Gear cleaning

[burnsfamily382]

hi everyone,

i am trying to get my newly certified kids in good diving habits and this is having the added benefit of forcing me to re-evaluate my own dive habits.

we do mainly warm water dives in shorts/shortie wet suits, in both fresh and salt water. other than rinsing out our gear in fresh water are there any other gear cleaning habits that more experienced divers use to prolong the life of their gear and improve its performance/reliability?

thanks in advance

Joe

 

[rstofer]

Rinsing everything in fresh water, like in a bathtub, is a good idea. It is probably a better idea to keep electronic gadgets in the water a lot longer. There are some cleaning compounds that are appropriate for wetsuits and the like. Make sure you drain and rinse all the water from the BCD. Let everything dry completely before storing it away.

But prolonging the life of equipment means you won't have a reason to upgrade. Bummer...

Richard

 

[don Francisco]

Thorough rinsing after each dive or at the end of the day is a good place to start. Extra attention to cleaning should be given periodically.

I flush my BC bladders and inflator assemblies with fresh water after each trip & if not diving soon wash them with detergent and give them an extra long soak in the tub before storage.

I wash wetsuits with mild detergent once a week or so, whether I'm still diving or not. You might prefer a "no-stink" type product, but I have good luck with lemon scented detergents.

I take a toothbrush to the first reg. stage body where the hoses attached to make sure no salt accumulates in these crevices, also pulling the hose boots back so the connectors get rinsed well. My gauges are in a rubber console so I slide them free and flush the salt out from behind them. Afterwards they're stored coiled neatly on a shelf.

Everything else is re-rinsed or washed to be as free of residual salt as I can get it, inspected for damage and stored carefully, ready for use.

One thing I've learned to do is to inspect and service all my equipment after dive trips, so they're ready to use and eliminating surprises and the mad scramble to get stuff serviced before a trip.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

... But prolonging the life of equipment means you won't have a reason to upgrade. Bummer...

Richard

Dang it! I'm stopping all rinsing of dive gear immediately!!

Seriously, I try to give my gear a quick fresh water rinse immediately after the dive before it can dry (when water is available that is), then a LONG soak (for several hours) when I get home in the evening.

Teaching the kids to take good care of the gear is a great thing by the way, we do that with our "little divers" too.

Safe Diving!

 

[spectrum]

This is what works for us.
SCUBA Knowtes, Showing Your Gear Some Love

Pete

 

[Scuba-Stu]

I would also suggest, that to get your kids involved, get a lot of cleaning 'stuff'. Simply rinsing the stuff with a hose is boring, get buckets to dump stuff in, nozels to shower stuff, sponges to sponge. Stuff might help keep them more engaged.

 

[robint]

also, be sure to store gear in a climate-controlled and bug-free environment. The garage is bad, car fumes are bad, hot and cold are bad, sunlight is bad.... all age the neoprene and straps and bladders and .... you get the idea.

I am a big fan of the "sink the stink" and "mirazyme" cleaning products for gear. They are not as harsh as detergent and have enzymes which eat the bacteria that cause the odors.

Booties are one thing I recommend people replace after 1-2 years or 100 dives, whichever comes first. They just seem to stay wet longer and on trips never dry out properly. No matter how much soaking, they tend to get funky. :shocked2: My husband had a favorite pair that he used for 3-4 years and oh, man! I finally convinced him to throw them away on a dive trip instead of packing them with the other gear for that long flight home!!!

Just my 2 cents.
robin

 

[bigken462]

I use a large 100 gallon hard plastic cattle feeding tub. Of course I don't fill it up all the way, but its large enough to take all the gear at once so that they can soak an hour or so in sink the stink. Big enough for tanks, scooters, dry suits etc and not be flimsy. Your kids likewise may enjoy a dunking, and you may enjoy the sink the stink. Lol. The trick with odor is to find a good place to allow all your gear to dry before packing up. I buy free breeze 2-3 at a time and give everything a good soaking after most of the water drips away. If you have a confined area that you have to store the gear in such as a closet, again be sure to ensure that the gear is 100% dry. Saves your gear, saves your nose!

Ken

 

[Dapher]

One of the most important parts of cleaning your gear is organization. Set your area up so that it is easy to use and everything has a place. Purchase hangers, etc for gear storage. When I first started diving it seemed like alot of work for a 30min dive. But with a good dive room setup and organization it is not such a big task and well worth it for my 90min dives.

Try and make it fun. My family puts on the tunes and makes it a fun time and we treat it as any other part of diving. No dreaded.. ohhh.. lets go CLEAN the gear now. Attitude is everything.

 

[austriandiveress]

I was taught to cover the air hole of my first stage (sorry, I am sure there is a technical term for this!) tightly with my thumb when submerging it in fresh water after a dive, to make sure that no water gets into the system.
BC's are emptied of excess air and water, then orally inflated to dry in a "puffed up" position, so that air can get at as much of the surface area as possible.
At the end of a diving season I wash the wet suits in cold water with mild detergent; it hasnt hurt them yet and they are much less funky.. They are then hung on those big plastic hangers.