Question re: rinsing Aqualung i3 BC

[jd950]

I am considering getting my wife one of the new Aqualung BCs that have the i3 mechanism. I am wondering if anyone who has one or is otherwise familiar with using one can comment on how easy/hard/effective/ineffective it is to do post dive rinsing with these (due to the absence of a traditional inflator hose)?


Thanks for any insights.

 

[scubafied]

I have the Dimension i3 and if the other i3 BCD's are similar it will still have the hose but instead of the buttons it has a mouthpiece that you can push to release air or add it orally. Just push the mouthpiece up against the hose or tap you are filling from and you're good to go. It works the same way but your mouthpiece is the button. You can also just remove the hose and fill it that way. If anything I found it easier than my past BCD's.

 

[jd950]

Thanks for the response. So it is fairly easy to run water into and out of that inflator hose. I wasn't sure about that. Often we have something available post-dive like a short hose or tube connected to a faucet and can fill a BC that way and then dump the water back out primarily through the inflator hose and from my brief look at the I3 so far I wasn't sure how well that worked.

 

[bbarnett51]

It's very easy. I had the Dimension i3 and it's no problem to rinse.

 

[scubafied]

Yeah, just make sure the hose isn't kinked as it is pretty soft in comparison to a standard inflation hose. Again, you can always just unscrew the hose and fill the bladder directly, rinsing the hose separately. I would also recommend using the e-valves to dump the water by pressing down on the i3 lever, not running it back out the hose. It's important to make sure your exhaust valves are rinsed through after each dive in order to prolong their use.

 

[Bopper]

I don't have an i3 system and I've never used this product, but I'm thinking this product might be able to help if you have the standard SeaTec low pressure hose fitting that most LP inflators use:

[h=1]Universal BC BCD Flush Wash Hose[/h]

 

[RayKay]

It's a pretty closed system and I honestly really never get any water inside it in the first place since I have not yet had to use my oral inflator in the water (if I used that and opened it up, water is more likely to get in). The reason you get water in BC's that have the traditional quick inflate hose is because you need to always open it to release air. Not the case with a closed lever system. The flat e-valves are all one-way valves that prevent water from getting into the BC. I guess if you over-pressed the lever once empty it might get in there somehow or something.

If you DO get water in it, you can just remove the multiport and flush it that way or just use the oral inflator hose.

 

[jd950]

Thanks all for your input. I do know to rinse all exhaust valves, but thanks for looking out for me

I had a chance to look at one of these a bit more this weekend and it looks like if a quick post-dive rinse is required I would probably remove the hose (or hopefully my wife would do it since she is diving it). The hose thingy listed above looks handy but I don't usually have a hose with a threaded bit available where I go.