What the heck happened to my bolt snap?

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Brandon

Shop Independent Diver
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I've had this (stainless) bolt snap on my primary regulator for almost two years now. I sent my reg off for service and it came back looking like this:

boltsnap.jpg

Now it wasn't gorgeous before I sent it, it had plenty of corrosion on it (the dull gray kind) and I was just about ready to cut it off and replace it. But curious what may have caused the black oxidation...

I'm thinking it was liberally soaked in a cleaning agent of some sort, and the cheap metal on the bolt snap didn't hold up to it...

Any ideas?
 
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Is that one of them Home Depot models? :D And I think your guess is as likely as any.
 
Brass is class
for freshwater dives
but in salt water
only stainless survives

That doesn't really have anything to do with your thread, but I just thought it up and wanted to share it

My guess would be the same as yours, cleaning agent
 
Not from Home Depot, but not sure exactly where I picked up that one either. I have a lot of bolt snaps... I noticed last year that some I picked up from the dive shop have not been wearing very well at all; this could be one of them.
 
Looks like the technician put your bolt snap in the ultrasonic cleaner and it also looks like it is not 100% stainless
 
That's an old diving wifes tale, pretty much all I use is brass. Rinse it with the rest of the gear and a little wd-40 in the springs once in a while and they work fine. I don't recall ever changing one due to corrosion.

As to the one in the photos that is some kind of reaction to a cleaning agent....my question is if it was attached to your hoses (guessing) why were the hoses in a cleaning agent in the first place.
 
Are you sure it wasn't nickle-plated brass? It looks like they put it in an ultrasonic cleaner with a mild acid for corrosion removal.

That is what it looks like to me. This looks like the result of being in the ultrasonic cleaner a tad too long. Depends what was in the ultrasonic cleaner and how long it was in there, temp, etc,
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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