Preparing new gear

[Herpel]

Hi everyone!

I have just gotten my new and first divegear sent to me. What do I have to do to attatch the octopus to the first stage the right way? Is a monkey wrench all i need to use? I have heard that securing it with your fingers first and then tighten a little bit more with a monkey wrench, is this correct? Does this apply for the BC inflatorhose also?

If this is too complicated to do by myself I just have to get to the nearest dive center which is an hour away. But I prefer doing this by myself and learning it that way, and rather have a professional cheking it before my first dive with it.

Hopefully someone can help me out.
Thanks in advance! -Alex

[MechDiver]

Hi everyone!

I have heard that securing it with your fingers first and then tighten a little bit more with a monkey wrench, is this correct? Does this apply for the BC inflatorhose also?



Monkey wrench??

Egad

[mstudley]

My advice would be to bring your gear to a dive shop and have them set it up properly. Maybe ask if you could watch them do it so that you can perform maintenance in the future.

I always bring my stuff to the dive shop for any changes in my gear which require disconnecting/changing/etc hoses and the like.

Where a monkey wrench fits into all this is a mystery to me.

[Wendy]

I think he means a cresent wrench maybe, screw it on finger tight and then give it a little nudge with the wrench.

Best thing to do is have the dive shop show you how to do it, so you can do it on your own next time. You want to make sure you got everything coming from the right ports and not all mixed up and then you end up with a hose mess behind your head.

Also after putting on hoses and actually before every dive, you should do a bubble check to make sure no bubbles are coming from your hoses. You can do this at home by just spraying some soapy water on your 1 st stage near the ports and turn the air on, it it bubbles, you have a leak.

[Desa]

Please, do not use a monkey wrench! The jaws will destroy the soft brass. Ideally use the correct wrench for the fitting. Cresent wrench 2nd choice. But never use pliers or a monkey wrench.

I agree with the others. Take it to a LDS, let them do it, you watch. Its not complicated, but if you hook a low pressure hose to a high pressure port, things will be ugly when you crack the valve on the tank......

[Herpel]

Thanks for the heads up everyone! No monkey wrench is goint to be used! :11:

As for the ports, I now where the reg, octo, dry suit hose and the others are going. Just needed to hear about the way of attatching them. =)

But the trip to the LDS is probably for the best, can get a bit expensive if I don't.

Thanks for the replies guys and girls.

-Alex

[paulwlee]

Get a small adjustable wrench. (aka Crescent wrench)

Attaching the hose is easy, just unscrew the plug, and screw in the hose. Once it is hand tight, use the wrench to tighten it up slightly. No need to force it much, as the seal is achieved by the o-ring. The objective is to make sure that it doesn't unscrew by itself. If you start using your whole arm to do the tightening, that's too much force!

You may have to experiment a little on which ports work best for hose routing.

[Herpel]

Get a small adjustable wrench. (aka Crescent wrench)

Attaching the hose is easy, just unscrew the plug, and screw in the hose. Once it is hand tight, use the wrench to tighten it up slightly. No need to force it much, as the seal is achieved by the o-ring. The objective is to make sure that it doesn't unscrew by itself. If you start using your whole arm to do the tightening, that's too much force!

You may have to experiment a little on which ports work best for hose routing.

Ah... so I do need to use a small adjustable wrench? I live in Norway so my technical english is not very good. That was just what I was thinking about, a small adjustable wrench, don't you call that a monkey wrench? :06: Or monkey wrench is probably what you call the big wrenches that plummers use?

Anyway, I think I'll have a shot at this and just let the LDS take a look at it before my first dive with it.

[mstudley]

Hmmm... Don't you call it monkey wrench in english? :06: The tool you use to fasten nuts and bolts.

There are -lots- of tools to fasten a nut to a bolt. In this instance a monkey wrench would not be the one I would choose. Use a fixed size wrench to tighten the hose after finger tightening. Don't use a ratchet as you can easily apply too much torque and any sort of textured face on an adjustable wrench will mess up the nut.



If you don't understand me, just tell me how you guys do it, please. As I said, I would rather learn by doing than looking. But I understand it's best to take everything to a diveshop to set it up.

I understand what you are saying. I do it by bringing my gear to a dive shop. In this case, learning by doing can kill you or blow up your gear. Do what you like but those are my thoughts.

[Seabear70]

How do you attach them?

Very Carefully.

You bought a dry suit for your first exposure suit???

Talk about jumping in with both feet. Anyone else ever seen one blow out?

[Herpel]

How do you attach them?

Very Carefully.

You bought a dry suit for your first exposure suit???

Talk about jumping in with both feet. Anyone else ever seen one blow out?

I have dived in Norway with dry suit for 2 years, in Trondheim where I studied you got a boat trip every tuesday and sunday with all equipment for 150,- NOK that's about $20. And as a student I could'nt afford to buy me my own dry suit. But now I work full time and have at last saved enough to buy my own gear. Diving without dry suit up north in Norway is like lying on the north pole tanning yourself.... ;)

[awap]

That was just what I was thinking about, a small adjustable wrench, don't you call that a monkey wrench? .

Well, according to my dictionary, monkey wrench seems to be a correct term. But most call it an adjustable or crescent wrench. I thought a monkey wrench was a pipe wrench which has teeth that grab a pipe and would likely damage a nut.

A trip to the dive shop is probably a good idea as you will also need a little lubricant for those o-ring before you install them.

[Seabear70]

I have dived in Norway with dry suit for 2 years, in Trondheim where I studied you got a boat trip every tuesday and sunday with all equipment for 150,- NOK that's about $20. And as a student I could'nt afford to buy me my own dry suit. But now I work full time and have at last saved enough to buy my own gear. Diving without dry suit up north in Norway is like lying on the north pole tanning yourself.... ;)

Ok, I just had nightmares of a novice diver suddenly turning into a marker bouy.

You've been divingthat long nd no one's shown you how to swap out a regulator?

[Herpel]

You've been divingthat long nd no one's shown you how to swap out a regulator?

The shop we dived with did all the service on the equipment themselves, we just helped out with with the rinsing, drying and storing. The equipment was always shiny and bright when we came in for the divetrips, so there was never need of replacing anything. A pity I never gotten the chance to help out and learn about that, but now is the time when I have my own gear to look after. :)