water in first stage ???

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BartBe

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Hi all,

Little question ?... The other day when I was having my pool training we did some exercices. For one of the exercices a tank was on the bottom of the pool with just a regulator attached
(This was My own personal regulator).

At the end of the exercice one guy from our club tought it would be funny to try and breathe straight from the tank ??? And he had the bright idear to detache the first stage from the bottle with the bottle laying on the bottom of the pool !

In all the maintenance manuals and also in the coursebooks they tell you to keep water from entering your first stage. ( Explains the protection cap...). My regulator is an MK25/S600 (scubapro) combination and if I understood the explanations correctly the valve on this one opens more with less pressure ?

What are the concequences, what should i do, what's the risk for my gear ????

As my stuff came out of the water I hooked it back up straight away and purged both regulators (second and octo) to get the air flowing trough. As i got home i layed it a bit warm to dry (with the cap open).

Any advice... ???
 
and send the bill to the bozo that flooded it.

If somebody wants to do drills like that they should be doing them with their own gear.
 
The pool water will likely not damage anything inside your reg, take a look inside the cone (inlet filter) and make sure it did not disintigrate when you hooked up to the tanks afterword.

On the MK-25, it is more than likely that any water that got inside your reg was forced into the high pressure hose / gauge when you turned on the air after the immersion...

I would pop the hose off and let it hang upside down for a while to try and make sure no moisture is remaining inside.

I agree with pipedope about getting the reg serviced at the idiots expense especially if you notice any malfunction or if the reg is nearing it's annual cycle...


"At the end of the exercice one guy from our club tought it would be funny to try and breathe straight from the tank ??? And he had the bright idear to detache the first stage from the bottle with the bottle laying on the bottom of the pool !"

Yeah I can see were that training would be well worth the risk involved :whack:


Jeff Lane
 
Unless it was salt water it's probably OK. Flooding the first stage is a relatively common occurence as people sometimes forget to replace the dust cap when soaking the regulator.

Next time it floods, disconnect the HP hose and blow the water out that side first before connecting it again and purging the second stages. Now if it's salt water, it's a totally different story..
Actually, I've had no problems with my old regulator for 10 years, although it was flooded a few times (usually due to careless friends) during that period and for some cases I was lazy and just purged the second stages and BC hose.
 
PROBABLY won't hurt it.

But still.... I don't like the idea of getting water into the HP area of a first stage. It won't all come out of there immediately, even if purged forcefully. And it really ought to.

I'd run a LOT of gas through that reg to make sure its dry inside, and I'd also pull off the SPG and make sure that gets attention. Water in the SPG mechanism isn't good, even if its fresh water.

Quite frankly, I'd want the clown who did this to pay for an annual on the reg. If I inadvertantly get water in one of mine I tear it down - that's the right thing to do, although its probably not such a big deal in the pool as it is in salt water.
 
I'd get it serviced. Water isn't supposed to go in there. It's not the kind of equipment that you want take chances with. It's kind of vital.
 
BartBe once bubbled...
Hi all,

Little question ?... The other day when I was having my pool training we did some exercices. For one of the exercices a tank was on the bottom of the pool with just a regulator attached
(This was My own personal regulator).

<snip>

Bart,

Purge it for a minute or 2 to get the water out and then get it serviced and make the idiot pay. Chlorine will eat rubber faster than salt. You don't want pool water in your reg.

R..
 
As most have stated here it should be OK since it was fresh pool water.

Chlorine is mildly corrosive to metal and tough on fabrics, although it doesn't really bother rubber too much. If it did attack rubber all your hoses and diaphram etc would be toast pretty quickly and that isn't the case.

If you have reg service due soon anyway, consider doing it now just to be sure.

I have had students do similiar things with rental equipment including removing the dust cap and rinsing everything while in the shower (drives me nuts) . When this happened I took it back to the shop and opened up the first stage to check it and found very little water in it, dried it out and re-lubricated the o-rings as needed. (total time 10 minutes)

The blow out suggestion from paulwlee was excellent espercially if caught early and his suggestion of removing the HP is a good one to help prevent blowing any water up the HP hose into the SPG.

Why not call your LDS and explain what happened. I am sure they would be happy to crack it open while you wait and give it a quick look over at no charge (I know I would).:) and then tell you what they have found.

If they do charge you for the inspection perhaps the offender could be given that bill.

Brian
 

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