How do you clean regs after a (saltwater) dive?

[Cave Diver]

This poll is a curiosity after some of the comments in this thread: http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/426942-regulators-hard-water.html

I'm more interested in responses from dives made in salt, or less somewhat less than fresh water, but all replies are welcome. Please indicate the type of water you dive in along with your response.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Any gear I use for saltwater diving I have done the same way. I do not use the rinse tanks on the dock. I take my regs into the shower in the room with me. At home I use the hose to thoroughly rinse them. If for any reason I can't do them the same day when diving locally I will put them on a small tank and soak them for 30 minutes or so then rinse with the hose. On saltwater trips the day before the flight home is a non diving day. So in addition to showering with them the day before I take the seconds apart and rinse under running water in the bathroom sink and let them air dry in the room. Then once dry they get reassembled before being packed. At home they hang up to dry with the seconds down. And once they are dry I'll exhale through them just to be sure the exhaust diaphragms are clear and not sticking for any reason.

 

[TSandM]

We have a 100 gallon stock tank (bought because it JUST fits two scooters). Gear gets brought home, and if it's early enough, it gets unloaded, rinsed with a hose, and then put to soak in the tub (water gets added each time -- it doesn't sit). It gets taken out later that day or the next morning, depending on the time it went in. Occasionally, we get home so late that we don't unpack gear until the next morning. Everything sits in Stanley trunks overnight, and nothing dries.

 

[Ste Wart]

I went for 'other'.

It really depends on how much I am diving and what type of diving.

Daily Rec will get a dunk and shake; but I may put this off if I know we are going out early and it doesn't get dry.
Daily Tec, kit stays assembled and blasted with a hose
Infrequent diving (2 -3 times a week) gets a soak.
Inactivity gets a service, simply because I'm bored and really want to dive so playing with kit is the next best thing

 

[Wookie]

Rinse? They live on the dive deck 9 months out of the year and they never ever ever get rinsed, unless I'm traveling to another destination. Yes, I still go on dive vacations. They are titanium and monel, the cylinders get thrown away at hydro time, the wings get replaced every couple of years, but if they are still in good shape, they get rinsed and dried and stored. Harnesses are renewed every 5 years or so, or hen the webbing starts to rip in the d-rings. No one's gear gets treated worse than mine.....

 

[Orlando Eric]

Wookie-- I say you win on that one! I soak mine in bathroom number 2 which is a dedicated scuba tub with a Walmart rack for drying. I put a small capful of generic pinesol in the water. The regs I soak in the sink with a splash of vinegar to the water. In the Wing bladder I take off the rear dump and rinse it with a hose. Then add a splash of generic mouthwash then rinse again.

 

[djtimmy77]

All of our diving is saltwater.

The regs get soaked when we get home in a cooler full of fresh water. masks, computers, cutting tools, reels, etc all go in there as well. Usually let them sit an hour or so. drain the cooler, take out the gear and let it dry on a towel overnight before putting the gear away.

 

[Wookie]

I do rinse my Shearwater, however, ever since the buttons showed spot rust. The water on the Spree is homemade, making it extremely soft. We do not put dock water in the potable tanks. We can't stand the corrosion it causes to the aluminum.

 

[dmoore19]

Everything gets rinsed in the tank after returned from the boat and with a hose if it is available there. Then hung to dry. My diving is at travel locations so there is usually a locker. I rinse it all in the tub or shower after the last dive of the trip, and then hung to dry for the trip home.

Once I get home, I soak it overnight in the tub usually with a cleaner added. The air here in Denver is generally pretty dry with relative humidity in the <20% range so it doesn't take long for it to dry.

 

[D_B]

Saltwater diving
Fill bathtub with warm (hard) water when I get home , put in a dribble of dish soap , put in regs ... have something to eat , then come back and rinse them out, and put in BC , fill with water, inflated, dumped, several times .. then all the other gear.
.. Forgot the drag all gear upstairs when you get home part ... gotta love living in an upstairs apartment with no outside hose available
I have also done the leave in stanley box overnight thing but not regs, only for the all the other gear .. it stays wet, not worried too much