Effect of swimming pool chlorine on regulators

[60plus]

I was reading some Aqualung info and it describes swimming pool chlorine as very bad for regulators. Normally they recommend a service every 2 years but if used in pool with chlorine service recommendation is 6 months.

I know in Scuba your life may be at risk if a regulator fails but I come from a welding background and there the service interval for regulators (that get far more use than diving regs) is 5 years. I have never known an unserviced welding reg fail even after 15 plus years. The only time we had problems was people overtightening bits, opening cylinders too quickly or them being mis assembled during a service.

Any thoughts?

 

[Scuba J7]

Used a few times in the pool, I would just follow the normal maintenance schedule. Used a lot in the pool, such as teaching classes, I would follow manufacturer recommendations.

As far a welding regs go, I don't know a lot about them but I can assume they are not intended for submerged use, nor intended as life support equipment. I would follow the manufacturers recommendation for service. Now you'll find plenty of posts on here with posters stating their regs haven't been serviced in 30 years....that's all your own risk, I tune mine at least once a year and rebuild every 2.

 

[shurite7]

Regulators that are used in the pool are quite often for a class. What this equates to is students not always placing the cover on the first stage, even though they've been shown how to do it, allowing chlorinated water to get inside the first stage. Students and renters tend to be a little harsh on regs vs. those who own their own.

If the regs are rinsed and cared for properly they can hold up well in between service intervals. Chlorine does a number on BCDs, though.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I'm in agreement with what shurite7 said. When I use my regs in the pool I rinse them well in fresh water and make sure the cap is tight on the first stage. I don't think that my infrequent use in swimming pools has hurt them any. Allowing dive gear to dry in direct sunlight, OTOH, I think is very bad.

 

[TMHeimer]

I have put my stuff (all of it) in sunlight if I have to get it dry quickly for packing. Of course that's after a thorough rinsing. Doesn't happen very often. Of course when it's all dry (enough), I remove it from sunlight.

 

[Diving Dubai]

From my experience:

Regular pool exposure (i.e. teaching) mainly affects the chrome on hoses. You'll see the plating come off the ends of hoses and the valve on teh BCD inflator (making the LP hose hard to use). 1st stages are more resilient and suffer less damage. BCD's do suffer with fading for sure. My friend's aqualung after 2 years of being in the pool 12hrs per week is quite tatty yet another has a Scubapro which still looks good.

Regarding Sunlight, being in the Middle East, I'm fairly confident that my gear sees more sunlight, UV and higher temps than 90% of others. My gear is used most weeks and gets hung out. While it's in the shade while hung out, it's still exposed to heat and UV

I see very little degradation on my gear. I replace hoses after 2 years (and I use braided hoses), but apart from some colour fading no other degradation. Importantly the plastic buckles still remain usable and don't go brittle. I appreciate that none of my gear is more than 5 years old - but it gets a fairbeating (car manufacturers bring their cars here for intense hot weather testing)

My regs get serviced every 18 months or so - which could be 150 dives or more. My gear gets a bit of a bashing and is certainly not treated with "kid gloves"

So in summary, my anecdotal evidence suggests that if you take the basic care of your gear with a decent rinse in fresh water after use (again my gear might be wet for 3 days and stay in the bags post dive for a day or even two if busy), and generally look after it, then your gear will be fine.

 

[TMHeimer]

Diving D, Agree with all that. Of course where you are, your suits and gear probably dry within 2 minutes even in the shade. I am envious.