How bad is inhaling from BCD/Wing ?

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socc

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Hello,

I was wondering how risky/bad is to inhale air from BCD/Wing.
I got a new wing and the manufacturer says to rinse the inside of bladder after every dive. For this reason I have to manually inflate fully my wing with my mouth (I do not own a tank) for about 10 times to get the water out. However, when you inflate it especially when it is close to fully inflated sometimes air comes out and I was thinking if you actually inhale that air while you try to actually inflate it . How bad can this be ? I have read that the bladder can have bacteria/viruses/fungus and some of them are nasty and you should not breath them. Should I worry ?

Thanks in advance for your info.

Socc
 
Not to worry if it's a minor inhale, breathing it is a different story. It's fine to inflate orally to rinse and expel the water. But avoid filling to max if it exhausts into your lungs. No reason to expose yourself to the yuckies.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
 
Hello,

I was wondering how risky/bad is to inhale air from BCD/Wing.
I got a new wing and the manufacturer says to rinse the inside of bladder after every dive. For this reason I have to manually inflate fully my wing with my mouth (I do not own a tank) for about 10 times to get the water out. However, when you inflate it especially when it is close to fully inflated sometimes air comes out and I was thinking if you actually inhale that air while you try to actually inflate it . How bad can this be ? I have read that the bladder can have bacteria/viruses/fungus and some of them are nasty and you should not breath them. Should I worry ?

Thanks in advance for your info.

Socc

As with any health or medical advice from the Internet, treat this with scepticism.

It is true nasty things can grow in the bladder, manually inflating it is going to put more nasties in than any other inflation method. If you keep it somewhere nice and warm the nasties can grow – just think of what would happened to food if you stored it in the same place.

Speak to your instructor about equipment maintenance.

And welcome to SCUBA its a fantastic hobby (passion).
 
Not to worry if it's a minor inhale, breathing it is a different story. It's fine to inflate orally to rinse and expel the water. But avoid filling to max if it exhausts into your lungs. No reason to expose yourself to the yuckies.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

As with any health or medical advice from the Internet, treat this with scepticism.

It is true nasty things can grow in the bladder, manually inflating it is going to put more nasties in than any other inflation method. If you keep it somewhere nice and warm the nasties can grow – just think of what would happened to food if you stored it in the same place.

Speak to your instructor about equipment maintenance.

And welcome to SCUBA its a fantastic hobby (passion).

Hi guys,

Thanks you for your replies. I just got my first BC system and I am really new to taking care of my own diving stuff. I have used it only once actually.
I of course do not take breaths out of my wing but as I inflate it sometimes air comes out when close to fully inflated and I am quite worried if it can be dangerous even thought I am trying not to inhale that air.

Thanks,

Socc
 
First, breathing from it can kill you. It's happened, don't do it.

Second, oral inflation saves gas that you would otherwise be able to breathe and is the most efficient way of maintaining buoyancy.

Third, oral inflation won't kill you, you should be starting the exhale, then opening the valve, close the valve, then stop the exhale, otherwise air is coming out that should be going in.

Fourth, if you are that deeply concerned, flush the wing with steramine which is we use in CCR breathing loops, which for what it is worth, are identical in form to bc's. Corrugated hoses connected to air tight bags with dump valves and inflation valves.
 
beats drowning due to ZERO air 'below---down under'.........
 
beats drowning due to ZERO air 'below---down under'.........

Hello there,

I know but I am only talking about when I clean the my wing not when underwater. I care mainly about how but this can be to you if it does happen.

Thanks,

Socc
 
I got a new wing and the manufacturer says to rinse the inside of bladder after every dive. For this reason I have to manually inflate fully my wing with my mouth (I do not own a tank) for about 10 times to get the water out. However, when you inflate it especially when it is close to fully inflated sometimes air comes out and I was thinking if you actually inhale that air while you try to actually inflate it . How bad can this be ? I have read that the bladder can have bacteria/viruses/fungus and some of them are nasty and you should not breath them. Should I worry ?

There's no way to know what's growing in there, so I would avoid inhaling it if you can.

Also, you don't need to blow it up to get the water out. You can fill it with a hose, then rotate it so the inflator attachment is the low spot, then just drain out the water.

Gravity works just fine.

flots.
 
I know but I am only talking about when I clean the my wing not when underwater.

I am not sure how you inflate your BC - but when I do I take a breath put my mouth on the mouth piece and depress my valve (Air 2) I breath out and then I release the button - I take another breath and I repeat. I dont feel like I am inhaling air from my bc - do you remove your mouth from the inflator?
:D
 
I am not sure how you inflate your BC - but when I do I take a breath put my mouth on the mouth piece and depress my valve (Air 2) I breath out and then I release the button - I take another breath and I repeat. I dont feel like I am inhaling air from my bc - do you remove your mouth from the inflator?
:D

Hi Basking. Of course I take my mouth off from the inflator but when the wing is almost fully inflated when you press the button to put some more air in, some air comes out while you exhale. I am not inhaling any air in from the wing in purpose, but as I exhale and air comes out I was wondering if I without realising inhale some of air that comes out from the wing even though I resist it.

Thanks,

Socc
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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