Conrad,
I have personally had two older US Divers bladderless BCs (pre SeaQuest 
manufacture) fail and have heard of others doing the same thing.  The 
inner airtight lining delaminated from the outer material causing leakage 
through the nylon material.  In neither case was this a major air loss, 
but it was time to retire them.  One of those BCs had an inflator fail 
(valve got sticky) before the air bag did, so I would definitely agree 
that the most common failure would be the inflator and/or hose.  I have 
heard that the older USD BCs are prone to this delamination problem, so 
if you are still diving one of these you might want to exersize caution 
or go ahead and upgrade to insure no problems.

Regards,
Mike W.



>Subject:     Re: OMS wings problems
>Sent:        3/19/98 1:58 PM
>Received:    8/27/56 8:40 PM
>From:        Jim Cobb, cobber@ci*.co*
>To:          Conrad Daubanton, 100774.1625@co*.co*
>             Tech Diver, techdiver@aquanaut.com
>
>Conrad.
>
>I have personally never seen any BC fail. I have seen a couple of LP 
>inflator hoses fail, invariably right as the tank valve is opened. I have 
>heard of inflator valves sticking open, the couple I have heard were on 
>rental gear or they were frozen (ice diving). I heard one story of the 
>inflator hose popping off the BC.In other words they were maintenance 
>issues.
>
>I might mention that I have seen BC's so worn and ratty, it is a miracle 
>that they held air at all, but they did.
>
>Lets face it, a BC is not rocket science. When you look at your gear 
>overall I think that the weakest link you will see is the operator, and 
>why make that situation worse by presenting multiple inflators/hoses and 
>other issues into the mix?
>
>   Jim
>
>Sender: Conrad Daubanton  Date: 3/18/98 2:00 PM
>
>>Jim, Chuck:
>>
>>Does anyone know which part of a Wings/BC unit tends to fail more often?
>>
>>Can anyone provide statistics?  (Perhaps some shop owner that has seen 
>>just about everything).
>>
>>Then we would know what kind of thing to prepare for.
>>
>>I've had no recent problems with the gear, but many years ago my first 
>>BC (Horse-collar) had bladder problems, and having changed the bladder, 
>>it developped overpressure/dump valve problems.  Tired of repairing it, 
>> I just bought another (stronger) horse-collar BC.  This one also 
>>required a bladder change, but is now perfectly operational, though I 
>>no longer use it now.  With a Jacket type BC which I seldom use now, 
>>and with Wings which is what I use most, I've yet to have problems, 
>>they have never needed any repairs.
>>
>>Either gear is stronger now, or I give it less abuse than before.
>>
>>Conrad Daubanton
>
>
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