Power inflator malfunction stats?

[northernone]

Just a straw pole regarding how common a sticky inflator on a bcd is and the typical outcome.

In my first 10 ow dives in various rental gear where I first encountered the BCD I experienced two and witnessed one other. Thankfully I've worked around air tools and the quick disconnect came easily. The other guy on the cattle boat went up like recent bp/w sales.

Background: I grew up on my parents circa 1970 gear and the co2 cartridge was emergency only so my distrust of a power inflator is high and run only oral inflate whenever practical, especially with gloves.

And yes, after the first sticky inflator I always checked my rental gear on the boat, still had it stick mid dive at 90ft or so.


Regards,
Cameron

 

[clownfishsydney]

My very first BCD used to stick about every 20 dives. I always meant to pull it apart and clean at about 15, but mostly did not. Easy to disconnect, as should be every inflator hose.

 

[cerich]

IMHO and observations over the years, power inflator failure (auto inflate) is the most common equipment failure and again IMHO also the most dangerous.

Rental BCD's it is not uncommon at all, and most inflators if "serviced" will fail again fairly quickly because of the design of many inflators. the only inflator that has proven itself to me that can be serviced and returned to like new durability and dependability is the SP Balanced. All others when you have a failure, replace don't service

 

[rhwestfall]

25 years of diving with my own gear, and never a problem (though I am almost exclusively a fresh water diver). Contrasting this to my daughter who is taking lessons right now with shop provided equipment, and in the first two days of pool skills, her inflator(s) each time were not functioning properly....

I hesitate to put our gear on her for the pool as the chlorine is just too abusive, but she will be in our equipment for her open water dives.

 

[Tigerman]

You kinda need to put failures like this in relation to number of dives or hours in the water for it to make much sense especially as a lot of people on scubaboard has A LOT of dives.
That being said - I've seen it ONCE and it was in my very early days of diving (infact on my AOW training). I have never had a problem with it on my own gear.
Runaway buddy

 

[rongoodman]

My roommate on this last Aggressor trip had an issue with slow continued inflation. The crew was able to repair it without having to replace it, but I don't know the exact problem. I will be taking a spare on the Cocos Island trip anyway.

 

[Brandon]

Checking your gear before a dive will usually identify a stuck inflator.

It doesn't seem to matter how well you rinse them, in salt, the valve eventually corrodes and the deposits prevent it from working smoothly. You can disassemble the valve, clean it the best you can, and maybe get in a few more dives before it fails again, but it's quicker/easier to just replace the entire inflator. Takes all of 2 minutes.

45-degree Oral Power Inflator | Dive Gear Express®

$15, chuck one in your save a dive kit with two high quality zip ties and call it a day.

 

[tbone1004]

don't see many stuck ones but have a couple of times. that said, I see a LOT of leaky ones. Unfortunately the industry has decided that regulators need to be rebuilt every 1-2 years, but tank valves and bcd inflators don't. Also unfortunately most people don't rinse them adequately and that causes them to stick. For my personal gear, when used in the salty stuff, I use the DSS hose adapter to blow water through the nipple and clean the guts of the inflator out. I don't think any other type of rinsing will really clean them out properly though. Cheap insurance for me.

@cerich what makes the scubapro balanced inflators better than the other designs for rebuild? I've never taken one apart to check it out but this isn't the first time I've heard that

 

[Freewillow]

My daughter got one and made an uncontrolled ascent from 60 feet. Luckily enough, she exhaled and had no damage. It was at the beginnig of the dive.

Since then, when I use my power inflator a a certain depth, I am alwas prepared to disconnect if that happens.

I got recently a valve that did not shut instantly. i changed the valve. Easy to do and cost nothing.

Now, I amm changing the valve every second year. I test the inflator SEVERAL times with small bursts before any dive.

 

[fmerkel]

It's one of the most overlooked and under serviced parts of the dive kit. People will spend $hundreds$ on regulator 'life support' and ignore this.....until that elevator ride. Since it's not a reg, it often gets not care until it fails.

I have the 45* power Inflator Brandon links to. It's one of the best in the business, cheap to replace, even cheaper and easy to service. I carry both an entire spare and a 'core' unit that can be swapped out in a minute.