power inflater failure

[FM1520]

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.

Yes, it happened during the dive. It was a boat dive so I had my BCD inflated when I did my back roll off the boat and floated around waiting for my buddies to get in.

 

[Scott L]

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

A Pre-dive inflation test involves fully inflating the BCD and listening for air leaks and watching for pressure loss for a couple of minutes...

 

[RJP]

A Pre-dive inflation test involves fully inflating the BCD and listening for air leaks and watching for pressure loss for a couple of minutes...

To add to Scott's point (and I know this is what he meant) a pre-dive check involves fully inflating the BCD until OPVs (dump valves) release to make sure they are fully functional as well.

 

[TSandM]

That's one of the few problems that can truly render a BC nonfunctional. Glad you handled it calmly. Do you think your low on gas problem was due to the amount of gas you pumped through the BC while you were sorting things out?

 

[dumpsterDiver]

That's one of the few problems that can truly render a BC nonfunctional. Glad you handled it calmly. Do you think your low on gas problem was due to the amount of gas you pumped through the BC while you were sorting things out?

It is no different than if the OPV valve spring should fail on the shoulder... I've had a few total failures of BC's, myself.... Last night I went out and added some additional insurance to the two zip ties holding the hose on my BC..

 

[freewillie]

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

From the picture provided I don't think inflating the BC even to the point check the OPV valve would have prevented the hose from coming off it's seat. It looks like the zip tie that normally holds the hose in place came off during the dive. I guess that's why zip ties are in my save a dive kit.

Glad all worked out and nobody was hurt.

Does remind me though, I think my BC is due for a service.

 

[Akimbo]

I replaced shorter flex hoses on two OxyCheq wings and joints all were glued to the elbow and inflator valve with contact adhesive. This “belt and suspenders approach” is worth considering if you have any concern of a repeat performance. It will reduce stress on the hose by distributing force over a greater area instead of the clamp or zip tie alone.

Note that removing the hoses required peeling the end back to break the adhesive and was more difficult to clean before installing the new flex hose. Reinstalling the new hoses with contact adhesive (wetsuit glue) is tricky and requires rolling the hose back into the fittings.

Though not a fan of “pull-dumps”, I am more concerned why the internal cable didn’t take all then stress before the connection failed. Was this a zip tie or a molded clamp with screws? It looks like the clamp is gone.

Zip ties... who would have thought those are an appropriate solution for life support equipment in the marine environment?...

The fallacy is depending on a plastic bag to support your life. As demonstrated a functioning BC is a convenience, not life support.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

A couple of points:

Being a bit of a red neck living in a windy area, I anchored some decorative flags for my wife by installing grommets in the 4 corners of the flags and zip ties to some steel ironwork. In the past year I had 2-3 grommets rip out of the flags sun rotted cloth, not unexpected.......and at least 8 zip ties fail, not sure if it was the sun or the rubbing on the iron work but it was unexpected. I am really rethinking any use of zip ties outside of cleaning up some wiring messes (their original purpose)

Critical plumbing on boats (thru hull fittings and gas lines) are always double clamped. I am thinking the belt and suspenders approach is one I am going for on my gear. I don't care if its life support or not, I want my gear to work on every dive. The are too frick'n expensive to blow even though I can swim up. I am willing to give up features, pay more if needed, maintain KISS, but I want reliability on the water or under water.

 

[FM1520]

That's one of the few problems that can truly render a BC nonfunctional. Glad you handled it calmly. Do you think your low on gas problem was due to the amount of gas you pumped through the BC while you were sorting things out?

Yes, I probably dumped more gas than necessary sorting it out. I probably could have gotten through the safety stop with out sharing air but didn't want to chance it, especially since my buddy's pony was right next to me.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

As demonstrated a functioning BC is a convenience, not life support.

I understand what you mean, but the definition of "life support" is going to depend on a diver's experience, training, and ability to handle unexpected failures. A failure that someone with more than 5,000 dives can deal with easily can end up being deadly for someone who lacks the ability to recognize the problem and deal with it appropriately. We read about those folks regularly in the Incidents and Accidents forum.

Back to the OP for a moment ... the picture looks like one of those SeaQuest hoses that comes with a pull dump. Note also that there's only space on that hose for a single zip tie ... actually, if I'm not mistaken they use a little plastic clamp with a screw that tightens it in place. I'm not a big fan of those, because there's a single point of failure, and pulling the hose a little bit too hard when trying to dump air can cause the failure shown in your photo. I've seen such failures before.

My recommendation is to replace the unit with a standard elbow and hose ... you can purchase a replacement hose for about $30 that gives you adequate space for two zip-ties to clamp it to the elbow. You'll lose the convenience factor of a pull-dump, but unless you're in the habit of swimming vertically that feature's of minimal value anyway ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)