Does Your BCD Fill With Water? - Scuba Tech Tips: S09E13 

Yep! We can do that. The Semi-Dry wetsuit concept was started by an old friend of mine, Frank White Sr., long gone to the reef in the sky. It was a good idea at the time. I've kind of lost interest in it now for several reasons. Generally, because of the extra neoprene, you will need more than normal weights when using a semi. Alec

Just be sure to run some clean water through it too. Wash that salt and/or silt out before it ruins the valves. Take care. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter yep, I always rinse it out with fresh water after every trip. Thanks for all your tech tips - always look forward to new ones!

Your BCD should last forever Price. Alec

MOST BCDs offer that feature - not all. Simply check the shoulder at the top of the inflate/deflate hose. If there seems to be some kind of valve there with openings, it's probably a pull dump. Your LDS ought to have demonstrated that to you. Good luck. Alec.

I love Red and grew up in the 70's so i can relate totally. Thanks Kevin.

I'd guess that more air enters during the use of the left side or rear dumps only because they have a larger opening and they have no 2nd valve to limit water entry as does the shoulder valve. Alec

Absolutely right sharky. Alec

Glad you like them!

Not true. Look back through my videos and I covered this. All that matters is the hose connection fitting. Any brand can fit any 1st stage but different brands may need Intermediate Pressure adjustments to get the best breathing effort and prevent free flows. A

In a world where more is more, it's nice to know that sometimes less is more. Alec

It's quite normal for a BCD to verrry slowly leak. That is, if fully inflated, most BCDs will get soft over a day or two. You may not see any air leaking while diving, partly because the BCD is not full when diving but also because the leakage is very slow. If your BCD stays hard for 6-8 hours, it's fine. If it starts to soften in less that 2 hours, get it checked. Alec

Yep! Crazy! But interesting. I'm not sure there's a need and I learned the hard way years ago about the folly of inventing something that isn't needed. However, for sure the membrane would have to handle large volumes. Take care. Alec

Yep! Very important - especially salt water. I have made a couple of videos about this search for BCD and check them all out. Alec

well that is actually process of cleaning and maintaining the BCD. should have learn this from instructor? my instructor get me to clean all equipment after every dive.

Hi Mike, base on my experience you can use jacket style BC because it will inflate all around your body not only your back. Or you can try put some weight on your ankle, and it will trim your body a little more to vertical. I hope that useful, and safe dive.

That is the mistake that new divers tend to make. They want to get all of the air out when really that's not necessary. Most experienced divers like to be a bit negative, say just 2 or 3 pounds. That's not a problem with a BCD with 30 pounds of lift and allows you to let MOST of the air out to descend, rather than all of it. Alec

It will. You should always have a bit of air inside your dry suit so that when you dump air, some remains to keep most water out. Also, the dry suit dump is much smaller than a BCD. That is, the one-way valve has a smaller surface area so it's less likely to let water in. ' It's also one of the reasons why a diver should NOT use his drysuit as a BCD (used to be a common practice). You can't dump air fast enough. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter Thank you Alec. Love your videos. keep up the good work.

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter > reasons why a diver should NOT use his drysuit as a BCD (used to be a common practice). You can't dump air fast enough Sure, open your neck seal. it will dump real fast :) drysuit air === warmth. In our 52deg (and sometime colder) Nor Cal waters, I sure appreciate that. If I'm doing a kayak straight down/up dive profile I don't use my BCD other than surface. if doing shallow dive, or return to reef, then yeah I tend to squeeze the drysuit a lot more and use BCD as it's much easier to dump/control in horizontal position... so yeah for me it varies.

X Gear - if you hold the drysuit valve open past the last air bubbles, you will get small amount of water in... you can feel it

All good ideas. Basically, it comes down to practice. Alec

I did a short video on that subject. I think I was in South Africa at the time visiting my Great White friends. But an update is probably a good idea. Alec

New divers learn about that but it takes many dives to really get it together. Alec

I'm usually in Florida once or twice each year. Where are you? Alec

In this case I would agree. Leaky exhaust valves/gaskets from use over time, can cause excessive water to enter the BCD.

I have done a couple of videos about that John. Try looking for them few series back. We may do an update since it's a popular topic. Alec

Do you mind if I send this to all my diving friends here in Canada? You never get respect from your family or friends. It's kinda true. I'll tell you a true story. I was working at Scuba 2000 one evening, say about 7PM, when the door opens and a big guy with a silly grin on his face comes in. He glanced around the shop and then walked up and said, "You're Alec Peirce aren't you?" I said yes and he was all happy to meet me. He was from Illinois and was in Toronto for a computer conference but made time to visit in the hopes of meeting me. He took a 2-hour taxi ride to get to the shop! Apparently he and his scuba club members like my videos and always talk about them. We had a great talk and I asked if he'd like to see the Alec Peirce Scuba 'set'. Now the set is just my service area but he was all excited and jumped at the chance. Then I had a staff member take a picture of him and myself on the 'set'. He was very pleased and said that all of his dive buddies would be so jealous of him, having met Alec Peirce and been on the 'set'. Contrast that to when I suggest to my kids that they should watch one of my videos, they say maybe, sometime!!!! Thanks for your comments and I hope you get something worthwhile from my vids. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter ungrateful kids ! you should adopt me and dis-honor them ! :)

Yep! New divers always come up with a BCD full of water. Old divers not so much. Alec

The one that fits is the correct one! The fat valve face O-Ring is for older valves, generally before 1975. Almost all newer valves use the thin one. If you have a newer valve that takes the thin one, the thick one won't fit in. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter- Thank you Alec! All your videos are very helpful.

Thanks Roberto. Alec

That BCD cleaner is a great idea. It should make your expensive BCD last a long time with no problems. Take care. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter yes was expensive.its a scubapro hydros pro.and it's probably the best bcd I've had

They must be cleaned occasionally or your drysuit isn't. Alec

Easy. I can do that. The old straps can be a real nuisance but I do have some tips to make it easier. Alec

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter I got the scubapro jet find and some new ones so thanks

Thanks for your support bristol. How's the weather there, over 'ome? Alec

For the average diver putting their BCD into storage for an extended amount of time (over 2 months), manufacturers advise that you clean your BCD inside and out with fresh water, drain it as much as you can with the different dumps, then slightly inflating the bladder while its in storage. Reasoning: While in storage the insides of the bladder could contact each other and stick to one another. Depending on how clean it is, it could be a point where some undesired funky stuff starts growing further sealing that patch of your bladder to one another. Depending on how stuck together it is, it will either limit your buoyancy since it wont fully inflate, or it could cause the bladder walls to weaken or tear where it was (glued together). The more you disassemble and reassemble things on your BCD the more likely you are to lose a piece, or cross thread it making the BCD a total waste, Alec did a video on that. That being said, I don't do that. Soak my BC with all butt dump valves off, in a vinegar/alcohol mouthwash/gentle laundry detergent bath for a day or 2, then I dry it for a day, then the last bit of water that is still in the bladder is wicked out with a knotted up string that I feed into the butt dump. I only remove the butt dumps, never the shoulder/LPI dump because those usually have gaskets of some sort that I dont want to lose, while the butt dumps have a glued in rubber disk that doesnt go anywhere. I also always put the pull dump in the pocket of my BCD so i'll never forget it. I have 5 BCDs for different circumstances, and they are all stored on a rack in a bedroom with the wicking string still in them. Then again, my BCDs are in use by me about every other month if not more.

Thanks for the info Slick85.

Kidney dumps are simpler to disassemble and to let drain. I always rinse the inside of the bladder with fresh water after a trip , even if I'm going diving again a week later. Fill it about 1/4 to 1/3 with water, top up with some air to keep the bladder expanded, shake well, flush water through the hose and through each dump, remove dump and hang up to let drain and dry. I also let the reg and other kit soak for a few hours. It is a lot of work, but rusty or stuck equipment is useless equipment.

They seem to work. I know they don't look solid but they are very tough and do a great job, so, I guess I'm in favor of them. The pin style seems to be less likely to break than the clips. I have seen some broken Fastex-style clips. Alec

Yah i still rent gear so i have a rental card i get filled out then ij will by my own gear i like your tips and i just got into you at the ranch and your vintage and sea hunt great videos and i found some sea hunt episodes on youtube i might eventually get in to vintage diving

I am there often, usually in the Cape Coral/Ft. Meyers area. Not much diving there but we could meet at Crystal River or one of the springs. Do you know Joyce of Narcosis Divers in Tarpon? Alec

Oh no. Thank you John. I'm so glad you enjoy our videos. Alec

Good to know. Still a rinse inside keeps the BC bag clean.

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter Every half a year I rinse it with BCD cleaner. And of course after every dive I rinse all my gear I

I can look into that. The best advice I can give you Giulio is to get some training. There are lots of courses that will explain how you can make deeper dives safely, well, relatively safely. Be prepared to spend some money on gear. Deep diving requires top quality scuba gear and redundancy as well. The wrecks in Superior are simply, superior. You ought to make a dive trip to Tobermory too, my old stomping grounds. You will like it. Good luck. Alec

That's quite true Steve. You've learned to do that but many divers simply pull on the dump and wait for something to happen - usually a change in their buoyancy marked by a descent. By then it's way too much air released and they then have to add more. Using the hose end, the diver can see the air coming out and will tend to release smaller amounts. With practice though, the dump works as well, if not even better, as you say. Alec

Nope! You upgraded your skill from newbie to expert. An experienced diver simply uses his BCD as little as possible. Alec