I have a Dacor Nautica BC that has malfunctioned on me twice. Both times, the deflator button got stuck in the depressed position, so the BC would not hold air. The first time was in Hawaii, with warm water and very little weight, so it really was no problem at all. The second time, however, was at Catalina Island with 27 lbs of lead around my waist. I was unable to stay on the surface, and neither I nor my buddy could find the belt release to ditch my weights. It had slid around to my side. Thank goodness for a good buddy, he stayed with me and kept me afloat until the Zodiac could could haul my butt back to the boat.
Naturally, I put it in the shop after the first incident. They told me it was a bad lubricant, and that they fixed it. I made several local freshwater dives after that with no problem whatsoever. The next salt water dive was the Catalina fiasco. After that, my shop called Dacor and was told to remove an o-ring from under the deflator button. The guy took it out in about five seconds and pronounced the BC repaired. The story was that the salt water caused the o-ring to stick the button down somehow, hence the problem-free freshwater dives.
And yes, I've had numerous problems with weight pockets, losing one entirely. The most they will hold safely is about five pounds each. Any more than that, and they tend to fall out.
Naturally, I am hesitant to use this BC again.
Mark
Gilbert, AZ
Naturally, I put it in the shop after the first incident. They told me it was a bad lubricant, and that they fixed it. I made several local freshwater dives after that with no problem whatsoever. The next salt water dive was the Catalina fiasco. After that, my shop called Dacor and was told to remove an o-ring from under the deflator button. The guy took it out in about five seconds and pronounced the BC repaired. The story was that the salt water caused the o-ring to stick the button down somehow, hence the problem-free freshwater dives.
And yes, I've had numerous problems with weight pockets, losing one entirely. The most they will hold safely is about five pounds each. Any more than that, and they tend to fall out.
Naturally, I am hesitant to use this BC again.
Mark
Gilbert, AZ
