Remote exhaust pull dump on the Voyager BC4700 wing

[alm]

Greetings.

I'm posting because I think it might help some one person at some point, and I've never
seen this discussed on the web. I'm not upset with DiveRite in my limited dealings on the matter.
I'm not looking to start a "urination contest" with tech divers about inflators with pull
dumps, nor do I need to discuss why someone would want this feature.
Those latter discussions have already happened on Scubaboard.

There are a few people, who knows how many, that are buying DiveRite rigs for recreational
diving. I did, and for the most part I'm very happy. The one problem which I've been managing
for the last 10 months is the pull dump inflator.

Let me deliver the recommendation for anyone in the above situation before I explain why:
Do not choose the remote exhaust pull dump option from Dive Rite. Get the "elbow" and do without
the pull-dump feature.

There are two problems with this inflator, as measured against other inflators
from recreational BCD manufacturers.

One: The dump has an EXTREMELY light pull to actuate it. Compared to other
pull dumps on the market, the small force of the pull required is remarkable. Bear in mind
that the corrugated hose on this inflator is very "floppy" compared to other BCDs on the
market which makes the situation even more dramatic; the corrugated hose
has no resistance to the pull and the low tension of the spring in the dump doesn't help.
Interestingly, I just discovered a warning
in the BC4700 manual that tell you not to pull the dump firmly for fear
of damaging the wing.

Two: Problem One sets up the following scenario: when you position
the epaulet (strain-relief tie-down) at a position that would allow a standard
"raise-the-hose" dump, the epaulet is in a very good spot to snag the floppy
hose and effectively "pre-tension" it. This will cause inadvertent dumping
with practically any manipulation of the hose (for example, grabbing
the inflator to push the "inflate" button).

The only work around that I have found for this situation is to position
the epaulet down low on the shoulder strap (just above the D rings)
and back it off to its widest-open
position. Because the inflator is now retained so close to
its end, the only
practical dump strategy is to use the pull dump, or tear the hose out
of the epaulet to do a standard dump maneuver
(that latter thing probably do-able given that the epaulet is now closed
by not-too-much velcro).

Should anyone think I'm criticizing Dive Rite's customer service
let me relate:
I spoke with them
on the phone when I first recognized the problem and although
the individual I spoke to had never heard observations like mine,
they were willing to get the part back and take a look at it.
My guess is that
the reason they have never heard this observation is that
they sell so few of them.
The reason I didn't send it back is that I was advised by my
dealer that it was very likely that this was "the nature of
the beast" (that they were all like this), and I should take
a limited period to try to get used to it (since expired).

Possibilities for me at this point:

1. As I approach the anniversary (that's one year for you youngsters
that don't remember what "anniversary" means ) of my
purchase where I would have my dealer take a look at the rig
anyway, I'm debating
having the dealer remove the wire from the pull dump, thus converting
it to an "elbow". I don't like the idea of the spring
sitting there quiescently without the ability to flush fresh
water completely through the dump though.

2. I'm considering hand-crafting my own
epaulet out of nylon webbing that would have a slightly larger diameter
than the factory epaulet.

3. I may do what I probably should have done 10 months ago
and buy the equivalent-length "elbow" from Dive Rite.

 

[Tony387]

Very interesting post. I own a voyagerpac with a pull dump and a voyager xt wing on a ss backplate, which has just the plain elbow. The points you raise never occurred to me. I love diving them both. Thanks for sharing.

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

 

[alm]

And what you say is interesting. I wasn't after a poll originally, but it would be interesting to know
how many people use these and what they think.

Some other things that occurred to me since I posted are that there may be some fit issues
and low pressure hose length issues that relate to this..

The general fit of the rig is perfect for tropical
diving but on the lower end of acceptable size for puget sound drysuit diving.
In particular the length
of the inflator in general started off to be barely adequate for an oral inflation,
even though it is the longest size available.
I improved this somewhat by changing the length/position of straps and sideplates.

The fact that my low pressure inflator hose is overly long (forming a "bow") may
somewhat pretension the pull dump in the corrugated hose.

Bottom line though; even if any of these fit issues affect the inflator dump, its design is
still too "close to the edge" in my opinion. The whole design (and legalese
in the manual about hurting the wing by pulling hard on the dump)
has the feel of something that was
band-aided on to the original pull-less design of the wing/inflator.

 

[Scubadude_LA]

I have a Travel, Voyager and Classic that each came with a pull dump. I have replaced all three with plain elbows and also shortened the corrugated hoses on the Travel and the Voyager. I don't see a reason for the pull dump, more to fail and it is really easy to just grab the inflator, lift it slightly and purge, when not using the rear dump. I feel like my buoyancy is more accurate that way. It seems harder to tell how much air is dumping out of the pull dump and exactly when it's dumping.