Cleaning regulators

[Cosmographer]

So a search in this forum taught me to soak the regs for at least a few hours, not to hit the purge button unless pressurized, and keep the dust cap on.

But what about the LP hose that connects to the inflator? Can I soak that as well, or will the water get in somehow? (my regs are soaking right now with the hose hanging out of the water).

Also, at one point, I gave my reg a quick immersion in the boat's rinse tank without the dust cap on. It's worked fine since then, but should I get it serviced or something because of this mistake?

 

[Scared Silly]

But what about the LP hose that connects to the inflator? Can I soak that as well, or will the water get in somehow? (my regs are soaking right now with the hose hanging out of the water).

It is a shrader valve which is sealed until mated. So no worries about it.

Also, at one point, I gave my reg a quick immersion in the boat's rinse tank without the dust cap on. It's worked fine since then, but should I get it serviced or something because of this mistake?

If you did not immediately dry it out via disassembling all of the hoses and port plugs. Yes, I would suggest getting is serviced as there is a good chance of internal corrosion. Especially as you used the boat rinse tank which likely had all kinds of crud in it.

 

[Cosmographer]

Ok, great. Thanks a lot for the info!

 

[KD8NPB]

Have you pressurized the regulator since then?

 

[Cosmographer]

Yes, I've used the regulator on maybe 6-8 dives since the dust cap was left off during the dunking.

 

[elan]

I would service it the sooner the better. Especially id the reg has the hard seat built into the body like most apekses for example

 

[redacted]

The question at this point is what good will it do to service it if there are no apparent problem. Some regs will just blow that water through so the only thing that has any risk at all of being damaged is the SPG and those risks are probably quite small and little you can do about them at this point. If the reg is an unbalanced piston, it would probably be best to pull the cap and dry it out as there is not much flow through the chamber above the piston. With a balanced piston, any water that might have entered has been blown out and it will survive any residue. A balanced diaphragm might benefit from a cleaning of the balance chamber but I have no experience with that design.

 

[Cosmographer]

Thanks for the info. It is a balanced piston, so servicing would not be necessary? I put it in the rinse tank without the dust cap about 6 weeks before using it again last week, so it's been dry for quite awhile, and I didn't notice any problems on my recent dives. I'd prefer not to spend money to service an otherwise new regulator with less than 20 dives on it, but if there is some chance that servicing will prevent further corrosion or damage, I don't mind parting with a few extra bucks for the peace of mind.

 

[redacted]

Thanks for the info. It is a balanced piston, so servicing would not be necessary? I put it in the rinse tank without the dust cap about 6 weeks before using it again last week, so it's been dry for quite awhile, and I didn't notice any problems on my recent dives. I'd prefer not to spend money to service an otherwise new regulator with less than 20 dives on it, but if there is some chance that servicing will prevent further corrosion or damage, I don't mind parting with a few extra bucks for the peace of mind.

A rinse tank can be a pretty nasty place but you crossed that bridge on the first dive after the dunking. At this point, I would monitor performance and dive it. You could pull a couple LP hoses or plugs and take a peak but I doubt if you will see much.

The truth is that in the course of diving, there are a number of opportunities to get a little water into your first stage - an they survive it quite nicely. At this point, any moisture that may have entered has been expelled and any deposits resulting from that moisture are settled in and should be cleaned up when next serviced. We all should do those things appropriate to keep water out of the 1st stage but it may not be reasonable to expect 100% success. They really are resilient little devices.