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That time I spent 2 years cleaning my regulator wrong...
So I've been diving for about 4 years now, and I always just rinsed my regulator with fresh water and let it dry. Last month, a guy I was working with on a bridge job in Portland asked if I ever soaked it in warm soapy water. I told him no, and he just laughed. Turns out I was letting salt crystals build up inside the diaphragm for years. Small leak finally showed up during a 60 foot descent last Tuesday. Cost me $300 for a rebuild kit I could have avoided.
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the_elliot1mo ago
Dang, warm soapy water is actually not recommended for most regulators since it can wreck the internal lubes.
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sean_cooper581mo ago
Soapy water’s fine, just don’t let it sit on the lube.
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