end of year

[MNLakeDiver]

so we all have a lot of $ in our kits. and want it to work well for a long time. lets talk about how we prepair our gear for the off season / travel season.
what do you use to clean your bc / wing
wet suit cleaning / how do you store it
same for dri suit
remove batterys from lights / electronics
condition rubber items mask fins etc.

[LKunze]

I disassemble my backplate/wing and rinse all of the hardware and spray it down with silicone and store it in a ziplock bag. I wash my wing and my hood in a large rubbermaid tub with warm water and a cap-full of Tide HE formula laundry detergent. The Tide HE formula works great and it doesn't suds up real bad like regular detergent does. I remove the inflator hose and the rear pull dump when doing this and let the wing sit in the water for a few hours before rinsing. Once rinsed thoroughly inside and out to get all the detergent out I hang the wing up leaving the inflator hose and pull dumps off so that it dries completely. I usually replace the rear pull dump cord with a new piece of cave line and inspect the little rubber disk to make sure it is still attached to the plastic plug good. If it's coming loose I reglue it on with aquaseal sanding the old glue off first. I usually don't wash my drysuit. Just an exterior rinse with fresh water and hang to dry. Since my canister light uses a NiMH battery back which loses charge just sitting I try and charge it occasionally over the winter so it doesn't drain down too low. My backup lights get the light heads removed and I discard the old batteries and clean the threads and o-rings up. I store them in ziplock bags disassembled. I don't use any conditioner on the mask or fins, I just wash them with dish soap and water.
Once everything is washed and completely dry I pack it all up in a rubbermaid tub and put the lid on to keep it dust free until spring. That about covers it for my stuff.

[jasondbaker]

Geez Lonnie, can I hire you to do my end-of-year maintenance too? ;D

[jeffpaz]

What do you do with your tanks?

[LKunze]

Yeah, I'm pretty anal about it.

[LKunze]

Nothing other than put em' in my closet. I have steel tanks so I keep the valves on and keep air in them. For aluminums you should drain them and remove the valves or make sure they are stored completely full. Reason being, in case of fire the burst disk will blow instead of the tank itself which obviously would be very dangerous.

[Omicron]

I've never really done an end of year maintenance thing - I never stop diving

After saltwater trips I do soak my gear pretty good though. Typically let it sit in a bathtub for a day or two, repeatedly changing the water and swishing it around.

I regularly maintain my drysuit (zipper wax, talc on the seals).

My wing bladder gets the occasional purifying in the pool (chlorine).

Other than that...just regular ongoing maintenance, fixing stuff as it needs fixing.

If I don't end up using my canister light for awhile I throw the batteries on the charger just to make sure they don't run down and deep discharge themselves.

[vmi]

Additional tank question -

I have some Pressed Steel 104's and on the tank sticker from the manufactuer instructs me to store (long term like over the winter) with 50psi of clean air.

With that being said, I have them full with 32% ean right now. Should I keep them full or drain them down ?

Thx...

Pete

[MNLakeDiver]

I would dive them ;D

[tpscuba]

If you don't want to dive leave them full but recheck O2 next spring. Let me know if they dropped any over the winter.

I would dive them ;D
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