Old Ranger Bladder Lifespan

[ImmaHyrdalisk]

I just purchased a used 2006'ish Zeagle Ranger. On arrival I inspected everything and it all mostly checks out though it could have been maintained better. He claims about 20 dives on the BC and the bladder had a decent amount of dry salt in it. It's fairly yellow, but holds air perfectly.

What's the expected lifespan of these bladders, and how badly would not cleaning it compromise the bladder? Planning on doing a shakedown dive at shallow shore dive site (Blue Heron Bridge) next weekend since it holds air just fine. Am I totally nuts or should I just bite the bullet and replace it?

 

[fmerkel]

That polyurethane is damn tough. If the fabric skin is not sun or pool rotten it should be fine.
I would flush it well several times with very warm water to get the salt out. Dump a pint of vinegar in there for the first one to help disinfect it. If cleaning/flushing it out ruins it, you didn't want to dive it.

What I would worry about is the inflator. That is a likely problem waiting to happen on an old ignored BC. Make sure it's not sticking or leaking.

 

[ImmaHyrdalisk]

Thanks for the advice, already swapped out the inflator so we'll give it a shakedown this weekend. Cheers!