Flooded SPG - Improper Rinsing

[Griff..]

Hello all..

I have Beuchat VR200 Evo Regulators. (DIN)

When I rinse them, due to them being din, I use my finger to cover the opening to the first stage when I dunk them in the water.
I then leave the second stages to soak with the first stage out of the water.

While washing equipment I came back to find my regulators had been knocked into the bucket, I quickly attached them to a tank, and turned the air on while purging both regulators (with the benefit of hindsight, i forgot to unattach the HP Hose and SPG)

My SPG now has water droplets all around, it has been used on a few dives since and seems to be working fine, however I am aware that it will most likely break sooner rather than later.

My questions are:

1. Can I just take my SPG apart, empty the water and it will be okay, or has the damage been done?
2. Should I just buy a new SPG?
3. Is my first stage OK?

(the first stage is my main concern at this point.

Regards,
James

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Get a new spg. don't even mess with it. Your first stage should be serviced. It may work fine now but even fresh water contains minerals and salts that can corrode the internals once they dry. Also never leave regs unattended and do not dunk them without pressurizing the first stage on a small tank. Or rinse them off with running water while they are still on your main.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk

 

[LouieLouie]

The droplets in your SPG didn't enter through the HP hose. Contrary to popular belief, there is no connection from the hose to the housing unless the bourdon tube is leaking. If so, the SPG is broken and needs to be replaced.

I've had droplets in my SPG for years. Those crappy Termo SPGs all end up leaking pretty quickly, but as long as the needle movement isn't blocked by residualt salt it doesn't matter one bit.

Check this link for some info about SPGs, particularly the last section which is concerned with flooding. The SPG in the pictures is a Termo.

http://www.divesports.com/How-Your-Submersible-Pressure-Gauge-Works-a/157.htm

 

[DevonDiver]

....but as long as the needle movement isn't blocked by residualt salt it doesn't matter one bit.

So, basically, it doesn't matter until the needle sticks and causes an out-of-air emergency.

No worries then. [facepalm​]

 

[dumpsterDiver]

The droplets in your SPG didn't enter through the HP hose. Contrary to popular belief, there is no connection from the hose to the housing unless the bourdon tube is leaking. If so, the SPG is broken and needs to be replaced.

I've had droplets in my SPG for years. Those crappy Termo SPGs all end up leaking pretty quickly, but as long as the needle movement isn't blocked by residualt salt it doesn't matter one bit.

Check this link for some info about SPGs, particularly the last section which is concerned with flooding. The SPG in the pictures is a Termo.

How a Submersible Pressure Gauge Works - DiveSports.com

BAD advice! Saltwater in the gage and on the outside of that swirly metal tube that straightens out from pressure will corrode and fail, sooner or later. (Is that too technical?)

It is really not worth diving with a pressure gage that you KNOW will probably fail pretty soon. Maybe if you only dive 20 feet and a gage failure would be nothing more than an inconvenience, but for anything else... don't be cheap..

 

[LouieLouie]

So, basically, it doesn't matter until the needle sticks and causes an out-of-air emergency.

No worries then. [facepalm​]

Sure, write garbage instead of checking how ridiculously much salt you actually need before this turns into a problem. Slightly clueless?

 

[DevonDiver]

Actually, I'm not clueless on the subject. I've worked in the dive industry for many years (20 years diving - and have been an instructor long before you even started diving) and seen such problems occur, first-hand, on many occasions.

It happened to me on one occasion, but luckily I caught the problem long before I got into the water. The SPG wouldn't drop below 140bar. THAT could cause serious problems if a diver didn't catch the fault before they descended on a dive. I maintain my equipment impeccably, but it gets a lot of use (your total dive count is about 2 months work for me) - even with great maintenance and not flooding the SPG, it still accumulated moisture/salt sufficient to cause the needle spring to degrade to the extent that it wouldn't return.

I don't regurgitate stuff that I've read online, or play silly hypothetical logic games with people, just to stroke my own ego online. I don't need to do that, my diving talks for itself....and I only talk from real-life experience.

Given your dive count, it is quite possible that you've not experienced such real-world problems - but that doesn't mean the problems don't happen, it just means you're too inexperienced to have encountered them yet. Perhaps you should get that experience, before you start insulting people who have?

 

[faster7581]

I would think any water inside the guage is bad, it was designed to be dry.Water, especially salt, is very corrosive. Not worth the risk IMO.

 

[LouieLouie]

BAD advice! Saltwater in the gage and on the outside of that swirly metal tube that straightens out from pressure will corrode and fail, sooner or later. (Is that too technical?)

It is really not worth diving with a pressure gage that you KNOW will probably fail pretty soon. Maybe if you only dive 20 feet and a gage failure would be nothing more than an inconvenience, but for anything else... don't be cheap..

Cheap? I've been through a number of Termo SPGs by now, and on average they've lasted 6.5 dives before droplets start to appear inside. Those pieces of junk are $100 a piece here, so you do the math. Anyway, they're all - well, the Termo's at least - brass and other corrosion-resistant materials, so there is absolutely no reason to claim they will fail "pretty soon". On the contrary, they're designed to handle situations like this. I change mine every few years, and they show absolutely no signs of deterioration.

Still, if my SPG should start leaking during a dive I'll shut down the left post and surface. As long as it's not leaking, I'll complete the dive as planned. The SPG should be no more than a backup anyway, you should know how much gas you have left at all times even without it. However - what will cause the SPG to fail is opening the valve to pressurize the system. It is extremely unlikely that any SPG can survive the impulse from this sudden rise in pressure but fail afterwards in a steady state during a dive.

 

[LouieLouie]

I would think any water inside the guage is bad, it was designed to be dry.Water, especially salt, is very corrosive. Not worth the risk IMO.

They're designed to work fine even when completely flooded. Salt is corrosive, but the materials used in SPGs are not prone to corrosion. Worth the risk? Depends on how risk-averse you are. The probability of a failure is vastly overrated and the consequences hardly more than an aborted dive as long as you dive profiles which reflect your training and gear.