Rinsing BC

[ckheath]

Just have a quick newbie question about rinsing my BC. I just bought my gear and have been doing only fresh water dives with it. My home has well water which leaves mineral deposits in the bathtub and such. We use a water softener which uses salt to help reduce this. I’m left with 2 choices. 1. Rinse my gear with water from the garden hose which doesn't go through the softener, this will leave mineral deposits on the inside and outside of the BC. 2. Rinse my BC with the shower water, which is water from the softener that has salt in it. So here’s my question. Which would you choose? Thank for the help

 

[mikswi]

Just have a quick newbie question about rinsing my BC. I just bought my gear and have been doing only fresh water dives with it. My home has well water which leaves mineral deposits in the bathtub and such. We use a water softener which uses salt to help reduce this. I’m left with 2 choices. 1. Rinse my gear with water from the garden hose which doesn't go through the softener, this will leave mineral deposits on the inside and outside of the BC. 2. Rinse my BC with the shower water, which is water from the softener that has salt in it. So here’s my question. Which would you choose? Thank for the help

Use the shower/kitchen sink faucet. You could also for about $50 and a few hours of your time, run a new faucet from your filtration system to your outside. Preferrably in the garage area or wherever is most convenient for rinsing.

I am designing my new home right now and I have added Hot&Cold faucets with a shower head on the exterior of the house as well as a utility tub for soaking/washing dive stuff.

When your done rinsing out the BC, add a capful or 2 of Listerene to the bladder, swish it around and inflate it about 1/2 way for storage. The Listerene works just as good as any LDS sold product and is a fraction of the cost. All the preservative is supposed to do is stop any mold or mildew from growing and thats what Mouthwash does, it kills germs.

The partial inflation keeps the bladder from being kinked or sticking together if laid flat and it also lets you know right away if the bladder wont hold air because when you go to collect your gear for the dive, it will be flat.

Sorry for the rambling......hope you found an answer somewhere in there.

 

[arno]

Just have a quick newbie question about rinsing my BC. I just bought my gear and have been doing only fresh water dives with it. My home has well water which leaves mineral deposits in the bathtub and such. We use a water softener which uses salt to help reduce this. I’m left with 2 choices. 1. Rinse my gear with water from the garden hose which doesn't go through the softener, this will leave mineral deposits on the inside and outside of the BC. 2. Rinse my BC with the shower water, which is water from the softener that has salt in it. So here’s my question. Which would you choose? Thank for the help

Neither choice sound very appealing. Bottled water?

Make sure to leave some air in your BC when storing it so that if there are any mineral deposits inside your BC that dry up, they will not tear apart the BC's bladder when you take it out of storage.

Cheers,
Arno.

 

[cool_hardware52]

Just have a quick newbie question about rinsing my BC. I just bought my gear and have been doing only fresh water dives with it. My home has well water which leaves mineral deposits in the bathtub and such. We use a water softener which uses salt to help reduce this. I’m left with 2 choices. 1. Rinse my gear with water from the garden hose which doesn't go through the softener, this will leave mineral deposits on the inside and outside of the BC. 2. Rinse my BC with the shower water, which is water from the softener that has salt in it. So here’s my question. Which would you choose? Thank for the help

Your water softener should not be leaving any appreciable amount of salt in the water. The softener works by attracting the minerals in your "hard water" to an "Ion Bed" the salt is used to replace the minerals in the ion bed when the unit is "regenerating" and then the salt is flushed out.

If your getting salt water at the tap something is wrong. I think you'd notice this as salt crystals on your dishes, on you etc.



Regards,



Tobin

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Right-o. I've got a water softener too, and it definitley should not leave salt. Go with the stuff that has been softened. Keep in mind that though mikswi stated that by inflating it you will be able to tell if there is a leak when you next use it, this will only be accurate if you are going to use it again the next day or very soon thereafter. Over a relatively short period of time the air will leak out of most wings.

 

[ckheath]

Thanks for the advise. I haven't seen or tasted and amount of salt in our water. Guess I was just thinking that because I put salt in the softener. :0) Thanks again.

 

[ckheath]

Replace the "and" with "any" and it will make since. hehe. sorry

 

[DI_Guy]

ck Regarding your "and" & "any" correction..... There is an EDIT feature here that allows you to go back in and correct typos....

I use it all the time... Trust me ;-)

Can't live without it

 

[ckheath]

ooops! Thanks for pointing that out.

 

[beachdivequeenbelam]

Right-o. I've got a water softener too, and it definitley should not leave salt. Go with the stuff that has been softened. Keep in mind that though mikswi stated that by inflating it you will be able to tell if there is a leak when you next use it, this will only be accurate if you are going to use it again the next day or very soon thereafter. Over a relatively short period of time the air will leak out of most wings.

I used to sell home water systems. If a person drinks a gallon to 2 gallons a day they are taking in about as much sodium as a single slice of bread. It is a very tiny amount. The sodium ions are attracted to the other stuff in your water and is removed through a medium or bed of something depending on your system. I sold Ecowater systems.