power inflater failure

[FM1520]

dive site: Lazy Daze wreck, 80 feet, Marrisa Dive Boat, San Diego, CA


gear: 7mm wet suit, hood, steel 120 LP tank (air), temp: 61F


buddies: three buddies (me included), we have dove together before - part of the same dive group


pre-dive buddy check: familiarized ourselves with each others alternate air source and type of ditch-able weight and reviewed hand signals.


At the end of the dive I noticed I was a little negatively buoyant and burped the power inflater button - nothing happened and it sounded different. I tried it again and held it down a litter longer - nothing (I probably did this more than I needed). Pushed the inflator button again this time while looking up holding my breath - bubbles, lots of bubbles.


I got my one of my buddy's attention and pointed to my inflater and pushed the button at the same time. He messed around with it and I tried it again but what ever he did it didn’t work.


I'm at ~70 feet, ok on air but lower than I would like, and we start our assent to the safety stop. I use a large kelp “tree” to maintain my buoyancy and easily get the safety stop. At the safety stop I’m pretty low on air so I use my buddy’s pony during the stop to avoid an actual OOA. At the surface I hand a weight pocket to each buddy and float over to the boat.


I have an AirSouse III and hose in my dive bag, so I swapped it out and made a second uneventful dive on the Ruby E.


As per the picture, looks like the zip tie that holds the hose in place came off, should be an easy fix.

Couple points: I was already at the bottom so I wasn't going any deeper, I had two experienced buddies and kelp that could/did assist with assent and buoyancy. If I was diving, say the oil rigs, that have no bottom (or kelp) or a weak buddy I could have dropped a weight pocket - its nice to have options.

 

[redacted]

I like to double up the zip ties on those connections. Although they don't usually come loose even with the failed zip tie unless you give it a pull

 

[Scott L]

A BCD inflation test should be a pre-dive routine for everyone. Admittingly, it wasn't until I got involved in tech diving did this practice become a regular habit...

 

[TheMic]

glad it worked out well. something else i will start checking predive.

 

[LowDrag]

I will definitely keep this in mind for my next dive. Thanks for the post.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Zip ties... who would have thought those are an appropriate solution for life support equipment in the marine environment? LOL. Reminds me. I need to beef up the connection on my BC soon.

 

[Peter_C]

Looks like it has one of the pull dumps on the inflator hose? If so do you use it often? That may have caused it to fail.

Myself I prefer a simple inflator hose with no fancy gadgets on it.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

So I'm guessing the failure happened during the dive, not before the dive? That's a little bit of a situation, but handled well and safely.

With PADI, there's the pre-dive BWRAF check (BCD, Weights, Release, Air, Final) in addition to all the dive planning stuff, and I'm sure there is a similar dive check with the other recreational training associations. So if there's a problem before with any of the equipment, it has an increased likelihood of being caught with a thorough check. Not that related to this case, but good to know.

 

[SlvrDragon50]

A BCD inflation test should be a pre-dive routine for everyone. Admittingly, it wasn't until I got involved in tech diving did this practice become a regular habit...

Really? Aren't you supposed to be taught to inflate your BC some before jumping into the water?

 

[gcarter]

Really? Aren't you supposed to be taught to inflate your BC some before jumping into the water?

I did 2 shore dives today, sloping bottom, easy entry. No air in BCD required on entry.

But I do test my inflator every time I change a tank.