Bc air bladder material deterioration

Allay your fears, I have cut open 20 + year old BCD bladders that were badly scuffed on the outside with perfectly intact bonded membranes on the inside .( I use the material to make shot weight pouches of varying sizes with the use of a hot clothes iron to fuse / heat seal the membrane together ).

The only place for delamination of the membrane to occur is around expansion gussets or stress points in bladders where a diver has inflated a BCD and jumped from a greater than normal height into water creating sudden expansion stress on the seam before the dump valve has a chance to open.

Most older BCD's suffer from leaks on dump valves and the inflator hose area. Sometimes reversing or replacing a rubber gasket or an O ring can solve the problem. If you have concerns of a porous bladder, put a bit of dishwashing liquid in a spray bottle filled with water and liberally spray the fully inflated bladder to expose the leaks.

Thanks Namereg 58! Now I'll need to get anti-mildew stuff.