Disinfecting the loop

Pawel Szopinski

How often and to what extend to you disinfect your loop?

Am I OK just washing the loop with the DSV still on or shall I take it all apart?

I normally rinse my loop, canisters, canister moisture pads if they are wet and counterlungs after each day of diving, but I have just bought some Virkon and want to start disinfecting it every couple of weeks.

I will soak the loop and counterlungs for 30-60min and wash the can with it.

Will it be OK to soak the pads in it as well? I have seen some really nasty in my buddy's breather (yack!).

I also have some neoprene covers on the loop, will it survive or fade/rot?

Cheers,
Pawel

mempilot

I disinfect the loop after every day of diving. 10 minutes of soak with either Virkon or more recently Microban QCG.

Letting a loop go un-disinfected for several weeks is a recipe for all kinds of respiratory infections. Think about this. What grows in dark damp places?

If you do it often, a quick squirt down or soak is all it takes.

For frequent diving, I leave the loop assembled and pour a half a gallon of diluted mixture into the inhale hose which then flows into the CL. I let some flow through the DSV and into the exhale side. I pour the other half gallon into the exhale hose where it flows into the exhale CL.

This process takes only 2 oz of Microban, and ensures I can swish it around. I don't like just spraying virkon, since the corregated hoses don't really get 100% disinfected that way.

After swishing it to ensure everything is coated, I let it sit 10 minutes, pour it out, and then flush it with clean water from the inhale side.

If I'm storing the unit for a long time before the next dive, I take apart the loop and do the process on each unit prior to packing it away.

Neoprene breeds bacteria. Spray the loop covers down or soake the whole thing submerged in the solution. This will keep the neoprene smelling good and will keep it clean.

As for moisture pads, washing them in the machine with clothes will not kill all the bacteria. Soak them in the same solution. I buy the material in bulk and just make new pads every couple of months.

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Eric Stadtmueller, otherwise known as, MEM "Da Pilot"

Ben Field

Going away for the weekend I will just drain the lung butter and rinse with water on the saturday and then do a full wash and clean after the weekend.

Diving for a week I normally rinse every day, rinse with a quick spray of cleaner every other... normally it is not practical even on a large livaboard to do a full wash.

Back home after a trip is the time for stripping, spraying, soaking, rinsing and careful drying IMO.

My instructor covered this in Mod1, check with yours if it wasn't covered. (Seeing as you did your course recently)

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www.hugsac.org.uk

gtzavelas

I think this is an interesting thread
http://www.rebreatherworld.com/dive-...infection.html
to keep in mind when deciding how often to dissinfect.....

Rob Dobson

I disinfect mine using Virkon whenever there's a break in the usage of the unit. If I am diving back to back weeks there is typically a day at the end of the week which is a dry day so I'll use that to clean the unit before the diving resumes. If I use the unit one day and then it's going away for a week then I'll disinfect it when I get home.

I do loop, CL's, can, moisture pads and soak the scrubber can.

Pawel Szopinski

It was covered by the course, but my instructor said not to be too anal about it.

I was just wondering how often people do it as some of you seem to take it really seriously and if there is much of the point taking the loop (DSV, hoses, T-pieces etc) apart as some of you do as well or just soak and wash the whole thing assembled as advised.

I also wanted to see from the logistical point of view, what people do on the longer trips, especially on the boats or in remote locations.

Mike Costanzo

Another question? After breaking the unit down, doing a thorough wash, disinfecting the loop, etc... How do you store your unit? Assembled or broken down? If say you won't be diving for several weeks or possible one or two months. Any suggestions?

Thanks

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Mike

jo_c

As I usually dive weekends only, I'll clean out after a weekend away. For longer trips (a week) I tend to rinse with water every day or two and probably clean once a week.

If you're somewhere tropical after 3 or 4 days the loop tends to get a nasty taste Time to clean !

Pawel Szopinski

Assuming it's all dry, I would assemble the unit for storage with the cap on the can and head stored separately.

IKM

6-12 months, but I have only pedigree germs.

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It tastes like air ....