Whats the best way to clean my regs after a dive?

[ScubaScotty561]

So i have a two year old titan lx & legend octo. Just got it back from servicing for the second time and the tech said it was in fair condition with corrosion on the inside. I think it should be in better condition for a 2 year old reg so hows the best way to clean it after a dive. I usually rinse off the reg with a hose and wipe it down with a wash cloth and purge it. I heard some people hold the purge down when its not connected to a tank and shove a hose up the 2nd stage. Is this good? Its an acd so i dont know if it would be good or bad. But what should i do to take better care of it. Also just wondering, during the servicing, does the tech clean the corrosion from the inside? Thank you!

 

[Herb-alaska]

So i have a two year old titan lx & legend octo. Just got it back from servicing for the second time and the tech said it was in fair condition with corrosion on the inside. I think it should be in better condition for a 2 year old reg so hows the best way to clean it after a dive. I usually rinse off the reg with a hose and wipe it down with a wash cloth and purge it. I heard some people hold the purge down when its not connected to a tank and shove a hose up the 2nd stage. Is this good? Its an acd so i dont know if it would be good or bad. But what should i do to take better care of it. Also just wondering, during the servicing, does the tech clean the corrosion from the inside? Thank you!

you need to rinse the inside of the regulator to get any salt out of it. The way that I do this is a fill up a tub or even my bath tub in a hotel if need be attach my reg to my pony bottle (just because it is smaller and easier to work with ) and soak it for a couple of hours in warm water. i then will purge each reg under water a couple of time and then lay it out to dry making sure that the mouth piece is pointed down so that the water can flow out of it. No need to keep it pressurized while it drys.

it sounds like what you are dong is only surface rinsing and allowing salt water to dry int eh inside of the regulator

 

[ScubaScotty561]

so i shouldnt push the purge down when its not attached to a tank and let hose water go into the 2nd stage?

 

[redacted]

"Corrosion on the inside" WHERE??? There are parts of a regulator that should never get wet. There are other parts of a regulator that will always get wet. The treatment of the problem depends on where that corrosion was found.

 

[ScubaScotty561]

I dont know where the corrosion was. They didnt tell me but i did get all the o-rings and everything they changed back and a few really big ones and medium sized ones have salt on it. I dont know if that helps or not.

 

[Couv]

IMHO the best way to clean a regulator after a dive is to rinse it well. But after a dive trip and prior to storing it, soak it overnight then purge air through it until it is dry.

See this poll for differing opinions. http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/426978-how-do-you-clean-regs-after-saltwater-dive.html

 

[Herb-alaska]

so i shouldnt push the purge down when its not attached to a tank and let hose water go into the 2nd stage?

Different regs have different requirements about this. However my position is safe is better than sorry. No Touch the purge unless you have air. I also prefer not to soak my regs unless I have air however as long as the first stage cap on this is less of an issue.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

Ideally, you'd have the reg attached to a tank, put them both under fresh water, and purge the reg for a little while. That's not always possible or convenient.

I normally just make sure the dust cap is on well and soak the reg under fresh water for 30 minutes to an hour. I've heard from multiple sources not to purge a reg underwater when it's not attached to an air source, so I wouldn't do that.

 

[redacted]

You really need to understand where the corrosion is to know what your have to do to mitigate it. Some corrosion is avoided entirely by the diver's maintenance procedures after dives and after dive trips. Other corrosion is effected by the service tech and others by the gas provider. Service tech need to provide dry air and use fill practices that keep water out of your first stage. Service techs need to lubricates certain unprotected threaded connection to reduce their risk of corrosion. So, you may need to do a better job cleaning your regulator, or you may need to find other sources of gas, or you may need to find a better service tech.