Finally figured out why my hot water shutoff kept failing on dives. It was the o-ring lube.

Been diving commercial for about 4 years now and I kept having issues with my hot water shutoff valve sticking or failing mid-dive. Tried replacing the whole valve twice, wasted around $80 on parts. Buddy of mine who's been doing this since the 90s saw me struggling and said 'stop using silicone grease, try christo-lube.' Switched to that MCG 111 stuff and it's been smooth ever since. That was 3 months ago. Anyone else have a random trick that solved a recurring gear problem?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_mila3d ago

And you know what's funny, I had almost the exact opposite problem with my drysuit inflator valve. I was using that fancy christo-lube and it kept freezing up in cold water, swapped back to regular silicone and it's been perfect. Sometimes the old school stuff just works better for certain gear setups.

sarah_mason3d ago

Wait @the_mila, you're saying silicone actually works BETTER in the cold?