Keeping your DH clean.

[jbcphxaz]

My local dive store owner suggested soaking my DH in water and iodofor solution to kill any bacteria, ect after your dive day. He does this on his rebreather hoses. I've done this and have had no health issues. Does anyone on this board do this? Thanks!

[luis]

With a rebreather you are recirculating your exhaled gas with all the moisture coming out with your breath. In an open circuit your exhaled air is purged on every breath, therefore you are not as likely to create a bio culture in your inhalation hose.

There has been a few documented cases of pulmonary infection (mostly in the Navy) from poor hose hygiene, but it is not as likely as in a rebreather where your exhale gas is recirculated into the inhalation hose.

I personally disconnect the hose loop after every dive trip or at the end of a diving weekend. I rinse the hose loop and use forced air to totally dry the inside of the hosed. I rarely disconnect the hoses from the mouthpiece and if I do, I make sure not to mix the intake and the exhaust hose.

My understanding (I am not a doctor or biologist) is that by rinsing and completely drying the inside of the hose I am strongly reducing any chances of allowing any biological growth. Note: this applies to silicone hoses since silicone does not support biological growth (I don't know about other hose materials).

Occasionally I do use some detergent and a bottle brush to clean the hoses, but I rarely do that. I do have some of the disinfectant often used on rebreather hoses, but I have never felt the need to use it. With my yellow silicone hoses I can easily inspect the inside (the light color helps to see) and I have never seen anything that looks like slime or anything that would support any biological bacteria growth. It always looks and feels clean after I dry them.

[luis]

I bought a small Shop Vacuum cleaner from Home Depot just to be used as an air blower (and suction) for my air flow tests and to use as a blow dryer for the hoses. It has never been used to suck any dust or dirt. The outlet hose fits perfect right over the DH hoses. I connect it to the inlet hose for about 20 minutes (max.) and the inside of the hoses dry very quickly.

Here is a link to the vacuum I use. I use the outlet side to blow them dry.
http://www.homedepot.com/p/Stinger-2-5- ... 021998-_-N

That vacuum is only $30 and it works as a hose blow dryer without any modifications.

[2THDIVR]

Luis

Do you block the mouth piece opening during the drying?

Thanks
Scott

[luis]

No, there is enough air from that blower that plenty of air goes out the mouthpiece and the exhaust hose. The hole loop is dried in minutes. It works great. It leaves no moisture in any of the convolutions.

[Herman]

I use a different method if I do not have access to a forced air supply, traveling for example.
At the end of a dive day I will rinse the regulator on the outside and flush water into the mouthpiece and out the exhaust. This helps removes saliva and any salt water from the exhaust side. If you have access to a tank, starting a free flow and allowing it to flow with the supply hose down helps remove any water in the supply hose. At the end of a dive trip be it a day or a week, I remove the hoses from the regulator (do not separate them from the mouthpiece) and flush then liberally with warm water, makings sure the water fills and flows through the entire hoses. Then I sling the hoses around to get as much water out of them as possible, allow them the hang from the MP for a while and sling them again to remove any collected water. After that I allow them to dry a few days. Most of the time I do not re-install them until I am preparing for another trip. I store the reg and hoses in a cloth container that can breath to make sure any remaining water can evaporate. Bryans reg bags or a pillow case make perfect containers.
I also run warm water into the cans, slosh it around and pour it out, allow the cans to set and recheck for collected water. This removes any saltwater that may have gotten into the cans. Fresh water in the cans will not hurt them but allowing salt water to remain and dry is bad news. All of us who have restored many of these regs has seen them damaged by salt induced corrosion.

For those hoses forgotten and left standing with water in them, ones of unknown origin or just plain old dirty, I remove them from the reg and mouthpiece then place them in the cloths washer with a load of towels. Add a little chlorine bleach and run them through a warm water wash cycle . You can also wash the mouthpiece that way but I just scrub it with an old toothbrush and dish soap. It’s not a bad idea to hand wash the valve cages as well.

[Drado]

Though I still sling my hoes around, one thing to watch out for are small tears. I once had one too small to notice during diving on one of my mouthpieces. The force of slinging it about though caused the mouthpiece to rip apart. Maybe I don't know my own strength!

[Pedro]

(...)

I also run warm water into the cans, slosh it around and pour it out, allow the cans to set and recheck for collected water. This removes any saltwater that may have gotten into the cans. Fresh water in the cans will not hurt them but allowing salt water to remain and dry is bad news. All of us who have restored many of these regs has seen them damaged by salt induced corrosion.

(...)

Herman, just to clarify: after each diving session do you remove air supply, remove the hoses, then run water into the cans (like, both horns)?

Another question (should belong to the 101 but since this topic is already running...): I'm still a bit confused as to how to treat the first stage. Some people seem terrified about the possibility of any water going into the wrong place, but at the same time the DIN threads will be all messed up if I don't clean them. So far have been wiping them with one of those anti-salt solutions, so there's not a hint of splashing water around the air intake. Any recommendations?
Oh and I'm not being terribly cautious with keeping the DIN cap completely dry before putting it on. Should I?

[Herman]

(...)

I also run warm water into the cans, slosh it around and pour it out, allow the cans to set and recheck for collected water. This removes any saltwater that may have gotten into the cans. Fresh water in the cans will not hurt them but allowing salt water to remain and dry is bad news. All of us who have restored many of these regs has seen them damaged by salt induced corrosion.

(...)

Herman, just to clarify: after each diving session do you remove air supply, remove the hoses, then run water into the cans (like, both horns)?

Another question (should belong to the 101 but since this topic is already running...): I'm still a bit confused as to how to treat the first stage. Some people seem terrified about the possibility of any water going into the wrong place, but at the same time the DIN threads will be all messed up if I don't clean them. So far have been wiping them with one of those anti-salt solutions, so there's not a hint of splashing water around the air intake. Any recommendations?
Oh and I'm not being terribly cautious with keeping the DIN cap completely dry before putting it on. Should I?

After a dive or series of dives (ie at the end of the week) I will remove the hoses and flush them with water. Then I rinse the interior of the cans. The exhaust I just flush warm water through, the supply I will fill the cans with water....do not push the diaphragm which is hard to do anyway...slosh it around, dump it and repeat. Then I set the cans so the supply horn is down and can drain. I check and move the reg around over the course of a day or so once home just to make sure any standing water is removed ,then store the regs with the hoses off so both have air to breath when not in use. Removing the exhaust hose use to be a pain due to the duckbill but with the DBE or the Kraken one, it's easy. There is no problems doing this but is sure saves a lot of headache during service.

Realistically, getting fresh clean water into the first stage is not a big deal ( salt water is a different matter). Lets face it, the final stage in cleaning before drying is to rinse all the parts in water so it's not like water will hurt the parts. It does need to be removed but that is as simple as removing the SPG if there is one, attaching the reg to a tank and flowing a lot of air through the reg through all the hoses. This will blow out any water in the reg. I recommend inducing a free flow on any reg after it has been rinsed or washed, just to ensure any water that may have gotten in is flushed out of the system. On DH regs this can be done with the hoses off by simply sliding a blunt object (pen, stick, ect) into the can holes and pressing on the diaphragm. With the hoses on (just slide it back on if it's off) a quick inhale as you pull away will usually start a free flow. I don't dive DIN so my advise may be a little off but the threads and more importantly the area between the rotating parts does need to be cleaned of salt water. I would think wiping the threads with a damp cloth should do followed by an induced free flow.

[Bronze06]

All the above are good methods. Mine is to place a stainless hose clamp knurled screw on the out flow horn. Bryan sells these in pairs. I disconnect the hose from the outflow horn ( where the air is first coming out of the regulator) I place the reg on a soft and secure area where it won't be scratched or damaged (ensure you cover the outflow horn with tank valve cover or some other method of sealing to avoid water going into the mechanicals or the reg) and point a water hose using medium pressure down the open end of the freed hose and flush liberally. This has the benefit of not just cleansing the hoses and mouth piece, but will flush out your duckbill or DBE and the interior of the upper can and diaphragm surface. As an extra, I'll dribble a little Detol (European Pinesol) disinfectant down the hose and do the same as the above. Rinse and repeat. Pinesol or Detol does nothing to deteriorate the materials and kills 99.9% of bacteria. Just make sure you rinse it well after the above procedure or you will be breathing "Piney Fresh" scent at 100 feet.

[Pedro]

That was fast!

Thanks a lot guys.

[Pedro]

After a dive or series of dives (ie at the end of the week) I will remove the hoses and flush them with water. Then I rinse the interior of the cans. The exhaust I just flush warm water through, the supply I will fill the cans with water....do not push the diaphragm which is hard to do anyway...slosh it around, dump it and repeat. Then I set the cans so the supply horn is down and can drain. I check and move the reg around over the course of a day or so once home just to make sure any standing water is removed ,then store the regs with the hoses off so both have air to breath when not in use. Removing the exhaust hose use to be a pain due to the duckbill but with the DBE or the Kraken one, it's easy. There is no problems doing this but is sure saves a lot of headache during service.

Realistically, getting fresh clean water into the first stage is not a big deal ( salt water is a different matter). Lets face it, the final stage in cleaning before drying is to rinse all the parts in water so it's not like water will hurt the parts. It does need to be removed but that is as simple as removing the SPG if there is one, attaching the reg to a tank and flowing a lot of air through the reg through all the hoses. This will blow out any water in the reg. I recommend inducing a free flow on any reg after it has been rinsed or washed, just to ensure any water that may have gotten in is flushed out of the system. On DH regs this can be done with the hoses off by simply sliding a blunt object (pen, stick, ect) into the can holes and pressing on the diaphragm. With the hoses on (just slide it back on if it's off) a quick inhale as you pull away will usually start a free flow. I don't dive DIN so my advise may be a little off but the threads and more importantly the area between the rotating parts does need to be cleaned of salt water. I would think wiping the threads with a damp cloth should do followed by an induced free flow.

Another S.O.R. (Save Our Regulators) to Guru Herman:

What if someone did something really stupid like going into the water without screwing the DIN all the way in and probably letting salt water into the first stage?

At least it was not the Kraken, but still... Should I remove SPG and force a bit of fresh water into it using tank pressure? Or just leave be and promise never to do it again?

[luis]

Another S.O.R. (Save Our Regulators) to Guru Herman:

What if someone did something really stupid like going into the water without screwing the DIN all the way in and probably letting salt water into the first stage?

At least it was not the Kraken, but still... Should I remove SPG and force a bit of fresh water into it using tank pressure? Or just leave be and promise never to do it again?

This is one of those occasions when a regulator rebuild is the proper thing to do.

I am a strong believer on: "If it isn’t broke don’t fix it". But, with salt water contamination inside the regulator, if it isn’t broke yet, it will just take time for corrosion to become an issue.

[Pedro]

This is one of those occasions when a regulator rebuild is the proper thing to do.

I am a strong believer on: "If it isn’t broke don’t fix it". But, with salt water contamination inside the regulator, if it isn’t broke yet, it will just take time for corrosion to become an issue.

I was hoping against hope there would be some easy fix. Anyway, will follow your advice and send it for repairs. Thanks Luis