Scuba Diving club,
Southern California
“How
to Store Your Diving Gear
for the winter
By Jeff Shipley
The first thing to remember, is that if you continue to use your gear through the winter on one or more dives per month, you might not need to prepare your gear for storage. So, dive more often!
Most
diving gear is subject to corrosion from the salt water. Salt left on the metal parts will continue
to form an oxide, whether it is rust or aluminum oxide or whatever, it will
certainly give a lot of grief! Metal
parts need to be soaked in a solution of vinegar, which is a mild acid. Just washing it and putting it away does not
get all the salt off of the metal.
Also, there are many nooks and crannies, to collect and hold the
corrosion crystals.
Non-metal parts will also hold salt crystals and cause a problem, even if it does not affect the plastic or rubber. Plastic and rubber suffer from exposure to sunlight, smog and heat. They will deteriorate, that is they want to go back to the basic elements that they were formed from. You can protect your wet suit from heat and sun by keeping it inside the house and inside of a protective bag. Wet suit suffers from exposure to our smog. The less it is exposed, the longer it will be before the ozone will start causing the rubber to disintegrate. Rubber bands and shock cords on spear guns go bad from sunlight exposure and time. They should be replaced at least every six months, sooner, or when you resume diving.
When resuming your diving, you should assume that everything might not work correctly. That way, you will be looking for cracks and other signs that will show up. Your regulator should be serviced every year, and before starting diving, you should have it checked or rebuilt.
The more prepared that your gear would be, the better your diving will be.
Jeff Shipley
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Posted March 19, 2004