Drying a BC

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aa777888

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So I've rinsed the outside, and rinsed the inside, and did my best to empty my BC of water. How the hell is it going to dry on the inside? The manual does not specify to perform any disassembly that would allow air to freely circulate inside.
 
I don't know what kind of BC you have. On my DiveRite travel wing I can screw off the dump valve at the bottom - and also screw off the corrugated inflator hose from the top. Wether I ever get it completely dry inside I don't know. If I don't then at least it's only fresh water that's left.
 
aa777888:
So I've rinsed the outside, and rinsed the inside, and did my best to empty my BC of water. How the hell is it going to dry on the inside? The manual does not specify to perform any disassembly that would allow air to freely circulate inside.

Dive every week and it won't matter. ;)

Joe
 
Like Kim, I can unthread the inflator hose and the back dump valve if I want to really dry it out - say to pack it for a long trip. After you reassemble it, test that it holds air without leaking and that the back and shoulder dumps both work.

But usually I orally inflate it, let it hang, dump the air (some water comes out too). Repeat that a couple of times and hang it up with some air in it so the bladders don't stick together as they dry.

And I agree with Kim, at least it's only fresh water. Assuming, that is, you rinse the inside until you can't taste sea salt or pool chlorine in the outflow.

-Bryan
 
I usually attach it to the reg and tank after rinsing and blow the air out of the dumps. I'll then disassemble it to allow it to dry.
I was assured that the overinflation and blowing of the dumps should not damage a properly working BC. Make sure your overinflation valves work first! or else.....POP!
 
[1] Rinse thoroughly with clean fresh water.
[2] Manually inflate BC
[3] Hang BC up-side-down with the inflator as the lowest point so that gravity will feed the water to the inflator.
[4] Wait a few minuets and "empty" the excess water that drains into the inflator hose
[5] repeat 2 thru 4 a couple of time and then once more, letting the BC "hang" upside down overnight This allows the inside to dry quite nicely.
[6] After last overnight "draining", remove inflator hose and allow any remaining moisture in the inflator to dry, then reassemble.
[7] Manually inflate BC with ~ 2-3 breaths full to make sure that any potential residue that was not rinsed properly does not cause any problem during storage.
 
Other than a concern for mildew accumulating inside, there is no problem with a little fresh water residue being left inside of your BC (after your rinse). Just hang upside down so that water drips into the corrugated hose while drying.

There are cleaners and such that you can also dump in occasionally to kill anything in it but without hurting the material.

I have BCs that I have treated like this that are over 10 years old and still function perfectly. Do get it serviced like your other equipment to assure years of continued performance.
 

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