Getting the water out of the BC....

[NudeDiver]

So, I've got a Seaquest Black Diamond. After diving (locally), I rinse it out real good and thorough, using fresh water, swishing it around and so forth. Then I dump it out. Shake, shake, shake, I get out as much as I can. I then leave all the dump valves off, and periodically go shake it out some more. Even after several weeks, it still had some water in it. So, how do you get the last of that water out? Do you stick a small vacuum cleaner in there or what?

Thanks!
nd

 

[BlueDevil]

I don't bother! I just drain it out as best I can and leave it at that. I have never taken a dump valve off to get the water out. I have been using BCs for aver 30 years now and have never had any problem caused by a bit of water left inside.

 

[masterof0]

Something that I have done to get that last little bit, is to inflate my bc and let it sit in a position where one of the dump valves in the the lowest spot for about an hour. After that, the last little bit of water accumulates next to the dump valve and when I exhaust the valve, the air pressure pushes out that last little bit.

 

[reefduffer]

I have a travel BC (Oceanic Islander) and I use it for ... traveling. In order to minimize volume in my suitcase I suck the wing flat through the oral inflater. Just like inflating it but in reverse. It has the added benefit of getting it pretty empty of water, which is useful for packing as well. When I do this getting ready to return from a dive trip, I always get a little water out as well, but in any case, it seems pretty empty of both air and water when I'm done. I mean flat.

Unless you're squeamish about getting the rinsewater in your mouth - obviously I'm not - try that. Ought to get it pretty dry. If you don't want to store it that way, you could then inflate it slightly.

 

[diver 85]

Hire that special breed of people called minimicromidgets---they have their own vacuum cleaners that do wonders for wet spots inside a BC bladder---or any small place for that matter......

OR leave it in there if you can not locate any, you're only killing precious time....

 

[divesergeant]

I do similar to masterof0. I hang it so an opening is at the low spot to let it drain overnight, and then take a towel to wipe around inside the opening.

Before that, though, a good wash/rinse with BC Life and then a rinse with Mirazyme will prevent the remaining water from geting too stinky.

Another option is to use a fan like the bilge exhaust fan from a boat along with some PVC-type tubing to circulate some very low pressure air into a dump valve. But sheesh, that's a lot of work!

DS

 

[mpgunner]

This is a great point. I've been pretty lax about getting the water out of the bladders. A periodic rinse is a good idea.

 

[John_B]

I have a BP/W. Because of the shape it is easy to inflate the wing and then turn it upside down to get the water down where the elbow connects to the corrugated inflator hose, then hit the deflator to let the water run out. I do this at the end of each dive. Should work for your BCD.

For saltwater, I take the OPV off at the end of a trip and rinse the inside of the bladder thoroughly. Are the OPVs on your BCD made to come off easily?

 

[FishOutUvH2O]

Thanks to Zeagle, I simply unscrew the inflater, hook-up a garden hose and turn it on until the water starts coming out of the OPV. Then I just hang the wing upside down tilted toward the left side and the water just runs out of the corrugated hose. No fuss, no muss. Love that Zeagle Bx system. BTW, this is on a Halcyon wing.

 

[Zieg]

You actually rinse it? You mean as in getting the gear wet without diving?