Cleaning Gear After Dive Advice

[RickJames]

So I had my octo overhauled to change the diaphrams, o-rings, etc. this last week and picked it up today. The guy at the dive shop asks me " Do you blow out your regulator/octo with air?" I said Yes, as I was taught to do when I got my certification. He said that is wrong becuase it blows gunk back into it. Was anyone else taught this or aware of it? He said just wipe everything down with a towel, that's it. I always rinse in fresh water and hung to dry. Any suggestions? How do you clean your octopuss and console equipment after diving? Thanks for your input. I will go with the most popular answer.

 

[fisherdvm]

I've heard of blowing off the little bit of water from the tank valve before you mount your reg on. But never heard of "blowing out the reg" with the air from the tank.

When you say "rinse it out in fresh water", do you mean the dunk tank at the dive shop?? It actually isn't "fresh water". It is a dilute solution of salt water, urine, mould and bacteria.

It basically just dilute the salt off your gears, until you get home, and dunk it in the tub for a real fresh water rinse. You will find that your zippered gears will get all crudded up, and your zippers no longer work if you just rinse in the dunk tank. Remember that some regs (atomics) can not be dunked in water, unless connected to a pressurized tank, and with the regs pressurized.

You can never use too much rinsing of your dive gears.

 

[RickJames]

So after a dive just you just disconnect from the tank and put on your dust cap? Yes I mean I rinse in fresh water. I actually use water from my reverse osmosis tank to rinse my octo with.

 

[diver 85]

not the 2nd stages--nor the 1st stages for that matter.........all I've ever done since '85 is upon returning home find a bathtub in the house & claim it for about 48 hrs ie fill it up with fresh water, soak equipment for about 6-8 hrs, dump that water, refill & let everything soak for about another 18 hours...Dump that water & let everything dry for about another 24 hrs--hang wet stuff like BCs up to finish drying.....

 

[24940]

Blow off the dust cap after a dive, not the reg. The idea is to remove any moisture from the dust cap. The reg should be dry inside when removed from the tank and needs to stay that way. I've never blown out any part of my regs after rinsing.

I may be an exception, but I spend less than 5 minutes rinsing the regs and never soak. If they make it out of the truck, that is.

 

[Ed Hatfield]

I rinse regs and wetsuit in fresh water, the laundry tub, when I get home after a salt water dive trip. While away I will use the shower at the resort. I rinse the inside bladder of my BCD with a mild soapy solution (usually the Palmolive dish washing stuff my wife leaves by the sink). If it was a freshwater dive I rinse the regs in the laundry tub but usually don't bother with the suits unless they stink or are covered with crud. I don't usually rinse the inside of the BCD until the end of the local freshwater dive season. I get the regs serviced each year without fail and haven't had a problem. The one problem I did have was with the BCD. It is a Mares with an Airtrim system so the oral inflator is a separate tube that coils in the jacket above one of the pockets. The oral inflator valve pitted and rusted because I wasn't putting the rinsing solution through the tube after returning home from trips south (salt water dives). I do not force air into any piece of my gear just because my LDS people told me not to. He's an old timer who has 40 years plus experience so I have to trust he knows what he's talking about.

 

[RickJames]

Sounds good! Thanks for all the advice. Maybe I took it all wrong when I got qualified in (1991) I was a jr. diver. He probably said just blow off the dust cap. Bad Habit maybe I started on my own. Good to know.

 

[The_DivePirate]

Blow off the dust cap after a dive, not the reg. The idea is to remove any moisture from the dust cap. The reg should be dry inside when removed from the tank and needs to stay that way. I've never blown out any part of my regs after rinsing.

I may be an exception, but I spend less than 5 minutes rinsing the regs and never soak. If they make it out of the truck, that is.

I hate too say it, but this is my style of rinsing. I try too take a shower in my drysuit, (the place I stay, where I dive often, has an outside shower) I push the valve buttons a few times and wash the seals well.
With regards to my regulators and BCD, the couple dunks/drip dry and once again, is a daily regiment, and a rinse inside the BCD with a hose thru the inflator/deflator valve at the end of the trip. When I get home, I open the case to my mask, remove the inflator hose from the BCD too dry, put my other accessories on a rack of shelves too dry. Usually a couple of days is all it takes for drying. After that, I put all my gear back in its large duffle bag for storage. With the drysuit, I hang it inside the shower for a couple of days too dry completely, and store it in the bag that came with it.
Looks basically new, short of the nylon tags are a little frayed. (working on 400 dives)

 

[Blackwood]

I generally start by hosing down my tanks/regs (while attached and charged). Then I remove the regs, put on the DIN cap dunk and them in a bin with water and mild soap. Then I spray them off, remove the second stage covers and make sure there's no sand/grit on the diaphragms. I hang them up, and move on to the rest.

Everything gets similar treatment. Pre-rinse; soak; post-rinse; hang.

Finally, I lay my drysuit out in the truck bed and spray it down. If I got rolled on exit I'll take extra time to rinse out the pockets, and I always give some attention to the seals.

It takes me about an hour to break down and clean my gear, and I do it if I'm going to be out of the water for a week. If not, I just keep it packed up and switch tanks as needed.

 

[TSandM]

I blow off the dust cap, close up the reg, and take it home, where it gets thrown in the bathtub and soaked for a few hours. That is assuming I'm not diving the next day, in which case it may not make it out of the car.