BCD Patching Question

[redacted]

If you are in a situation where a BCD is life support, then you should have a double bladder or some other redundant device.

 

[fisherdvm]

The way that standards have dropped, almost every piece of gear is "life support equiptment". Including a "dry" snorkel, fins, and retractable clippy thingy... Oh, might I add... A divemaster? That is if you had a "scuba diver" certification.

 

[mrlipis]

Their seems to be a number of folks on this board who are afraid to service their regulators, repair their BCD, or change their mask strap. And they think you should be equally afraid. As long as you can swim your rig up, a BCD failure is not going to cause a major safety risk for a competent diver.

I respectfully disagree with this statement. No one said anything about a mask strap. We are talking about a finger size hole through both sides of the bladder, which in a failure would probably empty a BC pretty quick. I would like to see you descend to a 100' without the use of your BC. I hope you have a bottom to stop your descent. Emergencies don't happen at opportune times. A BC failure during a deep descent could get hairy real quick especially on a wall dive. The OP has 0-24 dives and he is getting advice on a DIY fix that could potentially cost him his life. That in my opinion is irresponsible. Almost all accidents culminate from one problem leading to another, when the task loading becomes too great, panic sets in.

Bruce

 

[fisherdvm]

I would like to see you descend to a 100' without the use of your BC.
Bruce

I think it is possible in warm water. Certainly you would be a little negative, and have to keep finning. Breath control alone might be sufficient for more experienced diver. But you are absolutely correct in the case of cold water. I have tried to ascend without any air in my BC in cold water and 14 mm of neoprene on my trunk, and it was a little difficult until you get more shallow. I met a local diver who said she can dive with a 3 mm full suit without using any air in her BC. She said she used breath control only. But she likely got her weighting down to a tee. I'll bet that she fins alot more early in the dive, than toward the end of the dive (you are 5 lbs more positively buoyant).

I truly believe that I can repair that hole so it will not fail. I certainly can not say that for any individuals. But if there is a will, there is a way.

 

[captain]

The way that standards have dropped, almost every piece of gear is "life support equiptment". Including a "dry" snorkel, fins, and retractable clippy thingy... Oh, might I add... A divemaster? That is if you had a "scuba diver" certification.

Actually I have a Scuba Diver certification. That was the only type other than instructor in 1970. We didn't have BC's, they hadn't been invented yet. If they weren't necessary then, they weren't life support and still aren't.

 

[captain]

I would like to see you descend to a 100' without the use of your BC.

Bruce

Come dive with me and see how easy it is.

 

[Scubakevdm]

Hmm, that would suck. Do you think it's due to the fact that it was a crappy patch job or is it just unsafe no matter what? Did his patch have an internal layer AND an external one, or was it just the latter? Why the hell didn't he dump his weights?

I didn't do the forensic examination on the gear, I just brought them up from the bottom. I noticed the patch when I tried to inflate the guy's bcd and air poured out as fast as I could put it in.

One of them did drop their weight belt, but it also became entangled in the flag line, so it didn't really help much.

 

[pwscottiv]

There may be a problem with sending a damaged BCD to the mfgr for repair. Halcyon, for example, has an official policy that their wings are not to be repaired. But if you are lucky and talk to the right representative, he may send you some repair materials.

While your damage sounds fairly significant, if you are able to secure patches overlapping the damaged area by about 1 inch, the repair should work fine.

Their seems to be a number of folks on this board who are afraid to service their regulators, repair their BCD, or change their mask strap. And they think you should be equally afraid. As long as you can swim your rig up, a BCD failure is not going to cause a major safety risk for a competent diver.

That's pretty much what I was thinking... I'm learning to rebuild my regs now and I've had several people tell me I'm going to kill myself... How they were able to determine that I'm going to kill myself without knowing me personally, I have no idea. I've rebuilt entire cars (excluding automatic transmissions), I repack my own parachutes, I design medical implants/instruments, etc, etc... I think I can probably handle a bit more than most. The reason I asked the question on here was to find out what the standard procedures are and to see if it's been widely accepted as safe when done properly... It's not that I don't have a pretty good idea of how to go about it, but some words of advice could prove useful. Additionally, the hole is low in the BCD, so the vest should be able to be nearly fully inflated if the patch were to fail... And you can still drop your weights.

 

[fisherdvm]

The dump valve idea is good, except for the fact that I have two holes (because it ate through BOTH layers... Two dump valves would be ridiculous.

How about using the large hole for the dump valve. But using the larger hole to patch the smaller hole first. You could almost patch the smaller hole with two 1 inch buttons with one or two gasket ring under them. Load them with aquaseal, and then tie a strong thread to sandwich the patch. Or you can drill and insert a bolt/nut through. Can't blow a solid clamp like that. I think dive rite sells dump valves for about $20 bucks.