Aircell rinsing / drying

[t_dogg]

Folks,
I'd like to hear everyone's opinion on how long it takes to get ALL the water out of the aircell of your BCD. Whether it's a standard BCD, BP/wings, etc. I've been hanging mine upside down, semi-inflated, for two days since my last dive and water still comes out of the inflator every time I vent it. (Upside down, that is.) Do you worry about getting the bladder completely dry before stowing? I'm worried that my rig will be deformed from hanging upside down for too long

Mark

 

[Hallmac]

I don't worry about the water too much. I rinse it after a dive and get as much out as I can in one attempt. add a touch of air and hang it up. I dive every three weeks or so at my slowest times of year.

If you are putting it up for a while Rinse it out with BC Life or liquid downey mixed with water. swish it around a little and drain it the best you can. ( Don't worry about the little amount that is left over. Just remember to add a little air to the bladder to keep it from sticking together and put it away.

The bladders today handle water pretty well just keep the growth down.

Hallmac

 

[Scubaroo]

Mark,

I find it helpful to fully inflate the aircell (I use a seperate wing rather than a BC), and then hold the oral inflator under a running faucet, while holding a dump valve open - this allows you to rapidly fill the aircell with fresh water, which you can then slosh around and rinse the interior with. Do this once or twice to thin the salt out, and reduce the chance of salt crystals forming on any of the dump valve or inflator mechanisms (assuming you're diving salt water). I then *fully* inflate the wing, and sit it against a wall with the elbow for the corrugated inflator hose at the bottom - a couple of hours later, most of the water will have collected in the hose, and you can just drain it out. It is not necessary to completely dry the aircell out.

Ben

 

[nickjb]

Rinsing with fresh water will definitely help.

If you want to fully dry it then you could make an airer. I use one of these to dry my 'camel-back' bladder which holds drinking water (so I don't want any bugs in it). You can make one out of a chain of twisted cable ties. Just unscrew the dump and push in the chain. After hanging for a few hours it should be completely dry.

 

[TTT]

Hello everyone,

I have a sherwood Outback BCD, which I am very happy with. My only problem is rinising out the bladder. Is there an easy way to get the water out? Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

TTT

 

[Charlie99]

Orally inflate it and turn it upside down. Most water should go down into the corrugated inflate/deflate hose. Push the deflate button to let the water out. Stop when you start getting air instead of water. Wiggle the bc around a bit and repeat a few times.

On most BCs you can also just unscrew the pull dumps. This is particularly useful if you wish to rinse it out with fresh water.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I don't worry about the inside of my wing getting dry ... for that matter, the outside of the wing rarely gets dry.

I do rinse my rig in fresh water after diving, at which time I usually pour a bit of fresh water into the inflator, partially inflate the wing, swish it around a bit, and empty it out through the rear dump valve. Then I hang it in my closet to drip-dry until morning ... when I pack it up and take it out to get wet all over again ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[hogluvr]

On most BCs you can also just unscrew the pull dumps. This is particularly useful if you wish to rinse it out with fresh water.

That's the one thing I don't care for, with my Knighthawk. The dump valves don't appear to unscrew, nor is that referenced in the owner's manual. Not a biggie, but it would have made life easier.
Larry

 

[jonnythan]

I rinse my BC outside with the hose. Then I remove the lower dump valve and rinse the inside with the hose. I store the BC and dump valve separately til the inside of the BC is dry.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A thorough warm fresh water rinse is important to reduce the potential for salt crystals which are vary abrasive to the inside of the bladder.

Assuming you are using water from a public tap, there will be small amounts of chlorine in it and it should not get too nasty inside. Draining as much water as possible is always a good idea and using a BC conditioner is a good idea if you are using untreated well water.