BCD Failure

[johndiver999]

How about that big fat bomb of a tank the E8 130?
That sucker’s a waterheater!
The only other tank I heard about that was bigger was one Beauchat made. I believe it was a 190 that filled to 4300 or 4500 psi? It was some insane amount negative in the water, and it also weighed an insane amount full on land. I’ll try to find some info on it.

faber makes a 149, I have one.

 

[inquis]

I mostly agree, except I recently started diving sidemount 2x steel 100s. Even with a wetsuit, ALL weight removed from my BCD, and near-empty tanks I still sink

Why the exception? That's still "overweighted", pretty much by definition. ("Weight" comes in forms other than lead bricks.) The fact you're OK with the degree of overweighting you have is a different consideration.

 

[rx7diver]

I mostly agree, except I recently started diving sidemount 2x steel 100s. Even with a wetsuit, ALL weight removed from my BCD, and near-empty tanks I still sink. I also am sometimes too lazy to remove weights from my BCD, but that's my fault.

Hmmm. If you are diving wet with two heavy steel cylinders such that you are negatively buoyant even with both cylinders empty, then I am guessing that either you are using redundant buoyancy, or you are prepared to ditch your cylinders in an emergency. Is this correct?

I do not dive sidemount. Can your sidemount scuba be jettisoned as quickly/immediately as a weight belt can be dropped? Will someone coming to your rescue know how to do this?

rx7diver

 

[crofrog]

I mostly agree, except I recently started diving sidemount 2x steel 100s. Even with a wetsuit, ALL weight removed from my BCD, and near-empty tanks I still sink. I also am sometimes too lazy to remove weights from my BCD, but that's my fault.

and that's why you need some form of redundant buoyancy when diving that...

 

[SlugLife]

Hmmm. If you are diving wet with two heavy steel cylinders such that you are negatively buoyant even with both cylinders empty, then I am guessing that either you are using redundant buoyancy, or you are prepared to ditch your cylinders in an emergency. Is this correct?

I do not dive sidemount. Can your sidemount scuba be jettisoned as quickly/immediately as a weight belt can be dropped? Will someone coming to your rescue know how to do this?

rx7diver

and that's why you need some form of redundant buoyancy when diving that...

Yes, I always have redundant buoyancy in the form of a DSMB, that is always in my pouch that's always on my BCD.

I'm not severely overweighted, but it does still qualify as overweighted when I'm diving with 2x steels.

 

[Col611]

I dont know if this is the proper subforum but here's the story. Was doing a dive last week with an experienced dive buddy. Surface chop was a bit rough. The boat did not use a tag line for divers waiting their turn in the water. My buddy and I both ascended and I proceeded to board the boat. After sitting down, I looked and saw a different diver boarding. I figured the guy just skipped ahead of my buddy (as happened to my on a previous dive). I didnt see my buddy but figured it was the choppy water and my angle of vision obscuring him. He did board a minute or two later and turns out the rear shoulder dump on his Mares BCD came completely unscrewed allowing the air out and water to fill his BCD. He didn't realize what had happened and kept sinking despite repeatedly inflating his BCD and finning. After dropping 30ft, he dropped his weights and surfaced. Once on the boat, the failure became apparent. The BCD is only a few years old and had been serviced about a year ago. How often does this occur and how does one prevent it from happening?

BCD fail today. Tested fine full inflate on boat. inflator hose broke off.
Bottom dump also broke off and upper dump is cracked. Looks to me wrong plastic gone brittle.
Can find nothing on line of this brand.
BCD about 10 years /100 dives old.
Theres plenty of gear out there older…..

 

[Big Dan K]

My inflator hose fell off twice when getting into the water right after a BCD service when I was a newer diver. The first time, the o-ring fell out into the water. The 2nd time, the o-ring was salvaged for a moment, then lost as the assembly was being screwed back on (I learned not to replace it while in deep murky water, and to keep spares).

An instructor who was on the dive advised me to not service my gear so often and "if it ain't broke, don't fix it".

When I complained to the LDS that it was the 2nd time the inflator hose fell off right after service, they said it was my responsibility to ensure all the valves were finger-tight before going diving - even after service.

Anyway, I learned to check my valves and connections regularly, if not before every dive.

This is why I love ScubaBoard. For the last 20 years I thought this had only happened to me. My inflator hose fell off on the first dive after a BCD service also. The threads looked fine, so I think the fitting to the inflator was just not screwed in tightly and worked it’s way loose.

 

[johndiver999]

I've seen it or had it happen at least 10 times. The plastic they use on many seaquest and us divers is/was horrible and it just decomposes and cracks and fails catastrophically.