DILEMMA: Two older BCDs (SeaQuest Spectrum 2 ADV + Genesis Sherwood)

[Josh Yager]

Hi everyone, I'm going to defer to your judgment on this question. I picked up two seemingly older model BCDs on eBay a few months back for about $20 total. They are in working condition and are both the same size, but have never actually been used on a dive by me. My question is which would YOU prefer to take with you for use in Rescue/Divemaster courses, and why? I've attached some photos to show the differences.

The blue Sherwood looks dated, with thin shoulder straps, and a big inflator hose. The back side has a carrying strap, with two velcro straps for supporting the tank. When inflated, my arms are able to rest vertically (not hanging off to the side like a kid in a puffy winter coat.)

The black Spectrum 2 ADV looks more "modern," I guess, with a flatter hose and padded straps. It has a hard back, with only one velcro strap for tank support. There is a small strap of velcro below this which is way too small to wrap around a tank, so I don't know what it's for. It also lacks a carrying strap. My arms hang a bit to the side when inflated. On the whole, I'm more familiar with this "style" of BCD from my previous dives, but it feels a bit poofy.

Do any of you divers have any advice at all? I tried to describe the situation as well as I could. Thanks for your time!

 

[Bob DBF]

I looked at a Spectrum online and saw the two pieces of webbing laying together flat on the backpack. They might be an attachment or adjustment for the waist belt or something else on the rig.

I would check them over for any visual issues. Inflate to max and find out if everything works properly. Leak check them in a pool or large tub. Go for a long shallow dive, again check for proper operation and leaks, then make enough dives to decide which one you like best. If you are a DIY kind of guy, as I am, you can dismantle, clean, and check the unit before the described procedure.

I would favor the Sherwood going in, because we have a good history, but ultimately the choice would depend on how much I enjoyed diving the jacket.




Bob

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Look at the front strap of the sherwood.. a piece of elastic belt right? Not a good configuration. The seaquest is better.

However, I think I would completely remove the cummerbund from the seaquest and the associated fastex, buckle and replace with a simple 2 inch piece of nylon belting (i.e. a weight belt) Simpler easier and the comfort should be the same if you are wearing a wetsuit. You may need to sew a couple of loops to attach to the plastic guides on the inside of the hip area on the seaquest - so that you can run the 2 inch belt through the same area that the cummerbund is attached.. the exact details escape me right now.

Also, that is an old BC.. look hard at those plastic guides which are affixed to the inside of the BC along the hip area - the ones I referenced above. They will degrade and crumble eventually. The Sea quest is a decent BC.

Another thing to check on an old BC like this is to unscrew the inflator hose on the BC and check the integrity of the male threaded plastic piece that is affixed to the BC. If this threaded fitting crumbles, the BC will fail catastrophically and hold no air.. Carefully check the integrity of the attachment of this piece with the canvas material of the BC. This is a major weakness of this BC and is the cause of premature retirement of these BC's.

 

[Josh Yager]

Thanks to you both. I've checked for leaks by inflating both fully and leaving them to sit for a week with no real change in pressure. I haven't yet tested them in a tub (I'm in MS now, with no real access to deep water.)

Another thing to check on an old BC like this is to unscrew the inflator hose on the BC and check the integrity of the male threaded plastic piece that is affixed to the BC. If this threaded fitting crumbles, the BC will fail catastrophically and hold no air.. Carefully check the integrity of the attachment of this piece with the canvas material of the BC. This is a major weakness of this BC and is the cause of premature retirement of these BC's.

The Sea Quest is the one that was retired early due to these issues?

---------- Post added August 29th, 2015 at 04:50 PM ----------

I looked at a Spectrum online and saw the two pieces of webbing laying together flat on the backpack. They might be an attachment or adjustment for the waist belt or something else on the rig.
Bob

I was curious about those two pieces, too. There is only a small sliver of velcro on them, and it wouldn't have been enough to wrap around a tank, so I'd guess it could be an adjusting kind of thing. I'm definitely a DIY person with things like old video game consoles and electronics, but never really had much experience with my own diving equipment.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Actually that fitting is vulnerable on many BC's. Not too long ago I sold an older BC to a friend. It was much newer than the seaquest BC you have. It was also a seaquest.

It worked FINE. However, on a dive with me, he was wearing a big steel tank, no real wetsuit - so he needed no lead... meaning he had no way to dump ballast should he have a problem. We were doing a drift dive in 130 feet in strong current...

The inflator ripped off the BC and he struggled to swim up 100 plus feet against a tank that was like 12 lbs negative and was VERY winded when he finally got picked up on the drift dive. He was stupid and should have told me he had trouble and I would have lifted him to the surface with the excess buoyancy of my BC. Instead he just bailed without telling me.

He was a somewhat inexpereinced diver and too proud to ask for help when he needed it.. He was young, strong and very fit... a weaker diver would have died should they have tried to muscle their way out of the situation....

I felt really bad when I examined how cracked and degraded the whole fitting was that parted.. It held air fine, but just failed when he tugged on it or something... so to make a long story short... check the integrity of the plastic piece as described above..

I have, unfortunately, learned a lot of lessons the "hard way".

 

[Centrals]

I have the Spectrum 2 before(1996) and also used it for the rescue course. I loved it. The thing that you have to check is the integrity of the shoulder dump valve(pull to dump elbow) as already suggested.
Plastic do aged and become brittle!!!

 

[Josh Yager]

The thing that you have to check is the integrity of the shoulder dump valve(pull to dump elbow) as already suggested.
Plastic do aged and become brittle!!!

The Spectrum 2 that I have doesn't have a shoulder dump valve at all, unless if I'm being really blind. It has an unscrewable dump cap in the back on the bottom, though.

I unscrewed the inflator hose, found a bit of sand along the ridges, then cleaned it out a bit before screwing it back in. Then, I checked for any holes in both BCDs by inflating them and keeping them submerged in a deep bath tub for about 3 minutes. None found. Should be more or less good to go, before I get someone else more trained than I am to take a look at the BCD?

---------- Post added August 29th, 2015 at 11:21 PM ----------

I felt really bad when I examined how cracked and degraded the whole fitting was that parted.. It held air fine, but just failed when he tugged on it or something... so to make a long story short... check the integrity of the plastic piece as described above..

Well, that's sufficiently horrifying. I unscrewed the inflator hose and noticed no real wear at all, just a bit of sand (or maybe it was dust) that I cleaned out. It held air after I screwed it back on and dunked it in a bathtub for a bit.

 

[Centrals]

Inflate the bc and then pull the corrugated hose gently to see if gas is being discharged from the shoulder. My Spectrum 2 came with an remote dump valve(shoulder). So perhaps its previous owner had replaced it with an plain elbow. But from your photo it looks exactly like mine. You can also disconnect the corrugated hose from the power inflator and might notice there is a length of wire running inside it.
To cut the story short, the shoulder dump valve was shattered after I sold the unit to my mate. Luckily for both of us, it happened before he had the chance to try it under water!!!!!! I had witnessed a case when the diver crash landed beside me because his bc failed during the descend. Both the dm and I had to assist him to the surface. We found out after got back to the boat that the shoulder dump valve was broken.

 

[Josh Yager]

Inflate the bc and then pull the corrugated hose gently to see if gas is being discharged from the shoulder. My Spectrum 2 came with an remote dump valve(shoulder). So perhaps its previous owner had replaced it with an plain elbow. But from your photo it looks exactly like mine. You can also disconnect the corrugated hose from the power inflator and might notice there is a length of wire running inside it.
To cut the story short, the shoulder dump valve was shattered after I sold the unit to my mate. Luckily for both of us, it happened before he had the chance to try it under water!!!!!! I had witnessed a case when the diver crash landed beside me because his bc failed during the descend. Both the dm and I had to assist him to the surface. We found out after got back to the boat that the shoulder dump valve was broken.

I inflated and when I pull a bit, I can manage to get a trickle of air to come out. It's not much at all--not like the pull-cord releases I've used--but it's something. It's working properly, then? Maybe I could bring just the other inflator hose from the blue BCD along just in case?

 

[Centrals]

I inflated and when I pull a bit, I can manage to get a trickle of air to come out. It's not much at all--not like the pull-cord releases I've used--but it's something. It's working properly, then? Maybe I could bring just the other inflator hose from the blue BCD along just in case?

Doesn't sound ok with me!!
The valve should be readily opened when being pulled. And if it hasn't been used for a long time certain parts probably became sticky or whatnot. Take a good look as it is not that difficult to service the valve.