Cleaning of equipment

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skimon

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Messages
9
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Location
Fort Lauderdale
# of dives
50 - 99
I've been diving two years and try to clean my gear well after each dive by rinsing and soaking in fresh water since I dive almost exclusively in salt water. However, over the past 1 1/2 dives, the inflator button on my BCD low power inflator got stuck so that it slowly leaked air into the BCD which messed up my buoyancy and caused me to dump air every minute or so. (I at first attributed it to poor technique on my part, but then figured out what was happening and replicated the problem on the surface after the last dive.)

So, the question is: How can you flush fresh water through the inflator button on the BCD to keep salt and gunk from possible causing this problem.

Thanks.
 
  1. Use one of these BCD inflator flush hoses FlushHose.JPG < OR >
  2. Fill your BCD bladder w. water by unscrewing the inflator hose at the bladder, re-screw the inflator hose, turn the bcd upside down and drain the fresh water through the inflator valve < OR >
  3. Buy a generic inflator valve from a place like Dive Gear Express that you can easily dismantle and rebuild (be aware that there are two different commonly used corrugated hose sizes. The Power Inflator shown here requires the smaller 1" hose)
 
I had a BCD that used to stick on. I had to clean the inflator valve every 20 dives or so. If I did not, it stuck open. Did not seem to be related to salt, just a poor design.
 
One of the potential problems with the "fresh water rinse tank" at the dive resort is that the water might not be changed often and accumulate salt and dirt. I now soak my gear back home in a tub and work all the controls on regs BCs etc.
Seems to have cut down on the frequency of service needed.
 
The hoses listed above are the only way to 100% clean the inside of the inflator valves.
https://www.deepseasupply.com/index.php?product=1301
I prefer that to the one listed above, but it works fine. You need to take apart your current inflator and clean it.
video is also on the deep sea supply website, parts and tools are available there as well as Piranha and DiveGear Express
 
Last edited by a moderator:
The above suggested hose assumes you have a "garden hose" with some pressure.

Nothing to buy with this method: Place the gushing garden hose on the oral inflator's mouthpiece. Manipulate the button open and closed, engage the schrader valve (just like any inner tube tire has) socket on the filler connection. Water gushes out everywhere. No extra hose to buy or drag along.

This is a great opportunity to buck-up and learn to disassemble your BC. It goes together with no more difficulty than teenager skilled Lego blocks. Work gently, everything will unscrew and come apart. Most mating surfaces are made of Delrin, a most flexible and forgiving plastic. Gain wide and easy access to the bladder by understanding how to remove each of the dump ports. Rinse them while you're there.

If you are tenuous about this, even though it's not rocket surgery, ask an old timer or pay for 20 minutes of technician time to demonstrate the process. (You may like to use a light-use kitchen-grade jar lid remover strap tool) Just remember where everything came off of and in what order. It is child's play and very consistent between manufacturers- unlike mucking about with a bright shiny regulator would be.
 
Nothing to buy with this method: Place the gushing garden hose on the oral inflator's mouthpiece. Manipulate the button open and closed, engage the schrader valve (just like any inner tube tire has) socket on the filler connection. Water gushes out everywhere. No extra hose to buy or drag along.

Second this method - I do this every time I rinse my BC - make sure you manipulate both buttons on the inflator.
 
I also use Deep Sea Supply's hose adapter. It's a bit wet to use, but it flushes everything out nicely and is very small. It lives by my dunk bucket so there's no problem dragging it around.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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