Salt buildup on BCD/Reg. Can I use handsoap ?

Many of you might know how saline the waters in the gulf here are.

I rinse my gear down soon as we come back to port, rinse them down again once im home & leave them for about 24hours soaking in the tub before rinsing again to dry for storage.

This is my 4th dive with this BCD & it's started to show white stains when dry. The regulator hoses too are white stained.

Should I be agitating the bcd material with some kind of soft brush or cloth ? I'm reluctant to do this for fear of damaging it.

How about Soap ? Would hand soap or shampoo be ok for use on the BCD, reg, boots & golves (no risk of shrinkage/cracking/drying rubber out?)

Thanks in advance for your replies.

The lds around here use a big bucket of rinse water and some "sink the stink" in it for all gear.

I put my gear in to soak for about 5 min as soon as I get home, hang up to dry (I also fill the bcd up with water and rinse each time) so far no salt build up after 75 dives... I wonder if you're rinse water is mineral rich?

My favorite rinse meathod however is to just go diving again before things dry out

I'll be curious to see other responses. btw - I also take my 2nd stage apart and rinse it well every few dives and occassionaly I put it through the ultrasonic bath to clean it out well. (sand likes to hide under the edges of the diaphram)

Aloha, Tim

We use a little simple green in our rinse bucket. I have had my BCD for almost 2 years and don't have any build up on it. I have only dove in Hawaii and Cozumel, which are both salt water. My reg's are fine also. I lift up all the velcro parts so they can get cleaned underneath. I have over 200 dives on the BC and it is just starting to fade a little.

You must not be rinsing well enough. I give all my gear a good thorough hosing down after saltwater use and never see any salt. Just soaking won't do the trick by itself.

Our LDS uses some mild dish soap in the rinse tub (added last so as not to foam up)
I have been using shampoo , I like Pantene , lol (again, added last) also , warm water helps

DB

Yep, you need to rinse, not just soak. If you soak it and then let it dry, the salt will reform wherever it is. Once you soak it good & dissolve the salts, then take a hose & spray it down to wash the salt off of it.

Ok.....do you live on the coast? If you do, I do too, and our water is mineral rich....someone said this above...so my house uses a "water softener". A water softener has millions of little plastic ionic balls in the softener. The water runs past the plastic ionic balls, and minerals adhere to the balls to soften the water.

Catch is this: To recharge the ionic balls, a brine (saltwater) solution is used to release these ionic bonds, and the plastic balls are rinsed by a back wash (recharging them).......this leaves some salt in your freshwater system. I can't wash my car at home, because it leaves "salt circles" where the softened water dries. You can see a slight white haze on my gear as well. I rinse my harness/wings with the soft water, and don't care about the white haze or fade (faded gear looks cool ya know). The regs I clean in a jacuzzi that was filled with non softened water.....steel tanks go in there too.(remember regs should be hooked up with pressure on them as you rinse/soak them.....don't want water getting into the first stages) I Don't have any problems with the regs or tanks.

Tom

D_B:

Our LDS uses some mild dish soap in the rinse tub (added last so as not to foam up)
I have been using shampoo , I like Pantene , lol (again, added last) also , warm water helps

DB

Click to expand...

I rinse my equipment with a hose then use a tub of dish soap and then rinse again very well....

BigBirdZ28:

I rinse my gear down soon as we come back to port, rinse them down again once im home & leave them for about 24hours soaking in the tub before rinsing again to dry for storage.

This is my 4th dive with this BCD & it's started to show white stains when dry. The regulator hoses too are white stained.

Click to expand...

As others have posted, I just do a simple quick rinse and don't have any problem with salt buildup.

Is your boat ride back to port so long that your gear dries out? If so, that's the real problem.

If the gear drys while still wet with seawater, salt deposits form. Salt deposits can be amazingly hard to re-dissolve and remove. I've never had to fight that problem, but others have told me that if warm water doesn't dissolve the salt, then the addition of some vinegar to warm rinse water should do the trick.