Sources of Safe Air and Maintaining your Scuba

The compressed air in your scuba tanks must be free from carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, oil, vapor and other impurities. Generally, the industrial-type of compressed air may not be safe for scuba use. However, companies which supply compressed oxygen for medical use usually have facilities for providing compressed air. In many localities the local fire department is willing to provide a supply of compressed air from the charging station for the compressed-air breathing apparatus used in the department. Many sports-equipment stores have equipment for charging scuba tanks. Also, there are on the market several makes of lightweight, portable air compressors, especially designed for charging scuba tanks.

Maintaining Your Scuba

All of the scuba equipment on the market is well constructed, but your equipment can be damaged if it is not given reasonable care. If you keep the cylinders, regulators, hoses, tubes and mask assemblies clean, you can expect trouble-free operation for a long time. However, if you encounter any problems that call for replacement of parts or major repairs, it is better to send the apparatus to the dealer or directly to the factory rather than to try to fix it yourself.

The following rules may help you keep your scuba in proper operating condition:
Always stow a cylinder-mounted regulator separately from the cylinders. Never leave the regulator attached in storage.
After use in sea water, thoroughly rinse the regulator and associated assemblies in warm, fresh water. Hang the regulator by its yoke to dry.

Do not allow any water to enter the high-pressure air inlet of a regulator. Insert a rubber stopper into the yoke immediately after detaching a cylinder-mounted regulator. Keep it in place when rinsing. Remove it only before mounting the regulator.

When washing the regulator, pour fresh water into the mouthpiece several times. Make sure that both the inhalation and exhalation sections of the regulator and breathing tubes are well rinsed.
Make an occasional inspection of rubber exhaust valves to see that salt deposits do not lodge around the edges and cause leakage.

Rinse the air cylinders and high-pressure manifold thoroughly in fresh water to remove all traces of salt deposit. Stow the cylinder assemblies carefully when not in use.Compressed air stored for long periods of time does not show signs of contamination; however, it is recommended that the air be changed at least once a year in idle tanks. Stow cylinders fully charged. Provide yourself with a pressure gauge and check the pressure occasionally. Keep any tanks holding less than 1,500 pounds per square inch away from places where they may inadvertently be put into use.

Tags: water sports

Kindly consider linking to this article by just copying and pasting the code below on your website/blog ( press Ctrl+C to copy the entire code). The text link will look on your website like this: Sources of Safe Air and Maintaining your Scuba

<a href="http://www.water-sports-guide.com/sources-of-safe-air-and-maintaining-your-scuba.html">Sources of Safe Air and Maintaining your Scuba</a>