Dust Caps - The Good, Bad & Ugly - Scuba Tech Tips: S10E09

All divers learn to protect their first stage with a dust cap, but are they all the same? Alec compares dust cap pointing out some models actually may put water into the first stage, not prevent it.
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[@jjusia2883]

Only Alec can take a simple thing like a dust cap and make it entertaining & educational!

[@vpraczynski9013]

You didn't mention DIN. I know same rules apply.

[@mrchriscarleton]

Pro tip: cut that little tail off of the dust cap that secures it to your regulator and throw it in the trash bin. When you remove your dust cap to put your reg on your tank you can then put the cap back in your reg bag and leave it on the boat/shore. When you finish the dive and disconnect your reg from the tank, the dust cap is still dry!! :O Hole/no hole becomes irrelevant and life is good! (Maybe don't do that with rental gear though! The shop staff might not appreciate it!)

[@coordinatorsts.freereg2777]

You could use bathroom silicone sealant to fill the hole of the "bad" dustcap to convert it to a "good" dustcap

[@scorpaenascrofa6510]

Thank you for the videos! But in this case there is nothing wrong with the caps. The failure happens when such a cap goes in the water and gets wet. Just remove them from the reegulators before diving!

[@elenavivaldo553]

Removing water from dust caps is even more critical for din regulators.. those hold 2 measures of rum

[@fasst27]

I get the feeling that dust caps probably come from some welding, healthcare (oxygen) or other land based application.

[@LarsSveen]

I can feel Kevin's frustration, haha.

[@TheVinny360]

I’m new to the underwater world an that’s definitely a good tip I never even thought of 👌

[@ScubaGirl68]

Nice piece and I would agree regarding the ones that you showed, which were all for yoke/a-clamp/international 1st stage setups. There is another type that looks like a rubber ball at the end on the piece that attaches it to the yoke. Again these are popular. They work and don't have the hole to hole that teaspoon of water. For DIN things are a lot different. The dust cap goes over the screw thread and has to have a large hole. There are a variety of different makes, but they all essentially work the same. As for blasting the dust cap with your tank/cylinder post-dive, guilty as charged and I will continue to do it. I do look. I do protect the 1st stage as I'm doing it. Blowing with your mouth can result in phlem getting on the dust cap. I seem to recall you talking about techniques for drying the dust caps before. The only time I've ever had a problem was when a member of the boat crew put the cap in place without drying it first. He'd taken the tank off my BC as soon as I was on the back of the boat and before I knew it, he'd put the dust cap in place too. That was with a yoke-style 1st stage and a good dust cap. I see already that some people don't like diving with their dust caps. I've always attached mine to my 1st stage and they go diving with me. Why? They can get lost or stolen otherwise. Also, it can rain whilst I'm diving. That dust cap will get wet if it does, so you're back to square one.

[@MrDunk66]

Great tip!

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thanks Dunk. Alec

[@owenmougenot712]

Hi Alec. You wondered why the holes are there? the simple answer is the cap takes slightly less plastic or rubber to make. so when designers assume that the only requirement of the cap is to push down on the reg it is made to do that with the least amount of material. the buttress's do the same function just give a thin part more strength. I recall seeing one that was a solid rubber ball shape I think it was an old scubapro unit. take care Owen m

[@paihpais]

I dont know why would anyone dislike this.

[@GastrophetDrum]

Alec you're great, but those aren't flying buttresses. The flying ones are the ones that have an arch built in, so there is blank space between part of the buttress and the main structure. Ok, pedantry done.

[@robadex8043]

hey Alec great video the deep recess in the last dustcap is so it can fit over DIN regulators as well (the DIN reg has a short bit without thread on the reg, which the recess fits snuggly around) saves the manufacturer some cost, because they only need one dustcap for yoke and DIN regs

[@mrchriscarleton]

I don't think so. That unthreaded tip is pretty tiny. It wouldn't take much to knock off the dust cap if it were just clinging on like that. I've only ever seen two types of dust caps for DIN. 1) Threaded dust caps that screw onto the regulator and 2) the "condom style" that slip on over the threads.

[@robadex8043]

@@mrchriscarleton my SP MK20 reg came with such a dustcap, and it fits pretty snuggly maybe we are talking about diffrent parts of the connector

[@mrchriscarleton]

@@robadex8043 Huh... interesting. Ok then! The more you know! lol

[@tazzer9797]

Keep up the great worl Alex .... just one quick question ... why didnt you mention the round ball style dust cap...lol... STAY SAFE

[@gregbruner1918]

Really like Scuba Pro regs but they have a terrible dust cap. I stopped taking the dust cap in the water with me. Stays nice and dry.

[@rickkinney2544]

Alec, what do you think of the ACD (Automatic Closure Device) available on some regulators. Are they practical, a good idea, a gimmick or something that just doesn't work in the real world? It seems like it should be a good concept.

[@casvanommeslaeghe]

I think he's done a video on that already. kzbin.info/www/bejne/iF65k5p_rNuFiM0

[@chiranagheorghitaeugeniuth98]

Hold that for a minute. what about DIN dust caps? alu vs plastic?

[@mrchriscarleton]

DIN dust caps will always have a deep hole because they have to go over threads. Getting water out of a DIN dust cap will always be a pain. The solution: don't have the dust cap attached to the reg. Leave the dust cap on the boat/shore where it will stay dry during the dive.

[@chiranagheorghitaeugeniuth98]

@@mrchriscarleton I was just teasing Alec :). And yes Din caps never in the water. keep them dry and put them on dry.

[@markstengel7680]

Hi Alec, Started watching when news alert: school shooting in saugus in the santa clarita valley. This is where i moved from in late 2017. When you mentioned Buttress i thought of the Flying Buttress's used in Gothic churches in europe. I enjoyed your latest episode on Dust Caps. Best Regard's, Mark

[@josephdracula7487]

👍

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thank you. A

[@theMekanik]

First!!! 🤘🏻😎🤘🏻

[@jedla01]

Here in EU using DIN regs, in lot of cases, you have completely same dust cap, but without the holding force from the yoke. So the dust cap sits on the reg just barely a any manipulation knocks it off. I've solved that with buying this: www.ebay.com/itm/OTG-Scuba-Diving-Delrin-Threaded-Dust-Cap-For-Din-First-Stage-Regulator-OG-55/291655986568?hash=item43e80d2d88:g:rcgAAOSwJ71acEQB but I had to add another seal inside to have it seal the hole completely. Then, I am keeping it in dry place whenever I mount regulator on a tank and not bringing it under water. When I come back to surface and want to dismount my reg from tank, I prepare that dust cover, trying to keep it dry (sometimes carrying it using the tread and my teeth) and as I remove reg I put dry dust cap just right on it. No blows, no delays, just right away. I saw recently a lot of divers to not have any dust caps at all and as they wash their equipment, they dismount reg from tank and spray fresh water even to the hole! Not pushing it inside, but like a bit from distance. It is not salt water, but still.

[@dannyharland6915]

The dust cap stops dirt or sand or dust getting into the first stage

[@seikibrian8641]

"I don't know why they're called dust caps. ...there's no dust underwater." Yeah, but you don't put them in place underwater. You put them in place for storage *on the surface* where there is a lot of dust.

[@bloodymarvelous4790]

There's no dust underwater? Shouldn't your first stage be on your cylinder when you're underwater? I don't think you're supposed to fit a dust cap to your first stage when you're underwater. It's put on the first stage when you're out of the water. Plenty of dust in your home, and sand on the beach.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Hard to breath underwater with a dust cap on! A