Catastrophic BCD Failure questions

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Messages
2
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Location
ATLANTA, GA
# of dives
None - Not Certified
Hello,

I'm new to diving and encountered a BCD failure that quickly became an emergency.

I had my brand new BCD modified by a dive shop. They changed the hose out to make it longer for me given my height. I lightly inflated the BCD before jumping in from a boat and was positively buoyant in the water for a few minutes. I noticed that I was quickly becoming negatively buoyant and began struggling to stay near the surface. I was pressing the inflator button and nothing was happening. I wasn't sure what was going on but was getting exhausted kicking my flippers to stay near the surface. I then looked down to see what was below me if I sank and then saw that the hose had separated from the inflator section and seawater was pouring into the BCD. I was able to get the attention of my Instructor before sinking and he and I both began working to unstrap the BCD from my body. We got it off and it quickly sank to the bottom. The Instructor towed my back to the boat.

The dive boat operator rescued my rig from the bottom and examined it. He noticed that the 2 clips that securely hold the hose and inflator together was missing and he'd never seen that before. It's likely that connection was only hand tightened by the repair shop and he commented that without those clips it was going to fail at some point soon. He also said that it is virtually impossible for those clips to come off in the water if attached correctly

Questions (1) has anybody seen this before? (2) best guess on how much water a BCD would hold if full of water? (3) can a BCD become permanently damaged when filled with water?
 
Glad u are ok. Not sure about a the clips. But fill BCD with fresh water with a hose holding the inflate button down. Then use dump valve to empty water. Do this a few times. U should do this every dive anyways as sea water does get inside your bcd at times.
 
(1) I've attached the inflator hose but didn't seat it properly before, but it pops off with a pull. To prevent it happening again for you, check hose connections yourself when attaching regs to BCD. Pull on hose after attaching hose to inflator. QD connections do have higher risk of disconnection than threads.
(2) Can fill as much as it can fill.
(3) Rinse it out. Should be fine after.

It might be considered catastrophic only because you
(1) didn't do a gear check?
(2) might be overweighted
It's all good lesson though and im glad you didn't get hurt.
 
Pictures of the Sherwood BCD with the "clips" that hold the hose and inflator sections together and a picture of the Sherwood BCD without the clips and sections apart. The sections apart is what I encountered in the ocean. Seawater entered via the exposed hose.
IMG_3399.jpg
IMG_3400.jpg
 
Interesting, I’ve had dump valve stick open which give a similar result. I am not sure how this hose failure occurred, a couple of pictures would be helpful. If the hose separated, it would have drained the tank. Was it the power inflator/hose that came off the BCD, or the LP hose that disconnected from the inflator?

Ideally, you should not be overweighted by more than 5 lbs on the surface with a full tank. New divers are frequently overweighted (not right, but it happens). This is a good example of when ditchable weight would have been useful. Better to drop a couple of weights to stay at the surface thank your entire rig. Fortunately, you were able to recover it.
 
Questions (1) has anybody seen this before? (2) best guess on how much water a BCD would hold if full of water? (3) can a BCD become permanently damaged when filled with water

1 I haven't had the problem, but can see how it could happen.
2 take the buoyancy rating and devide by 8#/gallon for a rough estimate, if it is actually full.
3 No, but if it was actually full, I'd empty it as I took it out of the water to reduce stress on the BC and me. Clean it out and dry after, so you don't start a science project

FYI, I practice ditching my weights and/or rig quickly, you now know the reason. And buy your instructor a cold one, he earned one.


Welcome to diving.

Bob
 
Ah the zipties were missing. That's a bad oversight on the guy who replaced your hose.

That's an understatement.
 
I’m a new diver as well, and it’s no fun to think that our equipment can fail us. Sounds like you were able to manage it, and you’ll be better off for having gone through it. Definitely a good reminder that you’re taught how to put your gear on while in the water, but it’s as important to know how to jettison your gear if it tries to drown you.
 

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