Essential Maintenance Tips for Dive Gear Care

Taking the time to clean and maintain dive equipment after each outing is one of the best ways to protect both safety and investment. Simple habits, such as rinsing snorkel gear with soapy freshwater, carefully drying regulators, and flushing BCD bladders, prevent corrosion and extend gear longevity. Wetsuits, dive computers, and accessories also require attention, with proper cleaning and occasional servicing ensuring they remain dependable and comfortable. Regular inspections and manufacturer-recommended services are particularly important for complex gear like regulators and computers, which are vital to diver safety. By maintaining gear consistently, divers avoid premature breakdowns, reduce repair costs, and enjoy peace of mind with every dive. The Scuba Shop encourages all divers to adopt these maintenance routines so their adventures can focus on exploration and discovery, not equipment issues. Clean gear not only looks better but also ensures each dive is safe, efficient, and unforgettable.

When we clean and check our returned rental regulators, we follow 14 steps. Often people make remarks on how good our rental gear looks. More important on the maintenance and cost side, the yearly servicing of our regs is an easy job with no corrosion to soak and scrub off.

Below are the most important steps of our regulator cleaning routine. During your dive week you can just rinse your gear in the rinse tank at the end of a dive, but it is well worth the time and effort after the last dive to do the full clean before storing your gear.

1. Check that the dust cap has no salt water in it, if yes, wash it out while keeping your thumb on the opening of the first stage so water doesn’t go in. Dry the dust cap by blowing it out with a tank, then put it back on the first stage and close to seal tightly.
2. Pull the hose protectors away from where the hoses connect to the first and second stages.
3. Let the tap water run through the holes in the first stage, you must see the water running out of the holes (not all regulators have holes in the first stage by the way, for these sealed first stages you can omit this step).
4. Let the tap water run through the two mouthpieces and exhausts of the second stages. Do not press the purge button while doing this! If you do happen to press the purge button, make sure that you put the reg back on a tank and purge the second stages a number of times to get all water out.
5. Do check the bite tabs on the mouthpieces and inspect around the tie wrap for small holes.
6. For hygienic purposes at this point we generously sponge soapy antibacterial dish liquid thoroughly around the mouth piece.
7. With your still soapy sponge, wipe over the second stage covers and all metal parts - this helps to remove salt and chemical residue. At this point you can also check your hoses for any wear and tear.
8. Finally, submerge the entire regulator in a rinse tank of fresh water and soak for at least 5 minutes.
9. Put the reg on a tank and purge the 2nd stages to remove any water left in the system.
10. Take the 1st stage off the tank, check whether the dust cap is dry inside, if not, blow it out with air from the tank and then close the 1st stage.
11. Hang the reg up to dry (if outside keep out of the sun). Make sure the hose protectors are not covering the metal parts.
12. Once dry, use Silicone Spray to spray the thread of 1st stage knob while screwing it in and out to ensure even distribution of the silicone over all the threads.
13. Spray in and around the BCD quick disconnect (QD) while pulling it backwards and releasing it a few times.
14. Spray the metal parts on the hoses close to the 1st and 2nd stages with Silicone Spray and push back the hose protectors.

As soon as you can take your regulator to a regulator service technician – he/ she will do the following: 

1. Immediately remove hoses and gauges, leaving only the second stage regulators attached to the low pressure portion of your 1st stage.
2. Rinse the first stage with fresh water if necessary (i.e., if you suspect that you have salt water or other contaminants inside the first stage).
3. Attach the first stage to a tank and slowly turn on the air. The service tech will be flushing all water out the high pressure ports. He will then slowly purge the second stages so that any water in the hoses will also be pushed out of the system. Warning: don’t ever pressurize a 1st stage regulator on a tank without a way to depressurize, such as having a second stage attached or a port open. If you do, good luck ever getting that thing off!
4. Last, if in a reasonably non-humid environment, the tech should let the whole thing sit without ports for a few hours to let any moisture evaporate before reassembling the regulator.

While the regulator tech is working on your regulator, take your computer/ SPG and hold it at the gauge end and give it a good twirling to get any residual moisture or liquid out of the hose. It is very unlikely that you got any water through the pinprick-sized hole if you didn’t pressurize the system wet, but this is just for good measure (and a little bit of fun). Be sure you don't accidentally his anyone with the hose or drop your gauges.

What is described here is just an immediate remedy to avoid and/ or mitigate the damage done by flooding, most of which is corrosion. Please take into consideration that your situation may vary depending on what type of water you got into your regulator and the type of regulator you have. Whatever you do immediately after flooding your regulator, you should definitely have it fully serviced as soon as possible. Regulators are expensive and sophisticated pieces of gear that our lives depend on, so it’s better to be safe than sorry.

1. To prevent corrosion in your inflator assembly unit, clean it by flushing the inside with fresh water. With the inflator assembly mouthpiece held tight to the faucet of running tap water alternately push the inflator AND deflator buttons. You should see the water coming out of the nipple, and water should be going into the BCD. The tap needs to be quite far open as you need good water pressure to flush the valve. Watch out - you might get wet!
2. Fill the BCD with some more fresh water. To do this you can remove a dump valve (be sure not to lose the o'ring / gasket and be sure not to cross-thread when replacing); however the best (although not the easiest) is to do as in #1 above, pressing the deflate button. Make sure the BCD is empty of air and below the incoming water.
3. Slosh the water around to rinse every corner of the bladder.
4. Inflate the bladder (either by mouth or by regulator attached to a tank), make one of the dump valves the lowest point, and in 1 fluid movement squeeze the BCD and dump at the same time to force water through the dump valve. Fill and repeat to flush the rest of the dump valves.
5. Once all the valves are flushed, empty the BCD of all water. Fully inflate the BCD and hang out of sunlight to dry. The reason to fully inflate the BCD is to check it's air holding integrity - if the BCD is deflated when it is dry there is likely a leak somewhere in the system. If drying space is at a premium, just inflate with a little air and after drying fill with air to do the integrity test.

Although wetsuits are designed for durability, regular cleaning prevents odors, stiffness, and premature wear. After each use, soak the wetsuit inside out in freshwater with a mild soap solution or a dedicated product such as “Sink the Stink.” Avoid exposing neoprene to direct sunlight while drying, as UV rays can weaken the material. When maintained properly, wetsuits remain flexible, comfortable, and protective, offering warmth and shielding against minor stings during dives.