Washing BCD's bladder from the inside

[spectrum]

This has NOTHING to do with breathing from a BC. Geeze you're a stubborn arse. Mold and bacteria can deteriorate a plastic liner in a BC. It can also deteriorate the rubber seals of OPVs. Nobody is even saying you have to do it after every dive, or even that you have to do it at all. Some people just say they think it helps to do it occasionally.

Mold and bacteria grows in warm wet environments. Salt crystals can damage a bladder. What exactly are you arguing for? Are you just trying to get a fight going?

Actually I am saying after every "dive day", at least in salt water. I'll cut myself some slack in fresh water knowing it won't belong before an ocean dive prompts the full flushing treatment.

Quero obliquely made an important point. In spite of all of the emphasis on the bladder it's bladder rinsing that cleans the inflater valve. After diving in salt water a few passes are needed just to get reasonably salt free water running out of the inflater.

Pete

 

[Thiad]

Yes, water find it way inside. Just inflate the bcd, place the hose under a running tap - deflate - shake it all about and flush it out.

you could also get this gadget to help you out if you want.

Innovative Scuba BC Flush Hose discounts on sale Innovative Scuba Concepts

Bought this after reading this thread. Love, love, love! Thank you!!!!

 

[RonFrank]

Washing the bladder of the BC is critical maintenance for salt water divers. On ocean trips I wash out my bladder thoroughly weekly with clean tap water. I also let some freshwater into the bladder daily at the end of the dive day. I also let my gear soak at the end of the dive day for 15 minutes or more if possible. Salt is very hard on gear. When diving freshwater this is less a issue but I still rinse once at home.

 

[LowDrag]

After my last dive and reading this thread I found that if I put a bunch of water in my BC bladder and manually inflate my BC, I can pull the dump cords and the air will push the water out of the dump holes. Probably not news to anyone but it did appear to help flush any debris out of the OPV (?) valves. I refilled and flushed our BC's a few times just to be able to get all the valves flushed out. We paid a pretty penny for our BC's and I intend to take care it. If it means a little extra time at the wash rack then so be it but at least I will know that I maintained my gear properly.

 

[fire_diver]

Actually I am saying after every "dive day", at least in salt water. Pete

Just for the sake of clarity, I was responding to the topic of putting mouthwash in the BC. I believe that a BC should be flushed and rinse after every dive with clean water.

 

[charlesml3]

I believe that a BC should be flushed and rinse after every dive with clean water.

Agreed, but I'd probably say "After every dive TRIP." It's pointless to wash it after a night dive and then jump right back in at 8:00am the next day.

Add the mouthwash if you want but it does nothing outside of making you feel better about it.

-Charles

 

[Wildbill]

I'm on a PSD team so most of the waters I go into are contaminated with something so I do a through cleaning each time. I also have equipment tech training. I feel that both, the inflator hose and dump valve are threaded for a reason, to take off...... I take both off so that it's open on both ends then place in my soak bin along with all the other gear. Afterwards rinse out the inside then hang BC upside down so it drains and air dries. Never had a problem and it really don't take special training in order to unscrew a couple of valves. Care must given in re-assembly that you don't cross thread but just take your time.

 

[cool_hardware52]

I'm on a PSD team so most of the waters I go into are contaminated with something so I do a through cleaning each time. I also have equipment tech training. I feel that both, the inflator hose and dump valve are threaded for a reason, to take off...... I take both off so that it's open on both ends then place in my soak bin along with all the other gear. Afterwards rinse out the inside then hang BC upside down so it drains and air dries. Never had a problem and it really don't take special training in order to unscrew a couple of valves. Care must given in re-assembly that you don't cross thread but just take your time.

Humm

I design and build Wings for a living.

The fitting are threaded so they can be assembled initially, and in the event of required replacement, not so they can be repeatedly disassembled after every dive. Just because it is possible to take something apart doesn't mean it's a good idea to do so after every dive.

There are a variety of fittings in use today. With some styles it is quite possible that removing the hose or OPV can cause parts internal to the bladder to loosen or become detached. Over tightening of these "through hull" fittings can also lead to failure of the fittings.

There is no need to remove the hose or OPV. Introduce a bit of fresh water through the oral inflate mouth piece, swish it around and blow it out the OPV. Repeat if necessary. Wings and BC's are designed for the marine environment and do not need to be 100 dry inside. Good thing too, because even with the hose and OPV removed it's near impossible to achieve this.

Tobin

 

[fire_diver]

Agreed, but I'd probably say "After every dive TRIP." It's pointless to wash it after a night dive and then jump right back in at 8:00am the next day.

-Charles

Yes, that's a more accurate desciption. I said "dive" but I was meaning "trip".

 

[arthurmnev]

If you use dump valve, two things happen: 1) air comes out 2) a bit of water comes in.

What I learned to do is to (if on vacations) rinse my gear with fresh water, stick it in the pool, pull the dump valve and manually pull the bladder a bit apart.

Some pool water gets inside, I drain it right after. The good thing about pool water is that it has just enough chlorine to disinfect and kill bacteria but not enough to damage the material...
worked perfectly so far.