Yearly BC service

[Dutchman]

I was reading the manual from Aqualung. They suggest a yearly inspection. I was wondering if this is something everyone does? I understand the regulators but what could go wrong with a BC?

 

[gecko2gecko]

FWIW, I had a friend pull out some gear a couple weeks ago and he had 3 BC's and 2 of the 3 were malfunctioning. *The gear hadn't been serviced or dove in a couple years though.* On one BC, the dump was stuck and constantly dumped any and all air put in it. On the other BC, the metal piece at the end of the high pressure hose had something that either corroded it or was just causing an obstruction. He couldn't get the high pressure hose to connect at all because of it. Keep in mind, this gear had been attic bound and unused. The only other major issue I've heard of is a result of improper storage where the bladder gets stuck together.

*In the event that I said anything wrong, I'm not an expert nor do I claim to be. I'm simply sharing what I've seen recently.*

 

[Juls64]

I never do it but the BC check at our shop is only $10.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

I was reading the manual from Aqualung. They suggest a yearly inspection. I was wondering if this is something everyone does? I understand the regulators but what could go wrong with a BC?

I don't have the statistics in front of me but I read somwhere that BC's account for the most common equipment failure in diving. This may be because many of us, myself included, do not get their BC's inspected anually, while we are pretty good about having our regulators properly maintained.

If a BC fails it will pretty much go in one of two ways...

It will not hold air for one of many reasons, either you cant get the air in, or the air escapes too easily. The end result of this type of failure is you need to swim up to the surface, and once on the surface you may be too heavy to easily stay there. Hopefully with proper weighting you will be able to not have a giant problem in this area.

The other type of failure is one where the inflator constantly adds air to the aircell even when you don't want it to. The end result of this type of failure could be as severe as an unexpected uncontrollable ascent to the surface. Many people think of this as the "Trident Missile" scenario. This can be quite dangerous, even life threatening.

I do regularly inspect my BC, about the only thing that I don't do is have the inflator rebuilt every year. I check the aircell for problems by removing it and looking for defects. I check the function of the inflator and make sure that all fittings and valves are in good shape.

The choice is yours, but try to make it an informed one.

Mark Vlahos

 

[Eris Lucan7*]

I had much matter with the Cressi Flightcontrolsystem no Divestore coud help me so i fixed it my self ,it works better then the a profed will ever do!.....


7*

 

[Mandy3206]

A properly maintained BC should last for many yrs without any troubles, just make sure you clean it very well inside and outside every time you use it, if you neglect this maintenance, rust will develop in the power inflator, the dump and overpresure valves may get stuck and salt crystals will form inside your bladder shortening the life of the bladder.

My jacket style got cleaned after every dive trip. Every season, the valves got some silicone grease to avoid sticky valves, the power inflator was inspected and lubed every couple of yrs and never failed to perform.

Now with the wing, I got my own BC tool and I service my BC every couple of months, I'm mechanicaly inclined, so disassembling and repairing things to me is very easy, if you prefer not to do a "dirty job", your LDS may do it for a small fee.

It's very important to notice that before storing your gear for long periods of time, everything should be well cleaned, dry and oiled or greased before storing it, or you may find a rust ball when you get back to it a few months later.

 

[ScubaSarus]

My concern is I've come across 2 BC failures lately of people getting improper service of BC. One an air inflater inlet was not screwed in properly. I do my best to clean my BC throughly after each and every dive but dont usually do a yearly service. If the BC has not been used for a long time I would have it inspected and cleaned and serviced if needed.

 

[chrispete]

Another common point of failure that I've seen is on the dump valves themselves. I've seen several that have backed themselves off to the point where a nudge will "push" the whole assembly off. Easy to check for, just check to make sure that they are turned in snug every once and a while. I've seen one fail firsthand, thankfully the diver was in an area with a 60 ft bottom and he did do a very graceful nosedive to get there.

 

[DivingCRNA]

I bought a BC on ebay once (i know, I know, Spare the flames) and was testing it in my 6 foot deep swimming pool. It had a constant inflation problem. If I were in open water I would have never even got down far enough to cause damage other than an aborted dive, but what if the problem developed at 100 feet?

Get your BC checked.

Now I am in a BP/W. I do not think anyone around here is gonna check my Diverite wing. I will have to check. I can do it myself every year and at least you can buy Diverite parts online.

I don't have the statistics in front of me but I read somwhere that BC's account for the most common equipment failure in diving. This may be because many of us, myself included, do not get their BC's inspected anually, while we are pretty good about having our regulators properly maintained.

If a BC fails it will pretty much go in one of two ways...

It will not hold air for one of many reasons, either you cant get the air in, or the air escapes too easily. The end result of this type of failure is you need to swim up to the surface, and once on the surface you may be too heavy to easily stay there. Hopefully with proper weighting you will be able to not have a giant problem in this area.

The other type of failure is one where the inflator constantly adds air to the aircell even when you don't want it to. The end result of this type of failure could be as severe as an unexpected uncontrollable ascent to the surface. Many people think of this as the "Trident Missile" scenario. This can be quite dangerous, even life threatening.

I do regularly inspect my BC, about the only thing that I don't do is have the inflator rebuilt every year. I check the aircell for problems by removing it and looking for defects. I check the function of the inflator and make sure that all fittings and valves are in good shape.

The choice is yours, but try to make it an informed one.

Mark Vlahos

 

[tzeyap]

I don't have the statistics in front of me but I read somwhere that BC's account for the most common equipment failure in diving. This may be because many of us, myself included, do not get their BC's inspected anually, while we are pretty good about having our regulators properly maintained.

If a BC fails it will pretty much go in one of two ways...

It will not hold air for one of many reasons, either you cant get the air in, or the air escapes too easily. The end result of this type of failure is you need to swim up to the surface, and once on the surface you may be too heavy to easily stay there. Hopefully with proper weighting you will be able to not have a giant problem in this area.

The other type of failure is one where the inflator constantly adds air to the aircell even when you don't want it to. The end result of this type of failure could be as severe as an unexpected uncontrollable ascent to the surface. Many people think of this as the "Trident Missile" scenario. This can be quite dangerous, even life threatening.

I do regularly inspect my BC, about the only thing that I don't do is have the inflator rebuilt every year. I check the aircell for problems by removing it and looking for defects. I check the function of the inflator and make sure that all fittings and valves are in good shape.

The choice is yours, but try to make it an informed one.

Mark Vlahos

I do the same as Mark. I do my own inspection regularly and test the operation of the dump valves , inflator, and that the bc does not leak air when inflated.

A bouyant ascent problem is very likely in the event that the inflator is not holding the pressure. In this situation, dump air from the BC and disconnect the inflator hose, On the surface you can inflate your bc via oral inflation.

Making sure that the bc is thoroughly rinsed inside and out after every dive will go a long way to making sure that the bc gives you many years of service.