Sea Quest BCD weird leak from exhaust valve

[RhatsaRuck]

I have a Sea Quest BCD that I think was made around 1997. It looks new and has the original labels inside the left pocket. I think this unit has never been in the water.

The unit is a contour-jacket as described by Clay Coleman's "The Certified Diver's Handbook".

The unit leaks from the exhaust valve depending on the orientation of the power inflator hose. The exhaust valve sits behind my left shoulder.

There's no leak if the power inflator hose is tightened down so that the hose drapes at the 9 o'clock position while I'm wearing the BCD, in other words in an unusable posotion. I can inflate the unit using the oral inflator and it seems to stay full. If I put pressure on the unit I hear a tiny leak, a leak so slight that I can't see it when I dunk the exhaust valve into a bucket.

The unit does leak if the power inflator hose is tightened down in the natural position, i.e. so that the hose drapes over the left shoulder and down the left strap. The leak starts when I manually inflate the unit. The leak originates directly from the exhaust valve; I see bubbles when I dip the exhaust valve in a bucket of water. When I manually inflate the unit the leak starts and continues even when there's no external pressure on it, e.g. when it's sitting on my sink.

I know this is an older unit. For example as near as I can tell it lacks a separate overpressure valve.

I've already removed and washed out the exhaust valve/power inflator hose unit. The problem persists.

Is it possible to repair this? I can purchase it for a song and it would meet my needs just fine.

 

[Diver0001]

Well I think it's safe to say it's broken. It sounds like something made of rubber just dried out and cracked or whatever.

The good news is that fixing it is easy if you have the replacement parts. Just take it to a shop. They should be able to sort it out while you wait.

And get them to check the rest of it too. The shoulder dump valve isn't the only thing that will need maintenance after 12 years on the shelf.

R..

 

[Captain Larry]

It sounds like it just needs servicing. The rubber parts will be replaced and everything inspected. Not a very expensive process.

 

[Hallmac]

The entire power inflater and manifold replacement is around 50 bucks, I would recommend just replacing it all.

 

[RhatsaRuck]

I did some additional research and it seems the exhaust valve itself is bad.

This unit has one drain at the bottom. The cap on the drain and the exhaust valve/inflator have the same threading. I swapped the cap and the exhaust valve, putting the exhaust valve/inflator on the bottom of the BCD.

When I inflated the BCD I confirmed there was no leaking around the seal and bladder on the upper opening. And I confirmed that the exhaust valve/inflator continued to leak when screwed into the lower opening.

Can anyone give me a rough idea what it might cost for a complete inspection and to replace the exhaust valve/inflator? Are we talking $10, $25, $50 or more than that?

 

[Diver0001]

Well you live in an area with a lot of shops. I'd say phone around and get some quotes. It's probably better than any estimate we'll give you.

Servicing all of the O-rings will take about 20-30 minutes plus parts. What's that? $30- or so? $50 if they see you coming....

R..

 

[redacted]

It sounds like you are describing a leak from the valve in the pull dump. If you inflate the bcd and then lift up on the corrugated hose to relieve pressure on the pull dump, does the leak stop? Unlike many other pull dumps, the SQ pull dump has a fairly light spring and may be activated if the tension on the cable inside the corrugated hose is a bit high. In any case, unless you like working on things like this, it is probably worth a trip to the shop. Get an estimate and balk (shop around) if it is much over $25.

BTW, you can also purchase a rear dump/OPV that will install where you removed that cover.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

You need to take the inflator hose off the BC, "unscrew the outer ring with your hand or some channel lock pliers very carefully. Then you will see the rubber gasket that goes between the bc and the inflator elbow.

Remove the rubber ring/gasket. wash and rinse it and the sealing surfaces. Very carefully inpect the male threaded ring that is permanently affixed to the bc. Look for a crack or split from the bc. If you find that cracked or split away.. even a little, then throw the BC away. I have seen a lot of them fail there, 2 of mine failed last year there.

You can now reassemble but you have to finesse it a little so that when the outer ring comes tight between the inflator hose and the bc, the hose is in the correct usable position. Tighten it up very loosely, gently finger tight and check for a leak, If the BC will stay pretty hard for 10minutes, then a tiny leak is probably not worth worrying about. You will be getting lighter due to air consumption from the tank than a tiny leak will release, no problem. Also over inflate it with the power inflator and make sure it can take the over pressure.

If all is good, Tighten the ring up firmly with your fingers and you are good to go.

You can also easily disassemble the over pressure releif cap on the top of the inflator hose, clean the parts and put it back together.

 

[ReefHugger]

We may have identical problems (also Seaquest - maybe they had a sub standard part).

The hose assembly has a female collar which screws onto a male plastic piece which is glued to the jacket internally with just the male threaded end sticking out. In my case, the male threaded end has a crack. Not immediately obvious as it runs in the threading. This crack opens up when the female collar is tightened unto it. Check that male plastic piece, especially the threading.

I would really appreciate info as to where to send it for repair as the rest of the jacket is in really excellent shape.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

We may have identical problems (also Seaquest - maybe they had a sub standard part).

The hose assembly has a female collar which screws onto a male plastic piece which is glued to the jacket internally with just the male threaded end sticking out. In my case, the male threaded end has a crack. Not immediately obvious as it runs in the threading. This crack opens up when the female collar is tightened unto it. Check that male plastic piece, especially the threading.

I would really appreciate info as to where to send it for repair as the rest of the jacket is in really excellent shape.

Like I said, I threw away two otherwise very good seaquest BC's for that very problem last year. I believe that piece is ultrasonically welded to the BC and I tried to glue it with superglue and two part epoxy and nothing seemed to work. Plus if it fails and you get killed, you will look pretty cheap and foolish. If there is a way to fix this common failure, don't tell me because I thinnk i've thrown away a total of 4 Bc's because of this problem.