Be Careful Servicing Your BCD PIV Dump Valve - Scuba Tech Tips: S09E08

[@cowboyf1699]

Absolutely the best SCUBA site that I watch. I learn something every time. Thanks@

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Wow, thanks!

[@kootch88]

As a newbie, I have learned a ton from your tech tips. Thank you for doing them.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thanks for watching Kootch. I'm glad you're enjoying them. Alec

[@olgsolgs]

Alec, I just had to service my dump valve on my wing and I wished I found your video sooner. There were some head scratching moment with the BC Tool but all worked out in the end. Thanks for the video, it helped a lot.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Great. Thanks for watching. Alec

[@harrypotter793]

Hi Alec, Great videos and very educational! this is Donny from the Philippines. I am an advanced recreational diver and currently hooked up into underwater photography (most of the time at the 60ft max). I have a 10+ yrs old (200+ dives) jacket type BCD which broke down while I was ascending/performing my dive stops. All the mount of the dump valves including the inflator turned brittle and broke into pieces. As you mentioned in this post, mine is the new version (one piece type assembly). I was about to throw it away since most of the dive shops turned it down for repair however I saw this video about scuba fix and thought of applying the principles in my DIY BCD repair project. Cost wise, buying the scuba fix repair for 3 dump valves is like buying a new BCD so I didn't bother on purchasing the scuba fix. Materials used: 1. 3 pcs. of the old version (2 pcs. assembly dump valves) roughly $6 each @ Shopee, 2. 20 pcs. PVC adhesive small tubes (pinky finger size) roughly $2.5 per 10 tubes @ Lazada, 3. 1 pc. PVC dry bag (30L capacity) to serve as improvised patch (you need to cut this out to fill in/seal the gap between the male assembly of the dump valve & bladder since the male assembly of the old version dump valve is small in terms of diameter size) roughly $6 @ Lazada 4. Scissors (no cost, used scissors of my daughter) 5. Make shift circular templates. (used circular jar covers around the house) Total cost = $29 (no labor cost DIY) How: 1. Remove old assembly mount from the bcd. Use your fingers for removing debris/broken particles from the bcd bladder. This will wear off since material is already brittle. Use vacuum cleaner for particles which fell off inside the bladder. 2. Prepare your patch. Measure the hole diameter size of the bladder and add 10mm or more to determine the outside diameter of your patch. Cut your newly purchased PVC dry bag. Result: Circular Patch. You need 2 Circular Patches Cut-out per dump valve. 3. Punch a hole at the center of the Circular Patch (diameter of hole should match the diameter of the newly purchased male assembly. Test if the assembly fits your cut-out. End product should be 2 pcs. donut hole type patch. 4. Note: Place the male assembly inside the bladder before sealing the 1st patch (inside the bladder). Place paper weights once adhesive is applied. Install the 2nd patch (outside the bladder). Apply again paper weights. Wait for at least 18 hrs. for adhesive to dry. 5. Apply adhesive to the male assembly (previously placed inside the bladder as shown in video of scuba fix). Insert the male assembly to the patch hole. Apply adhesive to the female assembly (outside the bladder) then screw it with the male assembly. Wait for 18 hrs. for adhesive to dry. 6. Screw in the dump valve cover. You may use your old dump valve covers if it is exactly the same diameter as the new one. Test for leaks. I am glad the quick fix worked. Just want to share my experience for other cheap bastards like me. : ) Disclaimer: I felt regretful on throwing away a good BCD. If you have the money and into deep diving/tech dives, as Alec has mentioned don't gamble your safety! Thanks and hope this helps.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thanks for the excellent how-to process and glad it works for a 'thrifty' diver like yourself. Remember that because you have a DIY fix, take extra care in post dive cleaning and pre dive valve checks. These replacements may fail over time so start saving for a new model. Appreciate your can-do approach.

[@michaelberna4836]

Darn my disposable BCD! Thanks for sharing the knowledge. I wish they still made things repairable.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Over the decades, BCD's have more features and less able to repair without shipping it back to the maker. Back in my stone age diving days, everything was diver repairable or replaceable, as there were no dive stores. Thanks for watching Michael and dive safe. A.

[@Dive_Me_Crazy]

Thanks so much for this one. My BCD, actually both my BCD's are dogs to screw back on. Thankfully I have never cross thredded them, I am supper careful. This just goes to show that stuff from the good old days could actually be good stuff!

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

It was good. It often wasn't designed as good as it could have been. Alec

[@owenmougenot712]

Hi Alec. You mentioned about the instructors bc fill hose coming off. In another video on weight belts you mentioned that you have never needed to drop a weight belt, this is a good example of when it might be necessary to do so! You could hand it off to your buddy diver and swim to the surface where you might have to use your dsmb or marker flag while you wait for the boat. There is always a good reason for the safety training in the open water coarse. Take care Owen m

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

I guess I'm showing my age. I try to tailor my weights to the dive. This was standard practice before BCs. If I'm diving in shallow water, I use more weights. If I'm going deep, I use less. I do NOT depend on the BCD to save me if something goes wrong. While I'd have no hesitation in dropping the weight belt if I felt that would help, I simply haven't needed to. My weight was never a problem. A few kicks toward the surface was usually enough to give me the added buoyancy to continue my ascent, if that is my intent. Given that the greatest compression/buoyancy change occurs between 15 - 20', trimming to be neutral at 15' seems logical. Current diver training dictates a stop at 15' - great if you're neutral at 15'. Weighted so, a diver should be able to comfortably dive to any reasonable depth and not be overweighted so much that he cannot easily ascend. And it means that you will be slightly positive at the surface Sounds perfect to me. Take care Owen. Alec

[@alaind831]

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter that's what I do to, weight myself to be neutral at 15' with mostly empty tanks and take extra if shallow dive (since drysuit are much harder to manage than BCD). I would rather kick up and manage my ascend than drop weight and balloon up out of control...

[@markstengel7680]

Hi Alec, 1st You must be happy your Toronto Raptors have taken a lead in the NBA Finals, congrats ! Those darn valves better to repair then replace. Kevin great job on the Red Arrows showing the flats and tool needed for the repair job. So have a good rest of this week, take care & be well.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

I'm really not a basketball fan. I've been to a couple of games, courtside even, but it really doesn't do it for me. First, you can't hit the other guy! What's with that?? Next, if you do hit him accidentally, he goes into death throes like a 3-year-old in a candy store who doesn't get his way. I guess they spend all that money on acting lessons. Nope. I think it's nice that the Raptors have a chance at a title. The Leafs did (I'm. I remember), the Jays did too. So I suppose the Raptors should. But, I love football and I like hockey too. BCD's are usually replaced every 3-7 years but some divers hang onto them forever it seems. Good maintenance is key. Alec

[@ChrisEpler]

Thread tip: Place the part that screws on to the BCD against the threads, now screw it BACKWARDS like you're taking it off while applying some pressure, listen for the click as the threads line up, then carefully tighten slightly and verify they're on straight. Works great for all types of screw-on items that you can't seem to get aligned right.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Good tip Chris. Well-known to mechanics but not to scuba divers. Thanks. Alec

[@TownsvilleDiveServices]

Hi Alec, I'm a sevice tech in Townsville, Australia and have had to give bad news to more than a few bcd owners over the years when the mount plate has failed. Last month, i used a new product out of Singapore called Scuba-fix, which is a 2 piece replacement kit for bcd dump valve mounts. It's not cheap ($108 SGD), but it works . I tried it on a customer's bcd last month (with his approval) and it seems to work very well. So there's another option to try if your bc is in great shape, but the mount breaks, rather than throwing the whole thing out. P.S. i have no affiliation with the folks at Scuba-fix. Just sharing the info. Cheers, Andrew

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

I just heard about this from another viewer Go Pro. Thanks. It looks like a good idea but, I'd be careful about installing it as a dealer. For divers it's fine to go ahead but dealers could be looking at a liability issue. It is NOT recognized by manufacturers. Take care. Alec

[@johnwilliamsscuba6487]

Request do a segment on early BCD's. Touch on how the need for one was realized.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

I think that was covered in my Vintage Scuba video S06E02, "BCD Evolution, From Lifevest to Fenzy". Give it a watch and let me know your thoughts. Thanks for watching.

[@toms4022]

Thanks for sharing your wealth of knowledge Alec, always much appreciated

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thanks for watching Tom. I hope you're picking up some good ideas. Alec

[@thekid9989]

Just seeing if you seen the local Scuba news. Tim's Dive Supplies is under a new owner and is now Barrie Scuba House. Great crew they have been working hard to make her more ship shape.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

News to me. It's been a good dive shop for a very long time. I hope they do well. Alec

[@toko2257]

Alec nice information. Please, how do you storage/preserve yours fins?

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

My fins are pure synthetic. I put them in a bag in the closet. There's no special care needed with synthetic fins. Alec

[@alaind831]

Alec, here is a topic I would like more info: different dive algorithms. I know you have one on dive computer but don't recall algorithm differences... In the last class I was in, the instructor was telling students to avoid Suunto and another brand can't recall now, as being too conservative and would make you end the dive early and annoy other dive buddies... I had picked up a Cobra for cheap and on most 1-2 dives the deco and air time are about the same, so hasn't been an issue, and buddy runs out of air before me anyway even with bigger tank. The ONLY time I noticed a maybe too conservative profile was on a 5th dive (lobster diving) and I was pretty far from the boat in a good area and noticed my non-deco was just about up but had plenty of air so I say screw it (I used to only do deep deco dives in the 80s) and didn't want do a surface swim back (shark territory), but ended up with a 14min deco time, which felt like forever underwater doing nothing in blue water.... next dive (6th that day) I got Nitrox but ended with the biggest lobster on the trip even though I was last on the boat waiting for my air fill. Now I do half the dive on nitrox on those trips as we only typically do 1h surface, and spend 45-1h underwater, 6 dives a day... Being conservative maybe ok, given age/scar tissues, etc... I read somewhere the bubble algo isn't good for repetitive dives like we do on hunting trips...

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

It bothers me when a dive leader, who is BTW, a member of the scuba industry, condemns a product for largely personal reasons. I'm not a huge fan of Suunto (we have equally great computers right here in North America), but I have sold them and used them and they work just fine. Thousands of scuba divers worldwide use them daily. Too conservative?? That's like watching how much you drink before driving home. Sounds good to me. However, if Suunto computers really were shortening a diver plan noticeably and unreasonably, they'd soon not be able to sell them. Take care Alain. Alec

[@davidscott5903]

Seems like a great piece to develop a 3D printed cad file for. I’ll have to do that!

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Sounds like an interesting project. Let me know how it turns out. A

[@MattP-oz6ps]

Someone already has designed the tools on Thingiverse. I just used it a week ago and it works flawlessly.

[@kenhall3105]

Are the gaskets available for the 2 piece mount? I am looking for the ones that sandwich the bladder. I believe there are two (for inside and outside) required. Mine on a Dacor crumbled.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Because of how important the BC is to diving safety, recommend taking it to a dive shop for inspection (may be other problems), to fix and test it for you. A BC air leak at depth can be dangerous so don't worry about a few dollars for the fix. A

[@c.patricksadowski9959]

Hi Alex, is there a special tool, to remove the power inflator, on a Scuba Pro BCD? Seems like they have a “locking collar” and not sure what tool you would use to back that off.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

There is a tool for the PIV where the hose connects to the BCD. Look at www.tridentdive.com, page 67 to see the removal tool, part # SA60. A

[@vpraczynski9013]

Awesome! When servicing a BC does lube get applied anywhere?

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Pretty much. I can't think of any place on a BCD where a thin coat of silicon grease would not be welcome. Alec

[@joshuawade8319]

Alec, the most modern bcd connection style seems like a rather unforgiving design. Why do you think they have gone to such a design? Even with the risk of corrosion, it would seem more prudent to use a metal on metal connection. (I admit that this makes me a little nervous. I went on a few dives a few weeks ago and when I got back and was cleaning my bcd I had it inflated and noticed that my bcd had a small leak at the threads that you are discussing. I was concerned, but I felt of the attachment and found it was a little lose. So, I tightened it, but I'm a little heavy handed and when I did tighten it, the nut slipped off and got lose, so I had to tighten it a second time, just making sure I played careful attention to when it felt snug and stopped. No more leak. I went diving a few days after that with no problem and the bcd stays inflated. Do you think I did serious damage to my BCD as well? I will say that I never use that purge valve, only my other two when diving. The only time that value gets opened is when I'm cleaning the bcd.)

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

If the purge is on snugly and there is no leak, it's good to go. These are often damaged by being overtightened too. Hand tight is right. Don't use tools to grab the caps and tighten them. Any metal inside or outside of a BCD is going to corrode. Unlike a regulator, water gets inside a BCD during normal operation and few divers will rinse it carefully enough. I suggest you invest in one of those great attachments that let you use a garden hose to fill the BCD THROUGH THE INFLATOR!! It rinses the BCD, AND the inside of the inflate mechanism. There's no other easy way to do that. I think I talked about way back in a Tech Tip about BCDs. Good luck. Alec

[@joshuawade8319]

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter Thanks, Alec. I actually have and use one of those devices everytime I store my BCD at the end of the season. I saw you recommend it and I ordered two. I also always use some BC Clean additive. I use your video on BCD cleaning (entitled l: "Blow me up!") as my guide. Rinse it good, outside and in, with fresh, clean water. Agitate water in the bladder and let fresh water flow through each purge. Then, I add the cleaner, water, agitate, let it sit, drain, and rinse again and then blow the BC up and hang it up to dry.

[@Frankiewizard]

Cheers Alec.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Thank you. A

[@mgzukows]

Since you did this video can you do one on the actual Power Inflator?

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

I think we did one a couple of years ago. Maybe Kevin can find it or we'll do an update on servicing the inflator. Alec

[@mgzukows]

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter Thank you sir. I just did a quick search all I could find is the dump valve, and the inflator hose. But not the actual Power Inflator valve that I saw. By the way, thank you so much for sharing all your knowledge.

[@sorena1973]

hello sir. i have aqualung black diamond hybrid and a nylon rope on one of the pressure valve is almost done. how do i replace that please

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Carefully unscrew the cap with the cord. You'll see that the cord is attached to the cap but is underneath the rubber pad so you need to remove that rubber pad. It pulls off. Replace the old cord with a new, strong nylon cord using a knot on each end - one inside the pull knob & one inside the cap. Be sure the pad & cap are clean and then put some silicon glue (Zoop, silicon sealant, Gorilla glue, etc.) on the rubber pad to hold it in place. Carefully put the spring & the cap back in place & screw it snugly (NOT TOO TIGHT!) in place. Check it after a couple days to ensure all is good. Have fun. Alec

[@sorena1973]

@@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter Thank you 💜💚🧡❤💙

[@RickC_]

You illustrated the reason not to use a pull dump. All of my pull dumps have been replaced with plain elbows.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Think of all the divers who have no idea a dump cable in the hose exists. It's a feature you paid for too. Thanks for watching Rick.

[@xentrix1024]

Thanks for another useful tip! To avoid cross threading, I usually put the cap on the base and start unscrewing while pressing the cap gently. As soon as I feel "the click", the threads are in place and I change direction to start screwing. It is very easy and very safe. Check out this video for a demonstration: kzbin.info/www/bejne/mJrEe4uqqr2UrcU

[@alaind831]

yep, a good trick I learned years ago.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

Well-known tip among mechanics - not so well-known among divers. Thanks Andreas. Alec

[@jacquespoirier9071]

for some persons, the use of ANY tool is dangerous for the material and for their own safety, threads and slides does not resist, it is why some are engineers, machinist and mechanics and others displaces papers using a pen as sole and unique tool.

[@jonnieinbangkok]

My plate and wing system doesn't have anything so silly as a shoulder mounted PIV dump valve...problem solved.

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

That's great for your setup. Many divers till have the shoulder PIV on their BC's. Maybe another video will be more towards your dive gear. A

[@Xgchomeschool]

I couldn't find that tool... am I looking in the wrong place? Lol

[@AlecPeirceScuba_SeaHunter]

It is on Google for sure, keep looking.