Regulator maintenance - water in first stage

[Rainer]

Your course wasn't typical.

 

[texdiveguy]

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.

You got a nice deal if it is as you described---you got something the shop put together beyond standards it sounds like.....but it was 'not typical' to the run of the mill standard industry recreational eqpt. specl. classes. The important thing to know for divers is that the Specl. classes say Padi offers are just not indepth and are not intended for divers to service their own life support gear!

 

[Mandy3206]

Wow, seems like I opened a can of worms here

First, My course wasn't typical, I agree that the "typical" rec course and book (PADI, SSI) won't prepare you to service your equipment and only expands your knowledge as how to properly maintain your dive gear.

I asked my instructor to teach me how to service my regs, especifically the 1st stages (at the time seemed like a very complex machine that would explode if atempted to be opened by an unqualified individual), my second stages had been adjusted by me for ages, not the 1st which got serviced annually by a LDS.

My instructor had me and a Dive Master trainee service (under his supervision) 28 rental rigs and my own 3 regs sets that needed service at the time, it took both of us 5 nights 3 hrs each night to complete all this work and test the rigs properly for leaks, IP, ect. under the supervision of the instructor.

Under those serviced regs, there were Mares, Dacors, Cressis, US Divers, Genesis and Oceanic regs (piston and diaphrams), all are more or less the same in terms of function, there are variables to each, but more or less the same principle applies to all of them.

My instructor told me that if I ever need to service a reg, I can just drop by and use his IP gage (only tool I don't have), and tools.

If you're asking if I took a formal course on reg repair from a manufacturer, the answer is no, but I don't plan on make a living out of repairing regulators so for my own use I'm very confortable doing them, I've been servicing mines for the last 3 yrs now and had no problems at all, my new Atomic B1 still have 1+ yr before the first service is due so I'll tinker with it when the time comes.:14: :14: :14: :14: :14:

Keep in mind that I've been "mechanically inclined" all my life and as an Engineer, I like to know how things work (Engineers mind).

To the typical diver out there, it's probably better to take them to a qualified tech.

Since there were no course for what I did, he gave me the Equipment Specialist SSI card, which I think should be "Equipment Specialist ++++" for the extra credits earned

 

[Spike_Digger]

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.

Thanks for the advice! I took my regs to my LDS, and that's what they did, minus removing the HP hose. The guy told me that if I ever did it again, to put them on a tank and blow water out the second stages and inflator hose, then remove a plug from the first stage, and let it air out until dry inside. He said that the orifice going into the HP hose is so small, that water usually doesn't get inside. He also said that getting water in the first stage is less of a problem for piston-type first stages than diaphragm-type.

 

[paulwlee]

Thanks for the advice! I took my regs to my LDS, and that's what they did, minus removing the HP hose. The guy told me that if I ever did it again, to put them on a tank and blow water out the second stages and inflator hose, then remove a plug from the first stage, and let it air out until dry inside. He said that the orifice going into the HP hose is so small, that water usually doesn't get inside. He also said that getting water in the first stage is less of a problem for piston-type first stages than diaphragm-type.

While water probably won't get into the HP hose while unpressurized, I suspect that some may get in if you pressurize when there is water in the first stage. Now whether this will break anything is another question. If it's salt water, it will corrode the insides of the SPG, so it will die sooner. If it's fresh water, I doubt it will be that harmful. On the other hand, it takes so little effort to detach the HP hose, I think it's a good idea to blow out the HP port just to be safe. That said, there were a few old regulators/SPG's in my alma mater's dive club where we didn't blow out the HP port when this happened (occasionally, as new members usually did the post-dive care) and they were quite fine.

Now why the shop guys didn't take a peek inside beats me. They have all the tools and it would've taken them <5 minutes to make sure that nothing was wrong, even though if it was fresh water a few days inside the regulator wouldn't hurt it.

 

[cudachaser]

Occasionally a student will neglect to install the dust cap on their regulator and I'll notice it in the rinse bath. I just hook the reg up to a tank and mass down on both the primary and octopus purges and blow the reg out for about a minute. I figure there should negligible water intrusion into the HP hose since the orifice is so tiny. Some of my regs have been in service since 1998 and never had a problem with a SPG.

Years ago someone told me they would "clean" the regs by letting fresh water get into their fist stage and purge it out with tank pressure.