BCD cleaning after a dive.

[Open Ocean Diver]

Was wondering if anyone takes the inflator off to rinse out their BC? I have an Aqua-Lung Zuma the connection seem easy enough to remove... such a pain to fill through the oral inflator. Was wondering if there is any downside and or upside?

thanks,

Kevin

 

[rsingler]

Unless you have an Airsource 3 with the corrugated hose that clicks apart, I assume you mean unscrewing the corrugated hose at the left shoulder.
I do something very similar (unscrew a dump valve) with my bcd, so no theoretical problem. Not as easy to open the dump valve on the Aqualungs because of their proprietary cover and thin plastic - easy to break.
So if you take off the connection at the shoulder, don't lose the thick rubber washer that seals the two parts. It's easy to get stuck in one half, forget that it's there, and then have it drop out while you're working the hose.
Second, it's also easy to cross-thread the plastic fittings, since they're fine. So be extra careful putting it back together.
Finally, there's sometimes a ?12-sided? boss that is on the fitting, that fits into a similarly shaped recess on the shoulder of your vest. If your connection has that, make sure the angle of your connector is exactly how you want it, or you'll have to unscrew and reposition it. And if the boss is not in the recess, you won't be able to screw it down fully.

But no, no problem with doing it this way. I agree - working thru the inflator fitting is slow and frustrating. Though do make sure to rinse that fitting well, too. It's the most failure prone part of the bcd due to corrosion.

 

[FreeFlyFreak]

You can buy the adapter that fits on a hose pipe and attaches to the inflator valve.

I have one, but i haven't had a chance to use it yet.

 

[Open Ocean Diver]

Unless you have an Airsource 3 with the corrugated hose that clicks apart, I assume you mean unscrewing the corrugated hose at the left shoulder.
I do something very similar (unscrew a dump valve) with my bcd, so no theoretical problem. Not as easy to open the dump valve on the Aqualungs because of their proprietary cover and thin plastic - easy to break.
So if you take off the connection at the shoulder, don't lose the thick rubber washer that seals the two parts. It's easy to get stuck in one half, forget that it's there, and then have it drop out while you're working the hose.
Second, it's also easy to cross-thread the plastic fittings, since they're fine. So be extra careful putting it back together.
Finally, there's sometimes a ?12-sided? boss that is on the fitting, that fits into a similarly shaped recess on the shoulder of your vest. If your connection has that, make sure the angle of your connector is exactly how you want it, or you'll have to unscrew and reposition it. And if the boss is not in the recess, you won't be able to screw it down fully.

But no, no problem with doing it this way. I agree - working thru the inflator fitting is slow and frustrating. Though do make sure to rinse that fitting well, too. It's the most failure prone pay of the bcd due to corrosion.

Thanks so much this is very helpful, I’ve been wonder about this for some time. This will make my life so much easier, I live in a condo so limited to the tub.

thanks,

Kevin

 

[rsingler]

You can buy the adapter that fits on a hose pipe and attaches to the inflator valve.

You may be disappointed in the fill rate. I have one, but abandoned it, because you have to stand there with the inflator button depressed to fill the bcd thru a pinhole in the inflator fitting. The big hose fools you.
But others like it, so see what you think.

 

[ibj40]

Was wondering if anyone takes the inflator off to rinse out their BC? I have an Aqua-Lung Zuma the connection seem easy enough to remove... such a pain to fill through the oral inflator. Was wondering if there is any downside and or upside?

thanks,

Kevin

I dive an Airsource, my wife dives a conventional inflator.

I clean both BCD's the same way.

Remove whatever is on the left shoulder, fill the BC from a garden hose, reconnect whatever was on there, shake like it's 1999, and then evacuate by removing all "dumps" and spinning the BC like a Majorette.

Once convinced that most of the water is gone, inflate orally and dry upside down on a lawn chair to dry the outside.

Before I store I dump the left side one more time.

 

[Bill Jones]

Was wondering if anyone takes the inflator off to rinse out their BC? I have an Aqua-Lung Zuma the connection seem easy enough to remove... such a pain to fill through the oral inflator. Was wondering if there is any downside and or upside?

thanks,

Kevin

I have a ScubaPro Hydros Pro and I always flush my BCD after use by unscrewing the dump valves and also pour water in the inflator hose.

 

[foob]

One thing to keep in mind unscrewing and screwing hoses repeatedly increasing the chance of messing up (stripping) threads if not careful.

I personally don't need to remove the inflator hose to get water in the bcd to rinse it out. It is slightly easier if I remove the hose but not by much for me to justify the hassle.

You decide whether it's worth it. I'm not advocating one way is better or worse. It's just tradeoffs.

 

[Divectionist]

On my X-Tek wing after external rinsing of the whole bp/w:

- unscrew the rear dump (very easy and comes out as one piece that I separately rinse)
- fill the wing with a mix of water and BCD cleaner through the generous hole where the dump valve screws into
- reinstall the rear dump, inflate orally, slosh the water around
- dump water mainly through the inflator hose so that gets a good wash
- hang the bp/w to dry and do a couple of cycles of oral inflation and dump valve drains to get the last bit out
- store semi inflated in airtight case once dry

This ensures that the dump is entirely salt free and I don’t have to tediously pour water into the inflator to fill the bladder.

Also, I like using one of those pressure spray bottles to spot rinse important equipment immediately after dives, sometimes even before a long SI.

 

[Fastmarc]

I'm not sure why you seem to be having difficulty filling through the oral inflator. My experience with 3 different BCD is that it's super easy, barely an inconvenience. It fills with water quite quickly for me (seconds). I just use the open hose (no nozzle attached). Don't even need to turn the flow up too much.
I rarely end up with water in my wing after a dive, but I always rinse it at least 3 times with a good amount of water and really sloshing it around with it fully inflated with air. I drain it through both the dump and oral inflate.
I would feel a bit apprehensive with repeatedly unscrewing and screwing with plastic threads.