Posted by Gerry on January 11, 2001 at 14:58:43:
In Reply to: Breathing Wet? posted by mattschechter on January 11, 2001 at 12:26:03:
My old Mares regs are well known for breathing wet when upside down. I believe it is because the large exhaust valve at the bottom of the reg chamber is so flexible (for easy exhalation) as to permit some backflow in that position. The smaller dual ports of other regs seem to seal better when inverted than the single large port of the Mares. Does your reg have a single large port? If so that may be the answer to your first question. As to whether it could damage the reg I wouldn't worry, the most delicate parts are upstream of the valve and seat, and should still stay dry. Any water would have to flow against air pressure of 120-140 psi to get in there. The materials from which the reg is mfg'd can take occasional dunking in salt water, just be sure to rinse in fresh and air-dry the reg. None of this makes breathing a wet reg any more pleasant/safe, but if a tech checks it out (try Jim Hoffman) and it still breaths wet inverted, you'll have to chalk it up to a design flaw.
FWIW
GS