TIL I was cleaning my demand regulator wrong for 3 years

I used to just rinse my Poseidon demand reg under fresh water after every dive. Thought that was good enough. Then my buddy showed me his crusty second stage that failed at 90 feet last month on a pipeline job off Galveston. Now I soak mine in warm soapy water for 20 minutes, then blow it out with low pressure air. The manual actually says to do this after every shift. Who knew a little soap could save you from a freeflow 100 feet down? Has anyone else had a reg fail from poor cleaning?

2 comments

2 Comments

hugobarnes3d ago

I read somewhere that salt crystals can actually get inside the diaphragm and mess with the cracking pressure. That's why a simple rinse doesn't cut it for long term. A guy on another forum said his Apeks reg started freeflowing out of nowhere and it was all salt buildup inside the second stage. Soaking in warm soapy water seems like the way to go for sure.

abby_chen2d ago

Double down on that warm soak idea, that's exactly what my shop taught me. I've seen guys just hose off their regs and then wonder why they get sticky after a few months, especially in warm salt water. The soap breaks down the salt crystals way better than plain water, and letting it sit for 20 minutes makes a big difference.