Best way to repair hole in BCD bladder

[ams511]

However, the wing will be seeing plenty of overhead rusty metal and I'd like to patch the outer bag with something tough enough to offer the same abrasion/puncture/cut resistance over top of the cuts as found at the rest of the bag.

Back in the day, I remember reading that cave and wreck divers would wrap the inner bladder with an innertube to give additional protection against abrasion. I have a patch kit that I picked up somewhere along the way that has small nylon patches for repairing the outer bag. Also I am no expert at this but wouldn't you patch the outer bag on the inside when you replace the inner bladder?

 

[Dr. Lecter]

I'm considering patching both sides, but if I had to pick one it would be the outside to cover the edges of the cuts and prevent them from being snagged/enlarged further as well as to prevent possible rubbing of the patch against the inner bladder. Sending it to Rainy Pass Repair with appropriate instructions as to the desired characteristics of the repair would probably be a better call, though.

 

[NAM001]

I know it is a jacket and not a wing. I assumed thta since the talk was repairing it that it had access to the bladder. So out of curiosity f you cant get to the bladder how do you put a patch on it???

A Sea Elite Scout is a jacket BC not a wing, it does not have a repairable/replaceable inner bladder. Most jacket BCs do not have separate replaceable bladders.

 

[ams511]

I know it is a jacket and not a wing. I assumed thta since the talk was repairing it that it had access to the bladder. So out of curiosity f you cant get to the bladder how do you put a patch on it???

On BCs without a separate inner bladder, the manufacturer would advise not to patch but replace the BC.

On small holes people use Aquaseal, on larger ones you apply a patch to the outside of the BC and then coat the area with Aquaseal. The trick is to make sure you don't glue both sides of the BC together.

 

[KeithG]

Has anyone thought about return to manufacturer as a defect? There is no way stitching should be anywhere near the bladder of a bcd.

 

[NAM001]

Interesting .., I always assumed that a jacket was a pourus material with a bladder in it just l;i9ke a wing.

On BCs without a separate inner bladder, the manufacturer would advise not to patch but replace the BC.

On small holes people use Aquaseal, on larger ones you apply a patch to the outside of the BC and then coat the area with Aquaseal. The trick is to make sure you don't glue both sides of the BC together.

 

[ams511]

Interesting .., I always assumed that a jacket was a pourus material with a bladder in it just l;i9ke a wing.

The material may be porous on the outside but if so they have a non-porous material laminated to it on the inside. The seams are ultrasonically welded which allows the BC to hold air. Some wings are constructed the same way. For example the Halcyon Pioneer, Oxycheq Razor, DSS Tropic Travel Wing, Apeks WTX, and the Zeagle Express Tech Wing are all bladder-less designs.

I am not sure when BCs changed from having separate bladders to having them integrated. Old horse-colllar BCs used separate bladders. I had a Beuchat BC and a Seatec BC both from the same time period (early 90s). The Beuchat did not have a separate bladder while the Seatec did.

 

[Tortuga68]

How many drivers world wide trust their lives in tire patchs ?

Most car tires these days don't use inner tubes and are repaired using a plug... Anyway, you have a flat, you pull over. Not the same thing as having a leaking BC, although as someone said earlier, that shouldn't be the end of the world for you.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

For bladderless wings you can patch them several ways.
You can get some balistic material like what they are made out of and use wetsuit glue on each surface - the patch and the hole. let it dry completely and press it on.
The other way is to use Aquaseal - spread it on with a popsicle stick and let it dry.
Other products you can use are automotive windshield urethane for setting windshields. Windshield urethane is similar chemically to 3M 5200 but stronger. Sikaflex is the leader in Auto urethane and makes better products than 3M IMO.

I'm in the marine business and all we use is Sikaflex 291 which is marine urethane for setting windows, cleats, stansions, etc. It's more pliable than 5200 and has better adhesion characteristics. 291 is more like 3M 4200 which is a tad softer than 5200.
They are all available in black.
All of these urethanes can be paddled on and tooled with a popsicle stick just like Aquaseal but better.

 

[ams511]

Has anyone thought about return to manufacturer as a defect? There is no way stitching should be anywhere near the bladder of a bcd.

Sea Elite is the house brand of Divers Supply. So he would need to sent it to the US for repair.