MK5/MK10 body cleaning brush?

[HenrikBP]

I bought a really nice MK10 spec regulator off eBay. Seller thought he'd had it serviced before putting it away for a couple of years .... well, that turned out to not be the case

I put the reg on a tank and it leaked, so I took it apart. Half the o-rings crumbled and fell apart when I removed them. Including, unfortunately, the HP piston stem o-ring.

I felt around the groove with a brass pic and got a bunch of smaller bits out, but I suspect there's more hiding in there - most likely just small/thin bits stuck to the wall, but still.

So has anyone found a good brush that will fit into the small bore of the body and give that groove a good scrub?

Henrik
(no ultrasonic cleaner ... yet )

 

[Zung]

Try pipe brush, if pipe smoking is legal in NYC.

 

[halocline]

I'd cut a small piece of dish scrubber material and work it around with a chop stick or something like that. I bet a good soaking in dish detergent or 409 would clean it out pretty well too. I'd be cautious about any sort of brush that has a wire core.

Did your MK10 come with a SPEC boot?

 

[jerry_h]

I would be very careful digging around the area of the HP o-ring try compressed air

 

[HenrikBP]

Try pipe brush, if pipe smoking is legal in NYC.

I think it's legal depending on what you put in the pipe but the pipe cleaners (I'm thinking that's what you mean) have a steel wire center, which you want to be careful with, so as not to mar the soft brass.

I'd cut a small piece of dish scrubber material and work it around with a chop stick or something like that. I bet a good soaking in dish detergent or 409 would clean it out pretty well too. I'd be cautious about any sort of brush that has a wire core.

Did your MK10 come with a SPEC boot?

The parts are currently soaking in a Simple Green solution. I had considered a small piece of folded rag, but don't have a good tool for "wiping" it around in the groove. Maybe Zung's bent brass rod tool would work. A bit of nylon mesh scrubber material would probably work well.

The reg has the spec groove, but didn't have a boot. I don't plan on filling the ambient chamber with grease, as I won't be diving it in really cold water. But I'd like to have a spare boot should I change my mind.

I would be very careful digging around the area of the HP o-ring try compressed air

I really am very careful, which is why I was asking for pointers. I've only been gently probing with a fine brass pick to get bits out. At this point I suspect all that remains is a "film" of old grease and o-ring remnant - which might need a bit of "manual convincing" to get out.

Henrik

 

[Couv]

Henrik,

This is a brazing rod I heated and mallatized to formed into a pick. It is perfect for scraping out that groove. If you still have a bit of residue, do as Matt said with a dish scrubber or better yet a Scotch Brite pad trimmed slim enough to push into the groove with the rod.

Couv

 

[HenrikBP]

Thanks Couv - looks like I'm heading to Home D tomorrow

Henrik

 

[Zung]

... drop by your friendly local pub and liberate a fews plastic spoons, the longer ones. Heat it with a lighter or a match, bend it, and trim it with a wire cutter or something, and you attack the reg with all your might and NO FEAR!

 

[halocline]

Yeah, Scotch Brite, that's what I was thinking of. The stuff that's green, about 1/8" thick. If you're really good with small scissors and you have extra time on your hands, you could make a small disc of that stuff using a 010 o-ring as a size guide, just make it a little bigger. Then poke a really small hole it in, shove a chopstick in there (I'm talking about the cheap disposable ones, they're much thinner) work it down in the groove, then spin. You could even shave the chopstick so it's more like a flat blade at the end, you might get more grip for spinning the scotch brite.

I don't suppose there are any Chinese take out place where you live, are there Henrik?

 

[HenrikBP]

... drop by your friendly local pub and liberate a fews plastic spoons,

Zung; good idea, but much too fancy for my neck of the woods ... plastic spoons hah you get a tiny wooden stick ... if you're lucky

Yeah, Scotch Brite, <snip> you might get more grip for spinning the scotch brite.

I don't suppose there are any Chinese take out place where you live, are there Henrik?

Getting fancy there Mattboy - cutting Scotch Brite discs but the take-out Chinese and cheap chop stick, now that we can handle. One on every corner here.

Thanks guys,

Henrik