My Blacktip Leaked Yesterday

[MrChen]

I'm super bummed. I got a good dive in without any indication something was wrong. I purchased my BT in Sept 2023, so it's less than a year old. I drop in for dive 2 and it won't turn on. I immediately surface and hand it back up to the boat. After the dive, I open it up and see moisture on my batteries. The batteries look fine after pulling them out. There's definitely water at the bottom in the circuitry. I dump out maybe a 1/4 cup of water.

Just to note, I do a lot of photography and am religious about cleaning o-rings. My o-rings for the BT were cleaned and lubed before this dive. I haven't inspected them yet, I was pretty tired after getting home.

I sent a message to DiveX, let's see what they say. Wish me luck.

 

[john120283]

It might be the shaft seal. I had a small leak in one of my blacktops that resulted in one of the bearings rusting and seizing up. I never had a noticeable amount of water inside the dpv, so I’m pretty sure it was the shaft seal and the majority of the leakage was contained to the tail section.

 

[Johnoly]

... am religious about cleaning o-rings.

Hopefully no damaged electrical components. We do some steep dives with plenty of action. But I hate having it in the back of my mind after a fix/repair. I just want my stuff to work all the time, every time and I'll pay anything to trust 100% my equipment. Hope you find the leaker.

 

[lostsheep]

Sub’d.

Please keep us updated on how they throw you under the bus.

 

[Rick Brant]

I'll pay anything to trust 100% my equipment.

Genesis.

 

[Wibble]

There is a vacuum tester available for the Blacktip. Try to borrow one and see how the vacuum holds up; they're around $500 to buy.

There's another thread about Blacktip leaks today -

Blacktip Travel DPV with Vacuum Bulkhead... Leak issues.

Hello! Thank you for clicking through and reading my post - I'm looking for some DPV advice ... I moved from the UK a year ago to Grenada, and because of all the great diving I can enjoy here, decided to buy a BlackTip DPV Travel edition and spent the extra to have the security of the vacuum...

scubaboard.com

 

[grantmac]

I'll pay anything to trust 100% my equipment.

Then you definitely shouldn't be diving a BT.
I'd second recommending the Genesis, they redefine robust.

 

[MrChen]

They saw that I purchased a vacuum bulkhead with the BT and asked me to test it. It is not holding vacuum, so that eliminates the cone. I pulled the o-rings back o-rings and could not find any hair or sand. I reinstalled the o-rings after giving them a good finger rub and tested the vacuum again, it still failed. I don't think it's the tube o-rings.

I don't like using the vacuum bulkhead because it adds so much weight. I've used the BT without the vacuum bulkhead for about 8 months, almost every weekend. So that we maximize room on the boat, we sit the DPV's up on the tail. With the bulkhead, the DPV has a tendency to fall. Without the bulkhead, it's far more stable when sitting upright on the tail.

 

[MrChen]

It might be the shaft seal. I had a small leak in one of my blacktops that resulted in one of the bearings rusting and seizing up. I never had a noticeable amount of water inside the dpv, so I’m pretty sure it was the shaft seal and the majority of the leakage was contained to the tail section.

I assume this would be covered under warranty if it were the issue?

 

[MrChen]

Sub’d.

Please keep us updated on how they throw you under the bus.

Is this their MO?