Bought a BPW (DSS). Have a few questions

[DiverNewb]

1. After a day of diving, I accumulated a lot of salt water inside the wing. Is this normal?

2. What's the best way to store it?

Thanks.

-DN

 

[CBulla]

Funny, I used to have accumulation with the jacket BC. I belive it has something to do with the angle which you hold the inflater valve when putting air in the BC or letting it out. I find that if I am 'micro' adjusting air pressure in my wing a little and don't have the inflator hose straight up and down it will allow some water in.

I store mine with air in it after I've given it a thorough rinsing.

 

[TSandM]

As I understand, it's normal to get some salt water in any air bladder if you are letting air out of it frequently. The procedure is to bleed the salt water out, and then rinse the inside of the bladder with fresh water, drain that, and then partially inflate the bladder so that the surfaces are not coapted.

I store mine hanging on a thick dowel between two counters in the kitchen downstairs. (That's the whole BP/W assembly.)

 

[zbskii]

My divemaster claims the amount of water in your bc is inversely proportional to your skill as a diver

I have a dss single rig - to empty it, I either unscrew the pull dump, or unzip the nylon shell so I can see if I've emptied al the water, turn the wing upside down, and press the dump button. I then fill it up with some clean water, rinse, repeat.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

It happens. I hang mine upside down by the crotch strap to let all the water drain into the hose, then empty all I can. Then unzip the shell to see how much remains. Drain if necessary, rinse with fresh, then store with a bit of air in it.

 

[mmadiver]

With my BCD (jacket style) I fill it up with air and pick it up by the bottom and shake it around a little so that all the water drains to the direction of the hose. Then squeeze the thing to my chest and press the dump button. You can usally get a good super soaker type stream to come out if you squeeze it hard enough and spray your buddy with it...Then just inflate it again and repeat until all the water is gone.
I'm the only person that I've ever seen to do this, learned it from an old Airforce Para-rescue guy. I think it should be taught in OW certification class....


BCD spray fight anyone?

 

[dbg40]

Yes, it's normal. It usually occours when you dump most, or all of the air in the bladder, which will leave it more apt to take in a little water. If it's salt, you really should get it out of there. I use a little BC cleaner, and pour some into the inflator hose, get enough in so you can swish it around and remove the salt crystals. On my BPW it's easy for me to remove the rear dump and flush out the cleaner with a hose. It's a good idea to remove salt from all of your gear, if you're not already doing it.