Buying older used equipment

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Painter

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Location
Provincetown, MA
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After reading several posts on this forum, I've decided to buy a used BCD. I have looked in a number of places and have found several that could be good, though I am a bit wary of buying something just from a photo. When I look up some of the BCD's it appears that they could be seven or eight years old. . Is there any reason to avoid buying an older BCD if, on inspection it appears to be in good shape?
 
Why not just buy newer used equipment? People get out of this hobby everyday, and often they have high quality gear with almost no use on it. If you buy newer, used gear, you'll be able to re-sell it for a very minor loss if you need to upgrade, or get out of scuba all together.
Older gear may not be serviceable, or the parent company may stop supporting it in a few years... spend a bit more money, wait until the right deal is in front of you, and then grab quality, used gear, at a great price!

**When buying used regulators take the service cost into account... from my reading/ experience budget around $50-$70 per stage for service. Often the cost of the used regs, plus the service, is similar to the cost of a new set, plus you loose the warranty on the used gear.**
 
which bc are you looking at?

basically two things as far as the air cell is concerned. does it hold air, so orally inflate as much as you can and let it sit for 5-10 mins, if it doesn't hold air, I'd walk. The other is if you hook it up to a LPI, does it auto-inflate. If it does, then you have to replace the power inflator, which isn't that expensive, just annoying.

The other is make sure it hasn't seen a lot of sun/chlorine as that will prematurely wear it out
 
After reading several posts on this forum, I've decided to buy a used BCD. I have looked in a number of places and have found several that could be good, though I am a bit wary of buying something just from a photo. When I look up some of the BCD's it appears that they could be seven or eight years old. . Is there any reason to avoid buying an older BCD if, on inspection it appears to be in good shape?

1) Be sure it fits you.

2) Be sure it does what you want. Some BCDs are just poorly designed or inexpensively made.

3) As described upthread, be sure it holds air.

4) Check for worn seams or cords.

5) Check to be sure the corrugated hose is attached securely at both ends and is in good condition. Though uncommon, a failure of the hose connection can lead to an accident.

6) Service or replace the inflator unless you are certain of its age and condition. They are prone to sticking. Inflators that work fine but have internal corrosion can stick on a dive leading to an uncontrolled ascent. I use new generic inflators from DGX, or replace the entire "cartridge" assembly for the fill button.
 
After reading several posts on this forum, I've decided to buy a used BCD. I have looked in a number of places and have found several that could be good, though I am a bit wary of buying something just from a photo. When I look up some of the BCD's it appears that they could be seven or eight years old. . Is there any reason to avoid buying an older BCD if, on inspection it appears to be in good shape?

A lot of people will sell gear up to 10 years old for next to nothing that have next to no dives on them. These are often people who started fanatically and then gave it up after a season or so.

I would personally be worried about buying one "site unseen" because it could have been abused or badly maintained but I've bought a couple of BCD's over the years that were "older" and "hardly dived" on the Dutch version of "ebay" and I've gotten them for next to nothing. Nothing like spending $75 on a $500 BCD with 20 dives on it that's been sitting around in someone's closet for a couple of years.

Personally, I'll never buy another BCD new.

As an aside I've also acquired a titan glacia with (count 'em) 6 logged dives (according to the log book) for a "throw away" price because the owner just wanted to get rid of it. I didn't even need a new reg. I bought it anyway and I'll probably sell it at some point for three times what I bought it for which will still be 1/2 of what it would have cost to buy a new one. So yeah, buying online CAN be a great deal IF you know what you're looking at.

I've also had students come to class with 2nd hand Dacor regulators that can no longer be serviced. The seller was the "laughing party" in that exchange and the point is that you can get burned if you don't know gear. If you're buying 2nd hand then you need to get advice from someone who knows what they're looking at. You can get advice online but best is to have someone close to you that you can call with the question.

Another caveat is that you need to have patience. A LOT of patience. Ebay is not like a store where you can order what you want and have it the next day. I needed to wait for months before I found exactly the BCD I wanted for my daughter. I got it for $50 (it was a Seaquest Diva with 16 logged dives according to the log book)

R..
 
After reading several posts on this forum, I've decided to buy a used BCD. I have looked in a number of places and have found several that could be good, though I am a bit wary of buying something just from a photo. When I look up some of the BCD's it appears that they could be seven or eight years old. . Is there any reason to avoid buying an older BCD if, on inspection it appears to be in good shape?
7 or 8 years is not old for a BCD that has been taken care of. My first BCD was 20 years old when I finally wore it out. The material was still in good shape, it just developed some pin holes at a few rub spots. I could easily have fixed it with some glue but that did not seem prudent given its age.

Just make sure the material is still supple with no cracking or excessive wear spots.
 

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