o2 cleaning reg for hygienic purposes?

[Spoon]

guys do any of you o2 clean your regs for hygienic purposes? a friend of mine does this twice a year depending on the frequency of his dives. was wondering if this is even necessary? he says that o2 cleaning will remove some bacteria that has gathered in the reg after prolonged use and exposure to the ocean and water in general.

 

[Jamdiver]

Well that's an interesting question Spoon. Yet another cool question from you lol.

Anyway I don't think I'd o2 clean my reg if I had one (will soon own one_..., as far as I know salt water is "toxic" to most fungus/bacteria, mainly due to the difference in water concentrations between animal/plant cells and salt water.

I don't see how O2 cleaning would make a reg hygienic and as soon as that reg was exposed again to normal atmospheric air/sea water it would be 'contaminated'.

Sounds like a gimmick to me frankly. But that's just my opinion.
Hey could you respond to my thread in the u/w photography forum and give me your opinions?

 

[Spoon]

Well that's an interesting question Spoon. Yet another cool question from you lol.

Anyway I don't think I'd o2 clean my reg if I had one (will soon own one_..., as far as I know salt water is "toxic" to most fungus/bacteria, mainly due to the difference in water concentrations between animal/plant cells and salt water.

I don't see how O2 cleaning would make a reg hygienic and as soon as that reg was exposed again to normal atmospheric air/sea water it would be 'contaminated'.

Sounds like a gimmick to me frankly. But that's just my opinion.
Hey could you respond to my thread in the u/w photography forum and give me your opinions?

well thats what he said, i know nothing about o2 cleaning but he kinda made sense. il check the uw section in a bit

 

[DiveTub]

You are taking the piss arnt you. that has got to be the silliest thing I have ever heard in all my years of diving.

If you are that worried about it soak your reg in a mix of betadine and water, mixed so it has the colour of weak tea, this is what we use to clean the the loop of Rebreathers, you cant even imagine the evil and nasty stuff that ends up in the lungs of the CCR.

Cheers
Chris

 

[Spoon]

You are taking the piss arnt you. that has got to be the silliest thing I have ever heard in all my years of diving.

If you are that worried about it soak your reg in a mix of betadine and water, mixed so it has the colour of weak tea, this is what we use to clean the the loop of Rebreathers, you cant even imagine the evil and nasty stuff that ends up in the lungs of the CCR.

Cheers
Chris

well some folks arent as informed as the previous posters thats why i decided to post. as i mentioned i know nothing of o2 cleaning. at least i know better now

 

[ericrd]

well some folks arent as informed as the previous posters thats why i decided to post. as i mentioned i know nothing of o2 cleaning. at least i know better now

main difference between o2 and non-o2 cleaning is that the cleaning agent is o2 compatible in case there are some traces left, the o-rings are specific (viton/epdm), and the grease must be o2 compatible (though scubapro for instance requires the o2 compatible grease to be used, o2 clean or not).

doesnt do a difference in terms of bacteria... but if your friend is so knowledgeable, ask him specifically why... i doubt he comes with a precise answer (quoting product names that work better, etc...)

eric

 

[Scuba_18]

O2 cleaning won't kill the bacteria, unless O3 is used which is a great oxidizing agent and kills bacteria very easily. If it is a water borne bacteria especially salt water(halobacteria) fresh water rinse followed by drying the regs should result in the bacteria dying. Pathogens(illness causing) bacteria will only hurt you if the conditions in the regs are very similar to your body so that it can survive in your body. A salt water based bacteria will not hurt you, you are not salt water.

 

[Spoon]

thanks guys learned another thing today!

 

[halocline]

A salt water based bacteria will not hurt you, you are not salt water.

If I remember, there's a lot of chemical similarity between human blood (well, plasma)and sea water. This, of course, has nothing to do with the topic of this thread
but it struck me when I read your post.

Most water borne parasites, pathogens, microbes, etc, are extremely sensitive to changes in salinity, so a fresh water rinse will definitely knock 'em out.

 

[Puffer Fish]

If I remember, there's a lot of chemical similarity between human blood (well, plasma)and sea water. This, of course, has nothing to do with the topic of this thread
but it struck me when I read your post.

Most water borne parasites, pathogens, microbes, etc, are extremely sensitive to changes in salinity, so a fresh water rinse will definitely knock 'em out.

Using O2 to disinfect, would be remarkably uneffective - mostly because it is a gas and many pathogens have protection against that (in how the colonies form - you would just kill the outside layer).

Interesting point you made - I'm not aware of any saltwater bacteria that infect humans, which means that killing them may actually be bad (in general, most micro microorganisms spend most of their energy killing each other) . On the other hand, there are lots and lots of known fresh water guys that do really ugly things - and our body is not anything like fresh water.

Fresh water is not a disenfectant, but it does stop corrosion. Somehow these two different issues get lumped into one.

Note: If saltwater was such a great bacteria killer, we would be using it in hospitals

Sydney Diver had it right.