Buying used BCD - what to check?

[Orestis82]

I inflated it orally as much as I could, and left it overnight. It seems that some air is gone - something like two full breaths.

I guess that’s a no go, right? No reason to try it out in the water - I’ll return it.

 

[Vitesse2l]

I might try washing the valves through with fresh water. Give it a good rinse to get rid of any salt crystals.

Or try it in a swimming pool and you'd get to see where it's leaking.

 

[Vitesse2l]

Either way, I expect to find faults with old used gear. It's not a bad thing to learn how to fix them. I'm lucky that all parts for my 20 year old bcd are available new from the manufacturer (AP Diving in the UK) and for a fee they'll also service it and replace everything that wears.

 

[Orestis82]

I wouldn't mind learning how to fix this -- if it's indeed just a valve that I can either rinse or replace, I'd be all for that. It's just that I'm new to all this and feeling a little bit squeamish servicing this on my own. I'll try to locate the leak using soap water and take it from there

 

[Zef]

Need to submerse it and find where the leak is coming from or mix up some dish washing liquid/soap and water in spray bottle and spray down the BCD to see where soapy bubbles are forming.

A BCD that old and sitting for that long will probably have the rubber disks in the over-inflation/dump valves (OPV) take a set...meaning the edge they seat against has made an impression in the rubber material. If you activated the dumps valves when checking the BCD over you would have disturbed the seal and it may not have re-seated perfectly causing a very slow leak.

You can check for the above by taking apart the OPVs and checking the rubber disks that make the seal. If they have taken a set then you can look for replacements, fabricate replacements, or pull the disks out of their retainer, clean any glue residue off the underside, make the underside the sealing side before putting it all back together....a little silicone adhesive or rubber cement to adhere the disk back in place wouldn't hurt. Once re-assembled, rinse and repeat for all the OPVs and then do your inflation/submersion test again.

You are buying a piece of used gear. It could be a winner, or it might not be....its always a gamble. You can explore the problem and invest some time, energy, and perhaps some money into it and have a functional BCD that lives on and serves you well for many dives to come, or you can cut your losses and return it and invest in something that has warranty/shop support...but that comes at a premium. You are lucky you can return it if you want. I would recommend discussing the problem with the person you bought it from along with any troubleshooting you plan on doing if you go that route, that way as you pull things apart and put them back together, should you decide to return it the guy will be less inclined to refuse taking it back and may even thank you for taking the time to scope out the problem if he does take it back.

-Z

 

[Orestis82]

Ok, the soap test showed that the leak was at one valve (very obvious with a little bit of patience). I gave everything a good wash, I unscrewed the valve and reseated everything and screwed it tightly. No more bubbles there! I’ll do another overnight test to see what the results will look like.

Btw, the valve looked like it was nothing more than a spring and a clear rubber disk. Perhaps there was also an o-ring in there. I think there’s high chance I can find some replacement for those, should the need arise.

 

[Zef]

Ok, the soap test showed that the leak was at one valve (very obvious with a little bit of patience). I gave everything a good wash, I unscrewed the valve and reseated everything and screwed it tightly. No more bubbles there! I’ll do another overnight test to see what the results will look like.

Btw, the valve looked like it was nothing more than a spring and a clear rubber disk. Perhaps there was also an o-ring in there. I think there’s high chance I can find some replacement for those, should the need arise.

nope that is it...a spring, plastic holder for the clear disk (sometimes it is black), a bit of string, a bit of plastic that the string passes through and the clear disk sits in or is adhered to and cover that screws down on top of it all to keep it together.

There is most likely not an o-ring....the clear disk seals against the circular opening of the flange of the bladder that the cover screws down on.

Easy day and you probably know more now about BCs and their parts/maintenance than the general mass of divers in the world.

Cheers,
-Z

 

[Vitesse2l]

Well done! A good result.

 

[Orestis82]

I'm so happy - I've left it inflated overnight and it was nice and full in the morning. Can't wait to try it out today!

It was a weight integrated system but unfortunately uses velcro closing that looks like it could be opened by accident – is there a way to make this work with solid lead blocks so I don't have to wear a weight belt? Something for the DIY forum perhaps?

 

[Zef]

I'm so happy - I've left it inflated overnight and it was nice and full in the morning. Can't wait to try it out today!

It was a weight integrated system but unfortunately uses velcro closing that looks like it could be opened by accident – is there a way to make this work with solid lead blocks so I don't have to wear a weight belt? Something for the DIY forum perhaps?

So here are some thoughts:

1. You can take the pockets to a shop that does any heavy duty sewing, like a cobbler, and have them replace the velcro for you.

2. There is this prevailing idea among jacket style BCD wearing divers that having integrated weight pockets some equates to being more sophisticated. All the weight pockets do is move the weight from you hips to your shoulders/back. If you are using the pockets to divvy up the weight so some is on your hips and some supported by the bc that is one thing but you should not look at the integrated weight pockets as a means to escape from the otherwise need to use a weight belt. Mind you there are certain circumstances where the pockets are superior to the belt such as someone with no hips making it difficult/impossible for a weight belt to remain in place.

Don't poopoo the velcro pockets too much. I am not familiar with the weight pockets on your BCD but I had an old Triple L bcd that had weight pockets that closed with velcro and were retained with velcro and they worked very well. I trusted them quite a bit more than any trust I place in my wife's surelock 2 weight pockets on her BCD.....and i have seen more people lose a pocket from Mares BCDs than I care to count. The good thing is that typically when one loses a pocket it is upon entering the water or not long after....the bad thing is that if you are entering off a boat in deep water, you may lose the pocket and weights forever.

Weight belts are cheap to replace: 4-6 euros for a stainless steel buckle, and 3-5 euros for a meter and a half of 50mm (2 inch) wide webbing.

Pockets on the other hand are expensive to replace IF replacements are even available.

-Z