Water in BCD

[zekethesheik]

Finally bought a bcd last Friday, after renting for a long time (ie.. wife okayed purchase). The last one I owned was a horsecollar with a pic of Jacques on the front (yeah, I'm old).
While cleaning I pushed the deflate and inhaled on the oral inflater, and got a lungful of Puget Sound. Is this normal? Did I screw up? Will I be eaten by Shamu?

Thanks in advance

 

[masterof0]

it is comon to have water in your BC after diving. It is recommended as part of your cleaning process to place fresh water in the BC and shake it around and drain it. When draining it, you definitely don't want to suck the water out. What you can do is fill the BC with air and either turn the BC upside down and let the water flow down through the exhaust hose. When you push the exhaust valve, the pressure built up inside will force the air out. The other option is to orient the BC with the OPV in the lowest point and open the OPV.

 

[The Kraken]

Whenever you vent your B/C under water, you'll get a little bit of water in the bladder.

Good advice above . . .

the K

 

[Saxatilis]

First off I totally agree with mastrof0's cleaning advice. Doing this will help forestall repairs and extend the life of your BC.
As to the most common reasons why water get in your BC in the first place, whenever you vent you can get some water into the air bladder but it should not be that much. You can get a lot more in if you repeated try to deflate your BC when its already empty. Found that out one time when I was seriously underweighted. You can also get lots of water in there if you dont hold the dump valve straight up. Let me know if this helps .

Saxatilis

 

[The Kraken]

After a while, and "while" is predicated upon how much diving you do, take a mixture of mouthwash and water and rinse the inside of your B/C bladder and corrugated hose.

It will help keep any bacteria growth down and will also leave you that fresh, minty feeling if you have to inflate your B/C by mouth.

the K

 

[Teamcasa]

Venting when empty will get water in but if you are getting a significant amount inside you are venting too often.

When I clean it, I fill it with some water, blow it up, roll it aroung and drain using all of the valves. Repeat two or three times. The last rinse includes a capfull or two of cheap mouthwash, kills the little buggers that lurk inside.

 

[wunat]

After a while, and "while" is predicated upon how much diving you do, take a mixture of mouthwash and water and rinse the inside of your B/C bladder and corrugated hose.

It will help keep any bacteria growth down and will also leave you that fresh, minty feeling if you have to inflate your B/C by mouth.

This is new to me. I guess I will try it on mine soon.

 

[redacted]

Don't forget to run plenty of FW through the inflator to flush that mout and avoid problems.

 

[nwdiver2]

Don't suck them dry ever, even with good cleaning a bit of mildew fungus will grow in there, you don't want that in your lungs. I run fresh water through mine after every dive as noted above.

 

[zekethesheik]

Thanks everyone for the tips... Did the freshwater/mouthwash rinse, and will make that a habit.