bladder washout idea

[tbone1004]

@J322Y if your water is out of a well, you can absolutely "waste" it. The aquifers take quite a long time to recharge. It is one thing if you are using city water, but if you are on well water, it is definitely a long term resource. As cave divers we are painfully aware of the aquifer health in Florida, and needless to say it is not "healthy".

That said, there is a difference in using water for consumption of various things, and wasting water for no reason. There is no reason to run that many gallons of water through a BC because it isn't doing anything productive, and that is the definition of "wasting" a resource

 

[J322Y]

I'm on city water but point taken.

Since I've learned that this isn't a good method for cleaning a BC I've abandoned it.

I think I made some good points though and its good to consider that the resources we use (waste?) on diving is basically selfish. I'm willing to bet that I use/waste less water than most people not even factoring in that I chose not to add to the human population.

 

[tbone1004]

@J322Y which is fine, but I'm staying on the how to properly clean bc's side since that is most relevant.

Best thing is just to fill it a third ish and slosh it around with fresh water. Repeat 1-2x if you feel it's got a lot of salt in it and drain properly. Most of the issues arise from people failing to drain them properly which is quite difficult and most people don't know how to do it to get most all of the water out

 

[ajduplessis]

@J322Y Just think of the resources you wasted in drafting this response, inclusive of your education...

I am joking obviously

 

[rsingler]

Well, after reading through everything, including the enviroextremist comments (I live in CA, so I'm allowed to say that), there is at least one thing that I like.
I have been doing it like @tbone1004 says. But in winter, I'm doing it over my bathtub, and bending to keep water off the floor as I slosh from one side of the bladder to another before dumping out and rinsing again. My back hates it. It's an awkward position that Florida guys don't understand when they get to do it outside.
But now I see a way to fill and ignore for a little. Slosh and dump. Repeat. No bending. I like it.
Okay, I won't flow for 15 min. After all, CA used to be drought country. But I like this "clamp the button" and fill technique.

Anybody know what's in BC Life? That's what I use. No bleach - concur.
Thanks @J322Y !

As for manufacturer saying "don't unscrew the dump too often" - pure BS. Just don't crossthread the valve when you screw it back on! And for that, +1 to Scubapro for coarse threads, and -1 to most everyone else. Just be careful.

 

[Kharon]

In my OW class (even after all this time I still remember) I was taught to partially fill, slosh and drain 2-3 times. To void the last of the water, blow the BC/bladder up with air about a third to half full, put the dump valve at the lowest point and purge. Do that several times and then hang th BC/bladder up partially filled. Go back a short later time and purge it one last time. Leave it hang partially filled.

 

[Steve_C]

+1 on no bleach. I trashed a mask by leaving it in a dilute bleach solution for a couple days when I forgot about it soaking. Mask got all sticky and gummy.

I do rinse out my BCD a bit after ocean dives to keep salt crystals from forming. Just run some in a dump valve. Slosh a bit and drain.

 

[tbone1004]

In my OW class (even after all this time I still remember) I was taught to partially fill, slosh and drain 2-3 times. To void the last of the water, blow the BC/bladder up with air about a third to half full, put the dump valve at the lowest point and purge. Do that several times and then hang th BC/bladder up partially filled. Go back a short later time and purge it one last time. Leave it hang partially filled.

fill completely and only slightly crack the dump valve where only water is coming out. Depending on how much water you have in there, it will all come out in the first or maybe second inflation

 

[ams511]

Interesting, I was taught to do it the same way except to invert the BC and let it drain out of the inflator. Presumably to rinse the inflator.

 

[tbone1004]

Interesting, I was taught to do it the same way except to invert the BC and let it drain out of the inflator. Presumably to rinse the inflator.

out the inflators work too, but we teach the students to do it out of the dump valve. They are using Halcyon Eclipse rigs so there are STA's on them and flipping them over to get it into the inflator is a lot more annoying than getting it out of the dump valve