- Hi, SD fans and welcome back.
After the mask and regulator cleaning videos
in this one we thought we'd look
at cleaning your BCD after a dive trip.
Now BCDs, whether that's a jacket style, rear inflate,
or a back plate and wing, are the chassis on which
the rest of your scuba set-up is mounted.
And they provide buoyancy
during the dive and on the surface.
So you want to know that they're in tip top condition.
As with the mask and regs,
I'll show you my regular routine
after I've been diving.
For those here for the first time, my name's Mark.
I'm the editor-in-chief of the Scuba Diver media brand.
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Now let's dive into that video.
(energetic, fast tempo music playing)
Right, BCD cleaning.
Now, when you're at the dive resort
they have nice big rinse tanks
for giving all of your BCD a cleaning and everything.
But when you're at home, we don't have that to hand.
So you got a few options.
You can either use your bathtub, but the downside of that is
you then have to bring your wet gear down through the house
to put out to dry.
So that's not ideal.
You can use a water butt.
Just take the lid off, it's always full of water.
So that works.
I used to do that in my old house.
The other option is.
This is my plastic case for transporting my dive kit
to and from the dive site.
All my wet gear stays inside so that
you don't get water all over the back of your car.
But it also doubles up as a handy rinse tank.
So all I've done here is just filled it up
with some fresh water, and then you're good to go.
Now it's important to note, that what I'm suggesting here
is for people who bought their own equipment
and are just wanting to keep their BCD
in as good condition as possible.
This isn't the likes of dive centers and stuff like that
because they're more used to looking after equipment,
sterilizing it and everything
when it's going to be used by multiple people.
So this is purely aimed at the recreational diver
looking after their own piece of kit.
So fresh water in the tank.
Get your BCD.
Get it dunked in.
Make sure all of it gets under the water.
What I tend to do is I will put it in like this,
get it all wet, and then I will leave it
for 20 minutes, half an hour,
and it will just have a good soak.
So when you come back
you can always get a toothbrush or something like that
and get in and around all the power inflator buttons,
around your D-rings, around the pinch clips.
Just any areas where any salt crystals might've got stuck
if you've been in saltwater.
Now, to be fair,
your BCD's not going to be absolutely filthy.
It's just more going to have been wet,
or wet and then got salt crystals dried on it
if you've been in salt water.
So this is really just to get any of that out of
your BCDs material, and out of the inner workings and stuff.
So, get that done.
What I then tend to do is,
take off the pull dump valve.
Now this is twofold.
One, you can get the fresh water into that mechanism.
Make sure that that's all nice and clean.
And two, you can now actually get the fresh water
in the side, the bladder itself.
So sink that in there, make sure you get plenty
of fresh water into that bladder.
You can then give that a good slosh around
so it gets into all the different nooks and crannies
in the bladder.
I like to hold it up and let it drain out
of the inflator hose as well
to make sure it's all gone up through here.
Now, that's what I tend to do after a week long trip,
every three or four months.
Perhaps I will add something like Milton
or another sterilizing solution into this water.
Not so much for the outside. It's for inside the bladder.
So I'll get that sterilizing solution inside the bladder,
give it a good slosh around again
and then give it another rinse out with fresh water
and then just hang it up to dry.
So that's it.
We've got it out of its rinse bucket and everything.
You've now got a couple of options really.
You can either unclip these,
if you've got a BCD that's got the clips and everything,
fling the arms over something
like my makeshift hanging racks here
and then hang it to dry.
Now, the other option is to get a BCD hanger.
They're cheap and cheerful, and they work
whatever you've got.
Whether you've got a one piece harness or this.
There.
Now, what I tend to do is leave the bladder,
while it's drying,
is leave the bladder just very slightly inflated.
Stops it all sticking together inside
but it also will just,
just helps it all to dry, keeps everything separate.
What I do is,
I will leave that open at this point
so that you can get any last final bits of water out.
Leave it to dry.
There'll be some water still left
in that last little bit in the bladder.
You can empty that out right at the final minute.
But basically just leave that out, let it fully dry,
and then be ready to store
and ready for your next diving adventure.
I always tend to leave a small amount of air
in my BCD when I store it.
Just so that it's not completely flat.
But if you could keep doing this sort of thing,
you will prolong the life of your gear substantially.
Regardless of where you are on the planet
it's worth having your BCD serviced periodically.
Now I'm not suggesting yearly necessarily
as it does depend on how much you're diving.
But it's probably worth getting your local dive center
to give it the once over at least every couple of years.
Giving your BCD a thorough rinse and dry,
as I've demonstrated,
will help prolong its lifespan significantly.
But it's good to have the power inflator inspected
and if possible serviced.
Although these are not that expensive
and my advice is, if you're having any issues
with a power inflator just replace it with a new one.
As I said in my mask video,
here in the UK we are anxiously awaiting
the end of this month,
when diving will be able to resume
around our shoreline and at inland dive sites.
So if your BCD has been languishing in your garage
maybe think about getting it checked out
at your local dive center
before it's in the water for the first time in 2021.
The benefits are twofold.
You'll know your BCD is not going to give you any problems
once you resume diving
and you'll be supporting your local center
at a time when they need it the most.
What are some of your hints and advice
regarding maintaining your BCD?
Leave your comments below.
And if you have a question fire away.
We can't answer, maybe someone in our community
will be able to.
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in the description below.
As always stay safe.
And if you're one of the lucky people who live somewhere
that you're able to get out and dive right now, enjoy.