BC Failure Mode

[dave4868]

Wait a minute.......freak.....who you calling a freak....I prefer weird old dude in that old junk, thank you very much. :mooner:

My vintage friends will appreciate that one! Thanks for the chuckle!

Dave C

 

[aquaregia]

What is the deal with this CO2 canister anyway? In case they find my corpse at the bottom and want to send it back up to mom? It seems like AGE waiting to happen.

 

[mksmith713]

That thing would make a nice conversation piece.
Maybe find an old mannequin and outfit it in vintage gear and keep it in your living room.
I was considering that when I found this vintage 60's wetsuit.
The only problem is........I'm still using my old ScubaPro regs.....

 

[redacted]

What is the deal with this CO2 canister anyway? In case they find my corpse at the bottom and want to send it back up to mom? It seems like AGE waiting to happen.

The little cylinder makes a good handle for use in a 1st stage LP port. But you will want to use the mechanism to discharge it before using it for a reg handle. I count those among the interesting parts.

I believe is was meant for use only on the surface.

 

[aquaregia]

I found some hissing at the CO2 port. I'm gonna aquaseal the join and see what it does.

I took the bladder off the tank-mounting plate for this, and the backplate seems to have all the attachments I'd need on a hog harness, seems like I could just strap the tank on my back with it... I don't really *need* a BC do I?

 

[herman]

Nope, a lot of us dive without a bladder fairly often...another time I get comments and stange looks.

 

[Zung]

What is the deal with this CO2 canister anyway? In case they find my corpse at the bottom and want to send it back up to mom? It seems like AGE waiting to happen.

The only real true truth: they designed the inflator for the sole purpose of annoying me. I was glad it broke off finally, but I suffered 20 years before that.

 

[BuoyantC]

One more thing to check on an old BC is the male threaded connection for the inflator and dump valves. I have an old Seaquest around somewhere on which the plastic degraded. The jacket was fine, but the threaded connector just crumbled. (it was a cream color and looked like nylon). I'd suggest unscrewing the dump valve and check out the integrity of the BC part . It could be possible to find repair parts, but probably not worth it.

 

[moneysavr]

I recently came across a 30 year old BC that I don't quite trust. I'd like to test it out, but I'm curious about how it's likely to fail. The most catastrophic thing I can imagine is the bladder rupturing under higher pressures. Can I check for something like this by diving the pool a bunch, checking for wear, diving 20' a bunch, checking for wear, etc? Or is it likely to just blow up on me without warning @ 60'?

Followup question: In my OW classes we were taught to ditch weight pretty much any time it occurred to us. However, if I consider ditching 25# of weight @ 40' with a 7mm and an AL80, I'm not sure I could flare hard enough to not shoot to the surface. Would it be stupid to wear two weight belts so I could ditch 10# separately? I can come up with a bunch of reasons it's a bad idea, but I can't come up with something better.

Hey I got the best Idea yet put it back on E-BAY and let the next sucker buy it,

Ok all kidding aside TOSS IT! its junk that's why you got a great deal!I think the average eBay dive junk gets circulated till the US post office finaly loses it!

As I see you are a newer diver,and diving cooler waters with a 7mm wet suit so to get all that positive buoyancy you need a bit of lead to get down and this you will loose =LEAD as you gain more skills diving,
now go to your local LDS and look into a pool dived BCD weight integrated pockets as most shops blow this equipment out as the chlorine begins to fade or turn black BCD's to orange on EBAY! you will get a great deal on a CLEAN BCD and it will stay inflated!
Next lets teach you a trick split your lead put lets say put 8lbs in each pocket=16lbs in your BCD then put a couple of 4lbs on a weight belt and if you need that 1lbs after you learn how to get all the air out of your wet suit throw a 1lb on too,9lbs on a weight belt is not much at all and even most guys with no hips can keep that amount on their butt! then when you do skills like equipment remove & replace you will look like a pro not shooting to the surface at depth!
Hey dive safe and enjoy this some times expensive sport, but remember not to nag you all dive equipment is life support equipment!!! and your life is important to all !!so saving a buck just is not worth losing your life!!!! as a new diver you just don't need any failures as you proceed down the dive learning cure,
Brad

 

[redacted]

Hey I got the best Idea yet put it back on E-BAY and let the next sucker buy it,

Ok all kidding aside TOSS IT! its junk that's why you got a great deal!I think the average eBay dive junk gets circulated till the US post office finaly loses it!

As I see you are a newer diver,and diving cooler waters with a 7mm wet suit so to get all that positive buoyancy you need a bit of lead to get down and this you will loose =LEAD as you gain more skills diving,
now go to your local LDS and look into a pool dived BCD weight integrated pockets as most shops blow this equipment out as the chlorine begins to fade or turn black BCD's to orange on EBAY! you will get a great deal on a CLEAN BCD and it will stay inflated!
Next lets teach you a trick split your lead put lets say put 8lbs in each pocket=16lbs in your BCD then put a couple of 4lbs on a weight belt and if you need that 1lbs after you learn how to get all the air out of your wet suit throw a 1lb on too,9lbs on a weight belt is not much at all and even most guys with no hips can keep that amount on their butt! then when you do skills like equipment remove & replace you will look like a pro not shooting to the surface at depth!
Hey dive safe and enjoy this some times expensive sport, but remember not to nag you all dive equipment is life support equipment!!! and your life is important to all !!so saving a buck just is not worth losing your life!!!! as a new diver you just don't need any failures as you proceed down the dive learning cure,
Brad

It really is funny how phrases like "go to your local LDS" and "all dive equipment is life support equipment" seem to turn up so often in the same post. I guess the "average ebay dive junk" is just the cherry on the top of this BS.

I have bought lots of dive gear on ebay including some unusable BCDs. But the unusable one were always advertised as such. I have never been surprised by a piece of crap from ebay.

That said, I do agree that it is worth checking with you LDS to see what they have. But I suspect the price at the LDS will be much higher than ebay, at least until the LDS gives up on selling their used gear locally and puts it on ebay. But it is worth a try.