Water in my BC wing?

[halocline]

So, perhaps a little offtopic... Sailing, I've noticed that sails covered in salt water do not mold or mildew, however after freshwater sailing we have to make sure we spread and dry the sails. Intuitively, this makes sense to me. Does this imply that I should not rinse the inside of my bladder with fresh water after a saltwater dive?

I think you want to get the salt out so that it doesn't dry and irritate the bladder, and in the process you need to get all the salt out of the inflator and dump valves.

The way I take care of my wings is rinse, inflate, slosh, drain. If you're worried about residual moisture, you can inflate the wing to capacity with dry scuba air (not orally) and let it sit upright with a dump valve at the lowest point. Any water will accumulate there, you can then drain it. Doing this a few times will really dry it out completely, as the scuba air will suck any humidity out of the wing.

 

[Marek K]

After a dive trip or when getting ready to hang up my BC for some time, particularly after salt or pool water, I do unscrew the top dump valve to fill the bladder completely with fresh water; swish it around real well; repeat; then open the bottom dump valve too and leave the BC to dry out at least partially inside that way.

I don't think it will ever completely dry out inside, because the bladder is collapsed with one or both dump valves unscrewed.

I am particulary careful not to cross-thread the valves, and not to lose the gaskets.

Otherwise, each day during multi-day diving, I just rinse it out through the inflator, make sure air is in the bladder, and swish the water around at all angles.

 

[andrethediver]

Any special recommendations for rinsing Air2 (or other integrated octos)? Thanks.

 

[Nitro91]

is it ok if not all the fresh water that i used to rinse the inside comes back out?
i tried using dump valve and deflator but some water is still inside, not much, fresh tap water that i used to wash it.

 

[cool_hardware52]

is it ok if not all the fresh water that i used to rinse the inside comes back out?
i tried using dump valve and deflator but some water is still inside, not much, fresh tap water that i used to wash it.

You are never going to get the inside of a BC totally dry after rinsing. This is nornal, and perfectly OK.

Tobin

 

[ScubaBB]

A few times completely filling the BCD with air from the bottle and letting it out again in different positions will get the most water out of it.

 

[cool_hardware52]

DSS recommends that the wing fittings, OPV and hose fitting *NOT* be removed to rinse the wing.

1) There is no need to, fresh water can be introduced into the oral inflate mouth piece, and expelled via the OPV

2) Improper assembly can lead to missing parts, leaks, broken fittings and damaged wings.

Leave the fittings alone for best results, (despite what your dive instructor may have shown or told you to do.)

Tobin

 

[Hatul]

I have been doing this also. Does anyone recommend unscrewing the dump valve and letting the bladder dry out completely? Is it OK if there is still some small amount of water in the bladder, which may be there for weeeks or months? Or am I just being a worry wort?
Dave

If you do that you're asking for trouble. It's very easy to lose a part or have it unseat properly and there is no point to it. The inside of the wing will be wet anyway if you dive and there's nothing in there to rust.