Virkon Residue

lizardland

Anyone else found virkon leaving a residual taste/smell? After a year of diving my KISS I thought I'd celebrate with disinfecting it rather than just swilling a bit of water in it once every couple of months. I dived it last night after cleaning the hoses, DSV and lungs with Virkon (about a week earlier) and it tasted foul (even fouler than usual). It was so bad that I turned the dive after only about 20min and even considered bailing to OC for the exit. Very astringent, chemically taste -- not the usual reassuring kebab and beer flavour that my loop normally tastes of.

I thought I'd rinsed it well. Obviously not. Any ideas for getting rid of it? Is trigene kinder? If it matters, it was the farming grade/DEFRA approved virkon.

Cheers,

Stuart

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jhaaja

I have some human use Virkon on my shelf but have not used it yet. The old BuddyClean seems to last forever.

I guess you should just try to rinse it more. Did you leave the disinfectant in for a long time?

JH

gathan

I typically disinfect the loop on my CK, with Virkon, roughly once a week (end of w/e) and have been doing so ever since I first acquired the unit. I have not had any problems at all, but I make sure to obtain a 1% solution after mixing the powder into water, I leave the solution in contact with the KISS parts no longer than 10 minutes, and also rinse everything well.

We (Navy) have been using virkon to disinfect our RBs and other diving kit components for a few years now. The main problem that we have experienced from time to time was rubber deterioration caused by individuals using too strong a mixture and/or leaving parts in contact with the solution for too long.

Andre

lizardland

Not sure what the concentration was, I followed the recommendation on the packet (i.e. one pack for 5L) but it was probably closer to about 6 or 7L. I soaked the parts for maybe 10min max. I thought I'd rinsed everything well, I spent a lot of time trying to get everything out. I'll try rinsing it again.

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Azerbaijani Association of Technical Divers Publicity Officer and Goat Wrangler

AMW

I was talking to a doctor who specialises in viral infectious and he told me the best thing you can use is Dettol surface cleaner

http://www.neat-ideas.com/ENG/Catalo...affixedcode=WW

Has no taste and is harmless to animals.

Andrew.

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Freak214

I have been using A33-Dry, little packets of green stuff to disinfect my dolphin for years. Works great, you just have to make sure the "self dissolving" packet is really dissolved!

JohnL

ScubaDadMiami

I use Virkon after every dive if I am diving once per week, or I will use it when I return home from my trip if I have gone away to dive (rinsing the loop with water at the end of every day during the trip).

I make sure to rinse very well after use. For example, after the ten minute period, I first try dumping the Virkon solution out of the counterlungs. Then, I rinse out the counterlungs four times by fully filling them with water and then doing my best to get all of the water out before filling for the next rinse. (I think of it like doing an oxygen calibration; I want to make sure that only water is left by the end of the process.)

In the head unit, I have a sponge that I use to sponge up the Virkon. Then, I rinse the sponge, and I use that to go over the inside of the head a few times, rinsing frequently. I will also use the sponge on the oxygen sensors (the cases, not the sensor inlets) and the ring for them. I even carefully rinse the wire harness, making sure not to get water on the oxygen sensors.

For the hoses, I run water through, making sure to run the water around the connection points and o-rings, and then I do the same thing from the opposite side. The scrubber canister and connection T's are no big deal to rinse.

After doing all of this, I never notice a taste or have any problem.

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Philippe GERIN

I throw my loop components in a bucket of diluted (30-50%) mouth wash (choose your favorite flavor) for 5 mn before the last rince.
Best
Philippe

Mixaddict

I have been using Virkon for years and never had any problems. I would guess that you had the mixture too strong and didn't rinse it sufficiently. Just my guess.

Jordan

I also use the human version in my loop. I try to rinse the hoses and counterlungs out well, but must admit I'm not as thorough as ScubaDadMiami when it comes to cleaning out the head.

Sometimes I slightly taste a little bit of it, but it is never too strong and it never makes me feel ill. In fact, I've always kinda liked the taste - it tastes clean.... maybe my potty mouth just needs the washing out

I think I remember reading somewhere that it is best to rinse with warm water.

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