in the barrel, but it didn't fix the problem. So I figured if the LED module had survived flooding in salt water, I could get away with rinsing it. Wrong. $65 LED module down the drain. Boneheaded stunt, really.

 

[irishsquid]

well, we spray painted my daughter's styrofoam science project once, does that count? It disapeared before our eyes the morning it was due.

That reminds me of something not related to the thread, but; honest, this happened to me.
Was traveling for quite a few hrs. on my old rigid frame chopper. It was cold , damp, and I was feeling like crap. So I see this sign for a "Truck-Stop" and figure I can use a warm rest and a cup of rank coffee. Being from a military family, strong coffee is a cherished food group. Well, a cliche' of a waitress (Flo) brings me my coffee and after downing about half of it, I notice the coffee is starting to bead or sweat right through the cup! What the ? I now hope I was drinking some STRONG coffee an not paint.

 

[DeltaWardog]

Well, the Lock-Tight melted the plastic on the knife case and made a mess on the B/C. Who would of thought that would have happened??

You can prevent that by putting the locktite on the screw threads and allowing it to dry before screwing it back in. That's the proper (but slower so most people don't do it) method for using locktite.

Not a diver yet but I know all about locktite from working on my motorcycles.

 

[Tigerman]

Guess there is a reason why you shouldnt keep your suits on the floor, but hanging.. Mice like everything they can use for a nest, as do ants..
Mice eat just about anything as well, so if its rubber or fiber, i dont really think they care much about..
I store my gear under the workdesk tho, which seems to be working fine this far, since the mice and ants dont seem to like my company.. I need a bigger appartement with a nice spacy wardrobe tho..

 

[Scared Silly]

Wet suits hung in the closet, dry suits rolled and stored in a bag an action packer which where all the other is gear is. All in the nice cool dry basement.

 

[djanni]

Everybody acted like it was my fault..

That was funny!