Flooded BC

[Juris Diver]

How much water do you have in your BC after a typical dive? I get about an 8 oz glass full (more or less). I assume the water gets in when I dump. Of course, I've noticed other divers have to pour water out after a dive, but it seems like I always have more. ;-0

I inflated my BC (SeaQuest Balance) all the way and let it sit for a few days to see if there is a leak. There's definitely less air in there than before. Is this normal? I bought the thing only a few weeks ago - should I be concerned?

Thanks!

 

[Scubaroo]

Hi Juris Diver,

The water in your BC is definitely getting in while you dump. There are some things you can try to reduce the amount of water getting in, even eliminate it:

1. Dump all of the air from your BC on the surface before your initial descent. A common mistake is to hold the deflate button down after you slip under the surface, trying to get that last bit of air out - whenever the button is depressed and no air is coming out, water is going IN to your BC. Try momentarily holding your breath on the surface to maintain positive bouyancy, deflate your BC, then exhale to sink under the surface. This has been the biggest factor for me in reducing the water in my wings, to almost none.

2. Practice proper bouyancy control. A optimal dive profile is to ony add air to your BC during a dive as you descend, and to only dump air again at the end of the dive as you ascend. If you're only dumping air from your BC when there is air in it to dump, only a minimal amount of water can enter the BC. Use your breathing to make minor bouyancy adjustments underwater to save having to dump air while underwater during the dive.

3. Make sure you are properly weighted. If you aren't carrying enough weight, you will have trouble maintaining your depth, which could be a reason why you might find the need to continually try to dump air from your BC. If you are overweighted on the other hand, you will have to add more air to your BC to compensate, and you will experience bigger bouyancy swings, necessitating the need to add/dump the air in your BC more frequently.

hope this helps!

Ben

 

[Juris Diver]

Yep, definitely a help Ben. Appreciate it!

I can understand the water getting in as I descend from the surface because I'm not dumping all air, holding breath, then descending as you suggest. Also, aluminum tanks at about 1000 psi - need I say more? Even though I know it's the tank that's sending me (and my overexpanding lungs) upward, I'm still dumping (or trying to) furiously as I rise, rise, rise. It's funny as hell!

Frustrating too! :banging:

 

[herman]

To answer your "leaking" question, per a very experienced reg/BC tech I know, a BC will leak some and it is normal for them to leak down over several hours, 4 or 5, esp if you have them filled tight. This is not to say that it should go down in 10 or 15 minutes or completely flat but if it's hours or days and it's just getting "soft", then no worry. Now if you can hear it leaking, WORRY! hehehe
You might want to make sure the LP inflator and overpressure vent are snug however. They do work loose some times.

It may be the way I vent my BCs (Ranger and a Scout) but I almost never have any water in it. I tip my left shoulder up to get the vent at it high spot and use the vent at the shoulder by pulling the inflator hose.

 

[Juris Diver]

Perfect. Thanks Herman. Now I don't feel like I gotta fill-out my warranty card.

 

[MikeS]

I also have a Balance and initially had problems with water in the BC at the end of a dive. For me this was actually a symptom of not understanding how to effectively dump all of the air. As I was attempting to let air out, water was coming in. When I asked my instructor he explained what was going on and since then I have not had any water in the BC since.

When trimmed properly the Balance is great for effortlessly maintaining a horizontal orientation. Unfortunately, in most cases it is not possible to dump air properly in a horizontal orientation. It is important to make sure the dump valve is the highest point, if it’s not instead of letting air out you let water in. Additionally the nature of the bladder makes it tend to form two separate air compartments, one on each side, even when oriented vertically.

For me the solution has been to orient properly when venting air. The best position is a vertical orientation but tilted at an angle so the shoulder with the dump valve is slightly higher.

Hope this helps,
Mike

 

[Juris Diver]

I tried Herman's suggestion yesterday and it seemed to work like a charm. I also made an effort to be sure I was vertical and leaning to my right (left shoulder up) to dump (when dumping from the inflator hose).

Much less water!

Thanks again.

 

[herman]

Glad it helped. You don't have to go completely vertical, just enough to ensure that the highest spot on your BC is where the dump valve is. A little water in the BC is not really a problem, just don't want a lot. As you get more experience you will find you use the inflator/deflator less and less.