Hi everybody. And welcome to Scuba Diver Magazine. I'm Mark, and I've been teaching people how
to scuba dive for well over 10 years now. So you'll probably recognize me from the Simply
Scuba channel and even my own channel, Safe Diving.
For this video series, I'm going to be going back to the basics of scuba diving so that
if you're just starting out or even if you're just feeling a little bit rusty, you can dive
back in, fresh in the knowledge in the scuba diving basics. If you enjoy this video and
find it useful, then don't forget to like, and share it online so that your diving friends
can see it as well. And brush up on their skills. If you have any comments, questions,
queries, or even corrections at any part of the video, then let us know down in the comments
below and we, or even our community, will help you out. So let's get into it.
Hi everybody. So in today's video, we're going to be taking a close look at how to change
a mouthpiece on your second stage. Now this is a really easy procedure. You don't need
that many tools. All you're going to need is a pair of side cutters to cut the old one
off. A pair of pliers, I prefer a needle nose pliers, but regular pliers will do. A new
replacement zip tie, and you're also going to need a sharp knife to tidy it up again.
So the first thing that you need to know is that not all mouthpieces are the same size.
So at the moment there isn't a universal mouthpiece that will fit all different brands of second
stage. So it's always worth double checking what size mouthpiece can fit on your second
stage, because you don't want to buy one and then realize that it doesn't fit. But, yeah,
taking the old one off and putting a brand new one on is really, really easy. Let's take
a closer look.
Okay. So there are lots of different reasons why you want to take your old mouthpiece off.
It's either because it's gotten old and it's broken. A lot of the time, if you just pull
on your mouthpiece, just look all the way around this section here that I'm stretching.
And if you see a hole develop in it, that just means that a little amount of water is
eventually just going to seep into that second stage. And it's just going to be an annoyance
during a dive. So it's always worth looking at your mouthpiece.
Other people, they tend to be biters. So they're really damaging this section of the mouthpiece
and that wears out over time. Or you might not like it, you want a slightly different
one, something that's a little bit smaller, or something a bit bigger, or something that's
formed fitted. So yeah, it's always worth knowing how to change your mouthpiece.
Getting the old one off is pretty easy. If it's one of these kind of zip ties where it's
cable tied in position, very easy to remove. Some of them will have a hinge mechanism,
so you can reuse it. Obviously don't cut those off because you can reuse it. But if it looks
like this, then yeah, you can just cut it off. And the important thing is when you're
doing this, is not to damage the second stage, or try not to damage the actual mouthpiece.
If you're going to use this for a spare.
So I'm using a pair of side cutters. The way I like to do it is I very loosely get underneath
this main block head and just lift it out a little bit before applying any kind of pressure.
And then when you're satisfied that it's free and it's not going to cut anything apart from
that cable tie, just give it a squeeze until that comes off. As you can see, there's no
damage there. So discard the old mouthpiece. Now what you'll notice, if you can see that
on the camera at the top, is that on this mouthpiece, it physically says "top" on it.
So mouthpieces will have a top and a bottom, so you can put it on upside down if you're
not paying attention. So yeah, just take an eye and make sure that, well, basically the
new one that goes on is the right way up. Give that a little tug. That'll be it. And
that's your old mouthpiece gone. Don't discard it if it's not damaged because you can always
use that as a spare.
And this is the section that changes size on different regulators. So depending on your
regulator manufacturer, sometimes it could be a little bit bigger. Sometimes it's a little
bit smaller. So before you go and just buy a mouthpiece because it looks cool, just double
check that it will fit your second stage. Okay. Now that regulates mouthpiece is off.
Let's take a look at how to fit a brand new one.
Okay. So now we've got the old mouthpiece off. Of course, we need to put a new mouthpiece
on. Now there's nothing wrong with the mouthpiece that I've already taken off so I'm just going
to put that one back on. So yeah.
So first of all, looking at the mouthpiece. Yes, you've got "top" written on the top.
So this goes on the highest section. On the underside, you may have some numbers, you
may have nothing written at all. And if there's nothing written on it at all, then chances
are it's ambidextrous so it doesn't really matter which way it goes up.
Now, the important thing to note is, one, that you have the right size mouthpiece so
that it does actually fit over this section of your second stage. And the second is that
on the inside, you probably won't be able to see it on the camera, but there's an internal
ridge. And what that's going to do is it's going to latch onto this section of this,
and that acts as a bit of a stopper to stop it from moving around.
So when you're it back on, just take note of which way is up and then push it on and
then kind of push it all the way onto the second stage as far as it will go. And that
kind of ridge should seat itself on the inside. Now, make sure that it's nice and straight
and flat because of course it's silicone. So you can have it on at a slight odd angle.
This isn't going to be any good because your second stage is going to always want to twist
and that's just going to get annoying. So make sure that it's nice and straight and
nice and flat. I've gone a bit too far the other way now, and there we go.
So, once that's in position, you'll also have a trough all the way around, and this is where
your cable ties going to go and that's going to clamp it in position and stop that mouthpiece
from becoming yanked off. If you don't have that cable tie, then it's very easy for someone
to catch on that hose. And because you're biting down on the mouthpiece, your second
stage is going to come out, and your mouthpiece is going to stay in your mouth. So you think
that second stage is still in and all you're going to do is you're just going to get a
mouth full of water. So it's important to cable tie it.
So with your cable tie, I like to create a loop and then put the block, the head, to
this section of the cable tie down in the corner of my mouth. So it's out of the way.
So I like to put that in position first, pull a majority of the cable tie tight, and just
slowly reassess it from there. If you have this section up at the top or down at the
bottom, then sometimes your lips can find that during the dive, that just gets annoying.
Whereas, if it's in the corner of your mouth, it's not so much an issue. So finger tight
isn't quite enough. So that's why I use a pair of pliers, and I just grab hold of it
and then just twist it. And you hear it gets a few clicks. Once you get a few clicks, probably
about three, maybe four, that's usually pretty tight. If you do it too much, then you can
either damage the cable tie or you can actually pinch the silicone of the mouthpiece and damage
it. So you don't want to do that.
The next bit is you just cut that section off as close to that block as you can, with
your side cutters. And unfortunately that leaves a really sharp edge and your lips are
really going to find that. That's going to be very uncomfortable. So I like to shave
that down. Now, this is the dangerous part because you're going to be using a knife.
I use a single-edged razor blade, but use anything that you're comfortable with. You
have to be really, really careful so you don't cut yourself or your dive equipment. I've
done this many, many times, so I'm quite confident with it, but yeah, if you're not confident,
then take it really slow and really easy. And all I'm doing is just slicing that very
edge off so it's nice and flat. Give it a feel, make sure there's no sharp edges and
there you are done.
So of course this is much easier with a reusable cable tie. We're seeing more and more of those
on new regulators. I haven't actually seen anywhere where you can buy them as a separate
item, but maybe in the future, we'll start seeing them on the markets. But cable ties,
you can get these everywhere and there's nothing special about scuba diving ones. Just make
sure you get one that's a sensible size, but that's it. Fitting a new regulator mouthpiece
is really, really easy.
Okay. So now you're a bit savvier with your scuba diving basics. Don't forget to subscribe
to the Scuba Diver Magazine channel to stay up to date with the latest scuba diving news
and advice. And don't forget to put your comments down below in the comments. Thank you for
watching. And of course, safe diving.