Regulator Soaking - Mistake?

[shopguy]

Sounds like overkill compared to what everyone I know has been doing — and a lot of these guys are older with regs they have had for 20 years (and maybe serviced once or twice). They just rinse everything with a hose, maybe 15 minutes per diver.

You didn’t mention cleaning under the dust cap. If you rinse with the cap on, I’d still be sure to rinse under the cap carefully, probably with vinegar as boulderjohn does, but at least a good rub with a wet rag or something to get any salt off. Personally I rinse with cap off, but I have ACDs on my two regs.

The only build-up/gunk I’ve seen on any of the gear I’ve cleaned (mine and dive buddies), was on and around the DIN threads, where the dust cap covers. Okay, I’ve probably seen some in other places, but that was the most memorable, it was a pretty new reg, few months old.

 

[yle]

I got this warning from an Aqualung representative who was in the dive shop where I worked. He was commenting on the new cleaning tanks they had just created, and he told us not to have our students soak the regulators in them for that reason.

Did the AL rep have any specific reason for the recommendation not to soak? Or was it just his personal preference... like most of the responses on this thread?

I ask because I bought my AL regulator in 2013, it's been on hundreds of dives with me and my standard MO for a beach dive (which are around half my dives) is to bring a 5 gallon bucket half filled with water in the car. As soon as I'm out of the water and back to the car, the reg goes in the bucket (along with my computer) and soaks for the drive home. At home I give it a quick rinse and let it dry. It's never given me a problem.

 

[Sbiriguda]

Nice discussion!

 

[doctormike]

What you don't want is for salt water to dry on the internal surfaces of the second stage. That's why WHEN you do it is far more important than how long you soak for. Also, better for the reg to be pressurized when cleaning, especially if for some reason you feel that you need to soak it for hours. Otherwise it's possible for water to get up the hose where you are never going to dry it out without hooking it up to a tank and blowing it out, which you won't have in the hotel room.

Here's what I would recommend if there is a fresh water hose at the dock or on the boat. With your reg attached and pressurized, run fresh water through it (via the mouthpiece, second stage vents and exhaust ports). You don't want very high pressure (like a jet stream blast), just a good heavy flow of water. If you do this BEFORE your reg has dried on the way back to the hotel, you will easily wash away any salt. If you wait until it has dried, you can soak it for a long time but you still might not really get it clean without taking it apart. If there is no way to do this while you still have access to a tank, just do it as soon as you can and don't worry about pressurizing it - not much water will go up the hose if you do it right. You can do it in a sink as long as you get a good flush of the second stage.

Everything else just needs a quick external rinse (hoses, first stage, SPG), since there are no open spaces on any of that where water can get in. I would NOT trust a dust cover to keep water out of your first stage, that's not what it's for. I would definitely not soak a first stage capped with a dust cover for a few minutes, let alone hours. They just don't always make a reliable seal.

I also agree with John about the other stuff. Quick rinse of the outside of the BC, rinse the bladder twice with fresh water, and when draining fresh water, be sure to drain it from BOTH the dump and the power inflator. Many people forget to rinse out the power inflator, connection but salt water definitely gets inside that space, and crystals there can cause problems (like sticking open).

 

[boat sju]

remember it's called a "dust" cap.

 

[Scuba-74]

New diver here.

I signed up for a series of 5 dive trips with a local dive shop. (All dives were SALT-WATER)

After each trip, I left to go back to the hotel, however, the dive shop retained my gear (BC, Regs) and I'm assuming properly cleansed and prepared the gear for the next trip. So far, so good.

Following the final dive , I just packed up my gear and went back to the hotel. I tried to follow the best advice I found here on SB regarding the cleansing of my gear, however, it "appears" as if, at times, these opinions conflict.

Although I'm a total newbie, I have spent considerable $$$ on new gear (Ranger BC - Envoy II Regs, etc) and I just want to be able to care for my gear so that each dive is as safe as possible.

Upon returning to the hotel, here's what I did. Please advise if I've done anything I shouldn't have or if I've done something incorrectly. Thank you, in advance.

BCD
1. Placed my BC under the shower, turning frequently, for about 30 minutes.
2. Filled my bladder (25%) with fresh water and air...swooshed around...emptied upside down using deflator. Emptied dump valves and squeezed the BC tight draining as much water as possible. Set aside to dry.

REGS
Filled the tub with lukewarm water. Made sure DUST CAP was securely attached to 1st stage, and soaked the entire regulator set for about 45 minutes. I hung to dry.

NOTE: During the hanging/drying process, I removed the DUST CAP just to air out / dry out the 1st stage.

That's all I did. Am I good to go?
Thanks again for the continuing education!

The only thing you did wrong is assume that staff “properly cleansed” your gear

Then again, I didn’t know where you went, but I just never make that assumption.

My Zeagle BC has a screw on Octo Z, and my second Zeagle BC has a screw on BX inflator, which comes super handy when filling it with water.

I don’t remove the dust cap from a reg after soaking, but I try to dry it off completely before putting it on.

 

[Scuba-74]

As long as you don't have one of these, its fine to soak the whole thing.
View attachment 633723
Zeagle F8

Why wouldn’t you soak Zeagle 8?

 

[boulderjohn]

Did the AL rep have any specific reason for the recommendation not to soak? Or was it just his personal preference... like most of the responses on this thread?

If you look at the sentence of mine you quoted, you will see the answer. He did not trust dust caps to keep the water out.

 

[Belzelbub]

Why wouldn’t you soak Zeagle 8?

The F8 borrows the Atomic Seat saver where it relaxes a bit when not pressurized.

Personally, I only soak 2nd stages and Octo Zs, and only when pressurized. 1st stages (F7 & DS-V) get rinsed only. Both are environmentally sealed, so the internals stay dry. If diving in salt initial soak/rinse is done with a Salt Off solution, then rinsed with plain water. DS-V is around 17 years old and still works great. Both are serviced regularly, and techs have commented about how clean they are.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

As a reg tech/reg tech instructor and now the author of reg service manuals, I've seen many examples of great reg care and lots of examples of lousy care. I've seen parts practically welded together by salt residue, corrosion in the 1st stage so bad that it's eaten through the plating down to the brass and pitted it, and regs where the owner insisted "that the dust cap was secure when I soaked it" be opened up and water ran out of it.
This is why if I suspect less than optimal care, I take photos as I do the evaluation to send with the service quote before I do any repair/rebuild. And why I charge by the hour, not by the stage. Be complacent with your reg care and it's going to cost you. I've seen rebuilds double what they should have been because of the additional time I've needed to put in and some that are less than average because of the time I didn't have to spend.
I now personally own over a dozen first stages and probably 18 seconds. All have been cared for in exactly the same way. Only soaked when attached to a cylinder and pressurized. Soaking only loosens stuff. If you don't have running water carrying it away, it just gets redeposited on the reg. Sometimes resulting in worse conditions when it pools and dries leaving tiny little salt/mineral/sand/silt/crud mounds to eat at the metal or freeze moving parts.
After each freshwater outing, my regs get rinsed under fresh running water. If soaked they are on a 6 or 19 cu ft bottle and pressurized. After soaking the seconds get rinsed while working any knobs and levers. Then hung in a cool dry place to dry out.
During a saltwater trip, I am the only one who touches them. They get don't get dunked in the "rinse" tank unless I'm positive it has a constantly circulating freshwater supply. So basically, never as the ops I've been to don't do this. No boat crew is going to handle my regs. I take them with me back to the room and drape them around my neck and get into the shower with them. Making doubly sure the dust cap is secure and just letting the water run over it.
After the last dive of the trip, 24 hours or more before the flight, they get rinsed, second stage covers removed and those and the diaphragms rinsed in the sink. Allow everything to dry and pack.
When I get home the regs get pulled out and attached to one of my small cylinders, pressurized, and soaked in warm water for 1/2 hour or so while working the levers and adjustment knobs. Drain and refill the water. Rinse with fresh running water and hung to dry. Then stored after wiping down the threads on DIN connections and the inside of the DIN cap. On yoke regs, I take the yoke screw out and wipe those down and the female threads. I'll also put a dab of tribolube on the threads and run the screw all the way in and back out to distribute it.
I've been following this practice for 16 years now and have never had a reg issue due to some kind of contamination as a result of improper rinsing.