Regulator maintenance - water in first stage

[Spike_Digger]

Hi,

I recently rinsed my regs in a "regulators only" rinse tank at a busy dive resort, after diving in the ocean. When I got home, I realized that I had left the dust cap off when I rinsed the regs. What is the best thing to do now? Should I rinse the regs again in freshwater with the dust cap off, or would that just make things worse? Even though the rinse tank was supposed to be FW, after people have rinsed their regs in it all day, it's probably got a fair amount of salt and debris in it. Or is it not a big deal? I'm guessing that this sort of thing happens all the time, since it's a simple mistake to make.

FWIW, my first stage is a ScubaPro MK25.

 

[Web Monkey]

It all depends on how funky the water was and how much got into your reg.

If they were mine, I'd bring them in for service (or at least an examination).

Terry

Hi,

I recently rinsed my regs in a "regulators only" rinse tank at a busy dive resort, after diving in the ocean. When I got home, I realized that I had left the dust cap off when I rinsed the regs. What is the best thing to do now? Should I rinse the regs again in freshwater with the dust cap off, or would that just make things worse? Even though the rinse tank was supposed to be FW, after people have rinsed their regs in it all day, it's probably got a fair amount of salt and debris in it. Or is it not a big deal? I'm guessing that this sort of thing happens all the time, since it's a simple mistake to make.

FWIW, my first stage is a ScubaPro MK25.

 

[paulwlee]

If the water was fresh water, you can disconnect the HP hose, connect to a tank and blow out the water from the HP port for a short while, then connect the HP hose, blow out the water out of the second stages and inflator hoses for a little while.

If you don't know the condition of the water in the rinse tank, a service would be the safest course of action.

 

[Scottri]

Get them serviced. If you did not discover it until you got home you need to have them cleaned and rebuilt.

 

[texdiveguy]

I'll pay postage...you send those 'ruined' regs to me and go get some new ones....

 

[Mandy3206]

Service is in order, you shouldn't risk a regulator failure due to this situation (life support equipment bla bla bla). Even if the failure may not be a life or death situation, it would ruin your diving day and at the end cost you more.

I bet you'll make sure the dust cap is on from now on, I've allways learned from my mistakes.

On a side note, I got tired of paying and waiting for my regs to get serviced so I took the equipment specialist course and do them myself.

 

[texdiveguy]

On a side note, I got tired of paying and waiting for my regs to get serviced so I took the equipment specialist course and do them myself.

Please expand on this statement.....if you are referring to say a typical rec. specialty class in gear maintc. those classes are not designed to give the student the indepth training/expc. for 'servicing' -- rebuilding a reg.. Maybe you are meaning an indepth manfc. factory program....just curious so newer divers might not mis-understand.

 

[highdesert]

On a side note, I got tired of paying and waiting for my regs to get serviced so I took the equipment specialist course and do them myself.

If you are talking about the PADI Equipment Specialty class, your instructor should have made the point very clear that the course DOES NOT provide you with the skills or knowledge to service/rebuild your reg set. Our instructor probably told us that a half dozen times.

As a former macninist, and pretty handy with servicing some small, complicated stuff, I still would not service my own reg despite knowing how it's assembled and how it operates. If you choose to do so yourself, please don't pass on the idea to anyone else that $60 and 6 hours doing a survey course covering everything in dive gear makes someone a qualified regulator service tech.

 

[texdiveguy]

If you are talking about the PADI Equipment Specialty class, your instructor should have made the point very clear that the course DOES NOT provide you with the skills or knowledge to service/rebuild your reg set. Our instructor probably told us that a half dozen times.

As a former macninist, and pretty handy with servicing some small, complicated stuff, I still would not service my own reg despite knowing how it's assembled and how it operates. If you choose to do so yourself, please don't pass on the idea to anyone else that $60 and 6 hours doing a survey course covering everything in dive gear makes someone a qualified regulator service tech.

The PADI Eqpt. Specialty class is really just a good reminder class to keep your gear clean and have it pro serviced.....the manual and class contents are VERY basic. Good for a new diver wanting to learn a bit more on daily prevenative maintance.

 

[miketsp]

Please expand on this statement.....if you are referring to say a typical rec. specialty class in gear maintc. those classes are not designed to give the student the indepth training/expc. for 'servicing' -- rebuilding a reg.. Maybe you are meaning an indepth manfc. factory program....just curious so newer divers might not mis-understand.

I did a "typical" rec equipment speciality course and the practical part was 3 nights (4 hours per night) stripping, rebuilding and adjusting regs & tank valves etc. Part of the work was done on shop rental regs that were going to be used afterwards and students could also bring their own regs to service and get specific tips from the instructor. I got the course for free as a bonus for buying a semi-dry suit but even at the standard price the course would have worked out cheaper than the labour charges for my 3 reg sets I serviced during the course.

So unless my course was not "typical" I don't understand your comment.