Why does my BCD have water inside? | Answered | @simplyscuba

[Music] hi everybody welcome to simply scuba today on google answered i'm answering fundamental questions about scuba diving bcds uh the handy jackets that we wear so that we don't you know need to tread water on the surface just to stay afloat but divers often have reasonable questions about bcds so let's answer some of the questions i found on google do you need a bcd to dive no it makes your life a heck of a lot easier but you don't actually need a bcd as long as you're weighted correctly if you take a look at a lot of the old like sea hunt videos or look up monkey diving they don't use bcds just a webbing harness to hold their cylinder and equipment in place and that's about it you don't have any bladder that you can inflate or inflate a hose your bcd is there to fine tune your buoyancy and offset your negatively buoyant lead if you're not wearing any gear that shifts buoyancy during the dive like a wetsuit and you're weighted perfectly then you really don't need a bcd because you're neutrally buoyant and your buoyancy won't change the only thing that will change is the buoyancy of your cylinder that being said i prefer diving with a bcd just because it's an extra way to attain positive buoyancy especially on the surface it's far easier just to inflate that bcd and then you're just hands-free to get on with whatever needs doing without a bcd on the surface yeah you kind of have to tread water but no you don't need to dive with a bcd it's not essential but it does make your life just a hundred times easier i wouldn't recommend an unexperienced diver to jump in the water without a bcd you do need to kind of know what you're doing they're they're a fundamental piece of equipment for a reason and even as an experienced diver as myself i'll i'll still always dive with one how long does a scuba bcd last as long as you look after it really the main thing that will kill a bcd is misuse if you drag it around if you leave it rolled up wet and soggy in your gear bag or just leave it out in the sun then it is going to age prematurely and eventually break bcd's can take a decent amount of abuse but if they get caught on a piece of a shipwreck or a sharp rock or something the bladder gets pinched in any way then you can puncture that bladder really easily and it's basically a write-off to maximize the lifetime of your bcd wash it inside and out and leave it to dry completely out of direct sunlight after each day's diving take it to your local dive center for a service with your regulators so they can check the seals and give the inflator a service but as long as you look after your bcd it can stick with you a good 10 years plus easy just no problem but look after it why does my bcd have water it's not unusual to find a little bit of water on the inside of your bcd after a dive if you take a balloon underwater with some air in it and then you open up the top as that air is escaping out of the top of the balloon a little bit of water is going to be slipping into the balloon next to it the same thing happens every time you deflate your bcd to adjust your buoyancy you lift that inflator hose above your head you press the purge button and as the air is escaping out of your bcd a trickle of water is going into the bladder the more you adjust your buoyancy on the dive and press that purge button the more water you'll find in your bcd after that dive that's why you'll find a lot of divers right after the dive before they've even sat down tend to lean over to one side and pull on that kidney dump because it drains any water inside of that bcd bladder but the water is there simply because you press that purge button under water and let it in how do i clean my bcd with fresh water and some mild detergent the outside is pretty easy give that a good rinse good hose down and maybe a soak in some warm soapy water to get the salt and any contaminants out the fabric try and work each of the buckles and moving things and any mechanisms to dislodge any kind of build up there and then you need to turn your focus to the inside of the bcd this is where too many divers forget or skimp on their cleaning regime the inside of your bcd is a sealed plastic bag with a bit of moisture inside of it and if you remember anything from your biology lessons an anaerobic environment is not a pretty place for what can grow inside so when you're cleaning it hold down the purge button of your inflator nice and high and pour some warm water with some detergent down the mouthpiece down into the hose into the bladder of the bcd turn the bcd over so that solution gets everywhere inside make sure that it kills all the nasties and then dump all of that water through each of the dump valves just turn it over so it's the lowest point and pull on the kidney dump and just let the whole thing dry completely in the shade should i store my bcd inflated yes but not at 100 capacity but inflated a bit pop some clean dry air inside of your bcd before you store it away so that the inner parts of the bladder aren't touching if there's a little moisture inside that bladder and the inner lining is touching the other side over time it can eventually stick and then just damage the part where it's touching if you fully inflate the bladder it puts strain on those seams and it can actually damage them and i've even had a bcd pop so inflating your bcd and leaving it can be a really useful way of working out if you have a slow leak uh you inflate the bcd dump a little bit of gas so you're not putting too much strain on those on those seams and leave it for a few hours if you come back to the bcd and it's kind of slumped down and deflated you now have a leak that you need to find if it has stayed inflated then it is a sealed system you can deflate it a little bit take the strain off of those seams and then put it into storage but yeah for storage inflate it enough so that the insides aren't touching but not so much that you're putting a strain on any seams and so bcd is not completely essential but still a very valuable piece of equipment that will always be in my kit bag and it's important that you look after it remember to like and share and subscribe to all those social media things before heading over to simplyscuba.com for all of your scuba diving equipment needs thank you for watching everybody and of course safe diving [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Simply Scuba

Views: 11,153

Keywords: simplyscuba, scuba, diving, advice, snorkelling, snorkeling, equipment, gear, unboxing

Id: zmVOB9y8Itk

Length: 7min 28sec (448 seconds)

Published: Sun Sep 04 2022