This is why BCs also need servicing

[stiebs]

.. especially if they haven't been used for a while.

I just got a pretty decent deal on a second hand Halcyon Eclipse. According to the label it's over 10 years old, and according to the seller it hasn't been used for about 5 years. Externally everything looked in pretty good condition - clean and showing very little wear, and it seemed to hold air pretty well with a small audible hiss out of the mouthpiece when fully inflated.

Needless to say, the first thing I did when I got home was pull the inflator apart. And this is what I found:



A few minutes in the ultrasonic and I'll never see some of that chrome plating again. But al least the green is gone now.

Its pretty much impossible to thoroughly clean all the salt out of the inside of your inflator. So if its been sitting around for a while, make sure to get it serviced!

 

[emoreira]

I agree with you, but that BCD would have needed rinsing. Only after diving a lot in sea water and no rinsing at all could build up such amount of verdigris

 

[kelemvor]

$16 fix. Really, if I were to buy a used bcd that was 10 years old I'd expect to replace the power inflator and pull dumps and maybe the bladder. All of those are easy enough that nearly all divers should be able to do it themselves.

K-Style Power Inflator for 1-inch Corrugated Hose

A replacement drift-pin design K-style 45-Degree Oral and Power Inflator compatible with 1-inch diameter corrugated hoses and the slide-lock fitting on ordinary low pressure BC hoses.

www.divegearexpress.com