I-3 BCD Maintenance / Service

[Diogenesdemar]

My wife's I-3 Pearl is now just over two years old. Before we head off on a couple of extended live aboard trips this summer I want to have the inflator mechanism inspected and serviced, if needed. A quick couple of questions:

What is the recommended service interval / procedure for the I-3 inflator mechanisms?

Can a competent and reasonably technically adept user self-inspect the inflator?

Is the Schrader valve inside the inflator mechanism user serviceable / replaceable, or is this something you recommend that I now "get" to pay a dive shop to perform?

Is there anything else I-3 specific, other than the inflator mechanism, that might require inspection or servicing at this time. (My wife has dove this BCD four or five trips a year on average, and has probably somewhere in the neighborhood of 100 to 120 dives on the BCD during that time, and has never had any type of problem with the operation of her I-3 BCD.)

Thanks for your advice.

 

[tphillipp]

Hi Diogenesdemar,
Glad to hear that you are getting a lot of trouble-free use out of your Pearl i3.
The recommended service interval for the i3 mechanism and flat-valves is one year.
You can certainly self inspect the inflator and BC. The best inspection is to inflate the BC until it is taut and let it sit for one hour. It should remain taut. While taut, you can spray some soapy water on the dump valves and i3 mechanism to make sure that they do not leak.
Just because it passes this test doesn't mean you should fore-go preventative maintenance. During the annual service, the technician will change out the large internal schraeder valve in the i3 as well as the schraeder in the lp hose. He will also change o-rings in the i3 mechanism, lp hose and the flat valves as well as relubricate all. I highly recommend that you do this prior to going on some liveaboard trips this summer.

 

[Diogenesdemar]

Thanks for your advice. The BCD went in for PM last week.