Help please. BC Repair

[skippy311]

Right, I am off to patch some old bcds!

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

What about Tenacious Tape? I'm aware of a few buddies who have used it on inflatable sleeping pads for backpacking. They still inflate until very firm, plus their body weight, and the tape has held up fine. Might be an option?

Is it waterproof? That would be my only concern. Materials can sometimes begin to break down when they get waterlogged.
Even aquaseal can begin to peel off neoprene after a while with repeated immersion (and abuse) for instance. I use it to repair holes in the ends of my fingers on 3 mm & 5 mm gloves.
The other thing that works really well, probably better than aquaseal is automotive windshield/window glass setting urethane in a tube. It’s black and buttery but doesn’t run or flow at all. I put the end of broom stick in a vice upright and pull a sheet of Saran Wrap over it then pull the glove finger over that so it holds shape. Then I paddle on a layer of windshield urethane over the end of the finger and tool it out nice and slick. It will sit there and not flow or run. It’s also somewhat flexible and it lasts for years. I’ve made new ends on fingers that were completely missing! Sikaflex is the most widely used brand.

 

[BoltSnap]

I would NOT trust the gluing or patching of a BC bladder with my life or the life of a loved one or the life of a student! It will fail when you least expect and when you needed it the most. It will fail soon enough. I can't imagine patching the BC bladder as has been suggested in this thread and then handing the BC to my daughter or son for them to use in open water, never.

 

[Dzydvl33]

The Aquaseal worked great!!!! I inflated manually as hard as I could and it is holding. I might add i bit of tear-aid and or another layer of aquaseal just to strengthen a bit. Hell if it starts leaking again a little dab of aquaseal will fix it.

I saw the part about storing it in the freezer in the instructions... I really understand it, but hey, who cares. It works. It's not for me to question the people who made this great product... so my tube is in the freezer and my family got the don't touch speech LOL.

 

[Dzydvl33]

I would NOT trust the gluing or patching of a BC bladder with my life or the life of a loved one or the life of a student! It will fail when you least expect and when you needed it the most. It will fail soon enough. I can't imagine patching the BC bladder as has been suggested in this thread and then handing the BC to my daughter or son for them to use in open water, never.

Duely noted. I believe to each their own.

For me. I know how small these holes are, the fact that a BC bladder is almost never under any real pressure, and that even if MY BC Failed 100% I could swim it to the surface and/or dump weight to remain positive in an emergency situation. I believe a BC should not be seen as a life saving device and it should be seen as nothing more than a trim device to make life easier. That's my view on it.

Bottom line. To everyone that reads this thread. If you do not feel comfortable repairing, patching, or otherwise working on your gear... Don't.

Dive and let Dive.
Happy Diving All

 

[BoltSnap]

Duely noted. I believe to each their own.

For me. I know how small these holes are, the fact that a BC bladder is almost never under any real pressure, and that even if MY BC Failed 100% I could swim it to the surface and/or dump weight to remain positive in an emergency situation. I believe a BC should not be seen as a life saving device and it should be seen as nothing more than a trim device to make life easier. That's my view on it.

Bottom line. To everyone that reads this thread. If you do not feel comfortable repairing, patching, or otherwise working on your gear... Don't.

Dive and let Dive.
Happy Diving All

I can breath from a Tank without a regulator to save my life if a regulator fails to deliver air, I have done it before, but I will never use a suspect regulator thinking that if it fails I can just breath directly from the tank. Same line of thinking for the BC. A BC isn't a "life vest" for sure but it serves a critical function in our diving system that makes it a universally used piece of equipment in all types of diving. It is one thing to use a patched BC in cleaning a swimming pool or the bottom of your boat, perhaps, but it is totally different when using it for real diving in open water conditions going deeper than where you can stand on your feet with your chest above water. The patching will fail when you least expect it without warnings when you needed it the most.

 

[D_Fresh]

Is it waterproof? That would be my only concern. Materials can sometimes begin to break down when they get waterlogged.
Even aquaseal can begin to peel off neoprene after a while with repeated immersion (and abuse) for instance. I use it to repair holes in the ends of my fingers on 3 mm & 5 mm gloves.
The other thing that works really well, probably better than aquaseal is automotive windshield/window glass setting urethane in a tube. It’s black and buttery but doesn’t run or flow at all. I put the end of broom stick in a vice upright and pull a sheet of Saran Wrap over it then pull the glove finger over that so it holds shape. Then I paddle on a layer of windshield urethane over the end of the finger and tool it out nice and slick. It will sit there and not flow or run. It’s also somewhat flexible and it lasts for years. I’ve made new ends on fingers that were completely missing! Sikaflex is the most widely used brand.

Honestly, I don't know if it's properly waterproof... The GearAid website says it's washable after 24 hours of application, but I'm not sure about sustained UW usage...

I mentioned Tenacious Tape because nobody else had mentioned it yet, and hoping that maybe someone would share their own experience(s) with the product.

 

[happy-diver]

How does that help, though I'm sure that it is far too late for my tube.

You see I could tell you that I know verbatim, the lines from Jurassic park
and somehow picked up the idea about preservation of lots of stuff in ice

or that I was involved in the discovery of the arctic frozen mosquito that
had bitten the woolly mammoth therefore preserving it's blood dna from
which I was able to clone a mammoth, but that is also a bit long winded

So I suppose it may have something to do with the freezer keeping the
Aquaseal (TM) in a suspended and firm but not frozen state which after
about fifteen minutes out of said freezer returns to a usable consistency
with all Aquaseal excellent adhering and flexible fixing qualities retained

and if you can still squeeze your tube with the contents squishing inside
it's not too late


I use it heaps for building modding repairing urethane rebreather lungs

Here's a rEvo

can't have more faith than that


Here's the stuff Eric is talking about this suit you could see my knees
polyurethane sealant trowelled it on

Had some wear on the seams of this fusion sock getting a bit thin so
mixed in some xylene and brushed it in for some abrasion resistance

If they don't have this stuff on the space shuttle or whatever they're driving today they're missing out

It's just avoid the unnecessary noise from those who don't know anything but insist on talking anyway


It's much like cutting down your fins just for fun!

and a million other stories from the real universe