Your REGULATOR Set
It's important to rinse your regulator set after every open water dive day. There are several important points to remember. First is that keeping water out of the system is very important. Second is that you want to cleanse the system of any debris that may have gotten into exposed or semi exposed locations. Keep your eyes open, every gear cleaning session is a chance to notice cracks, abrasions, and other warning signs.
You never want your first stage inlet (the cylinder connection) to be open to the water. You never want an unpressurized second stage's purge button pressed in water since this may admit water. This water can migrate back into your system and cause regulator of pressure gauge failure. Connecting your regulator to a cylinder and turning the air on is the only surefre way to keep things internally clean and dry. Nothing trumps positive pressure.
The first thing I do is connect my regulator set to the cylinder I just used and turn the air on. The pressurized system goes into a dedicated plastic barrel that is filled with water warmed by the sun. I'll let this set for at least 30 minutes, while I tend to everything else. If I used more than one cylinder it will get a hood hosing down, including through the boot.
Once things have soaked, I will purge and swish the second stages, QD connectors and console, while looking for leaks. Since I usually dive a Sherwood regulator this is a good time to confirm the dry bleed is functioning too. This will be a tiny stream of bubbles emerging from the check valve. I then lift the whole assembly out of the water and bring it to a bench where I lay the hosses down. I may leave this for a few minutes to drip dry a little. Then, close the cylinder valve and purge the system down. Disconnect your first stage from the cylinder. Hold the dust cap in front of the cylinder valve making sure the first stage inlet is out of the line of fire and crack the cylinder valve to blow the cap clean and dry. Or practice dive etiquette and wipe the cap on your shirt. Then install then dust cap. Now just hang your regulator set to dry.
I leave the cap off the valve, so it is free to dry. I would not want to trap any water that could get pushed in during the next fill if I forget to evacuate the valve.
After 2 dives (or 1 if the gear came back messy) I'll dump the barrel of water used for cylinder/regulator/BCD on the lawn and refill it so it is warmed by the next use. The stout tub used for neoprene and accessories is refreshed every time.
Other Gear
Be sure to rinse and dry your snorkel, lights, reels, SMB and all of the rest. If you put some time on your lights it's a good idea to somehow track burn time so you have some battery status. It's your decision how often to open the lights for inspection. Be sure to have some silicone grease to regrease the o-ring with.
This page created 3/28/06 **** Edited 6/12/2022