Posted by Jon on December 07, 2000 at 10:22:58:
In Reply to: But what is proper maintenance? posted by ChrisM on December 06, 2000 at 17:07:39:
I think rinsing/washing and before/after dive inspections is proper maintenance that every diver should be performing. Also, divers should take care when transporting/storing their BCD making sure that heavy or sharp objects are not piled on top of their BCD and their BCD is away from any heat sources (e.g. dircet sunlight, furnice/heater). By performing these routine services divers can avoid BCD failures during a dive and through annual services problems can be detected and remedied. So in answer to your questions yes, yes, and yes.
As far as annual servicing, I have never taken my BCD in for annual service either. I service my BCD myself (I do have the trianing). As far as a leak test, this can be performed by any diver. You put some air in your BCD, dunk it in some water, and look for leaks. I know the power inflator gets a little more complicated and should be serviced by a trained tech. So the majority of divers will need to have this done at their dive shop.
Jon