Question Silicon on Regulator Hose Connections

[Antothoro]

Looking to upgrade to a flex hose. Do ya'll put silicon on the orings\threads or leave them dry? If so, which silicon should or should not be used.

 

[grantctobin]

Looking to upgrade to a flex hose. Do ya'll put silicon on the orings\threads or leave them dry?

No.

Depending on the brand and use case, a flex hose may or may not be an upgrade. YMMV.

 

[Antothoro]

No.

Depending on the brand and use case, a flex hose may or may not be an upgrade. YMMV.

Which use cases come to mind where going to flex would not be advantageous? When you said that, I thought maybe ice diving (ice in the braids) or cave (because of abrasion).

I'm looking only for flex for the primary and maybe the octo.

 

[Zef]

Which use cases come to mind where going to flex would not be advantageous? When you said that, I thought maybe ice diving (ice in the braids) or cave (because of abrasion).

I'm looking only for flex for the primary and maybe the octo.

Some folk who's gear configuration has their primary 2nd stage on a long hose find that the braided hoses scratch their neck and/or abrade on their exposure suit/drysuit neck seal.

Also, braided hoses tend to be positively buoyant and some of us find the floaty hose annoying.

Another issue tends to be shorter lifespan..folks have experienced shorter hose life with braided hoses compared to standard hoses due to a breakdown of the hose beneath the braiding. Braided hoses like miflex brand are recommended to be replaced every 5 years or less to avoid catastrophic failure.

-Z

 

[Lorenzoid]

I'm looking only for flex for the primary and maybe the octo.

Do you have a traditional setup where your primary is on a shorter hose than your octo, and your plan is to donate the octo to an out-of-gas diver? Or is your primary on a longer hose than your octo, and your plan is to donate the primary to an out-of-gas diver while you switch to your octo? In general, it can be problematic to donate a long flex hose to an out-of-gas diver because longer flex hoses have more potential for kinking. If you have the traditional setup, you might feel some benefit from your primary being on a flex hose. If you have the so-called "primary donate" setup, you might feel some benefit from your octo being on a flex hose, but a long primary flex hose may not feel right--flopping all over the place--and it may be susceptible to kinking.

Whether to lube hose o-rings has been the subject of some debate--you can search for older threads. My opinion is no lube on hose o-rings.

 

[Antothoro]

Presently my dive partner and I have a traditional primary (shorter) and octo (longer) so that we donate the octo to the buddy.

We don't practice primary donate. But we're looking into it.

I was thinking.... to go with flex hose for our primaries and enjoy that. IF we go to Primary Donate then we'd swap the hoses around so that the flex would be on the secondary.

Got any good resources out there for primary donate? suggested configurations, hose lengths, etc?

 

[Underwater Tourist]

+1 for the shorter life span of the braided hoses

My first ever purchased (10yrs ago; 500 dives) regular rubber hose is alive and kicking, but the braided one I got ~4 years ago is in the trash can

 

[BoundForElsewhere]

If the parts don't move, don't use lube.

 

[rsingler]

The distal end of the regulator hose moves. Cheap import orings with high carbon black content fracture with regularity. Lube may give you a little more time at that end.
Better to change to a higher quality o-ring and lube, IMO. A big leak at the connection to the second stage is a dive ender, albeit one with an easy fix on the boat, if you or the crew brought extras.

 

[NaCl H2O]

I use DGX flex hoses on my primaries because they have less yank or pull when I turn my head.
Really like them for that.
They are not long hose configs and I use rubber hoses on everything else.
I also don't mind replacing hoses after several years, rubber is a consumable IMO, and they aren't that much $ in the long run.

Go with Rsingler on the lube, he is in the know!