Sidemount Freeflow Drill

[GLightcap]

I am trying to decide between the Atomic M1 and Scubapro MK25 EVO/A700 regulators and I was leaning towards Atomic until I realized the seat saving design prevents submerging the second stage unless it is pressurized. I'm not concerned about cleaning but when I was taught how to handle a major leak or freeflow in sidemount I was taught to signal, shut down tank, breath the tank down, switch to the other regulator, slowly reopen the leaking tank and if it is no longer leaking you carry on. My question is, is it really necessary to breath down the leaking tank? I don't remember if I was taught this but I thought you breathed it down to depressurize it and then when you turn the tank back on, in some instances the depressurizing could fix the problem. I think in a real world problem the Atomic regulator would perform fine even if some water made its way into the first stage, and then i would just have it serviced. But when I do these drills regularly should i be concerned about breathing the Atomic regulators down while submerged? Thanks in advance for you input!

 

[inquis]

Deleted

 

[girlwithbigtanks]

I would keep breathing the leaking side and conserve the good side to get out… ( my redundancy) i don’t understand your question actually.


Are you concerned about the water exposure to reg internals during drills? It’s the price i pay to play.

 

[GLightcap]

I would keep breathing the leaking side and conserve the good side to get out… ( my redundancy) i don’t understand your question actually.


Are you concerned about the water exposure to reg internals during drills? It’s the price i pay to play.

Yes. My concern is getting water into my first stage during freeflow drills.

 

[inquis]

I don't see how water will go "uphill" through the hose behind your neck. Even if it did somehow, I would think it would take more than the 2 seconds before the line is repressurized.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Yes. My concern is getting water into my first stage during freeflow drills.

During free flow drills you're only depressurizing the reg for a second or two. Not an issue. Also in real life you'd be feathering the valve and not leaving it off for more than a second. I get 2-3 breaths out of the long hose when the reg is shut down. As I start the 3rd breath I crack the valve open and pressurize it. I did a 20 minute dive at 110ft in Gilboa doing this just for practice.
What's more of a concern is when I see someone do drills and because the reg is not pressurized it may turn slightly on the valve. Then I see people with the valve on try to re-orient the 1st stage the way they had it. This is a good way to loosen the DIN connection. If you don't catch it after the dive, it can result in a leak where the DIN housing connects to the reg body. Do your drill. As soon as you feel the hose start to go limp, crack the valve back open.
To simulate switching to the back up, as soon as you feel the hose go limp, crack the valve open and switch to the other reg. This way it's not hanging there with no pressure on it.
In real life you wouldn't care. An OOA means you plan on rebuilding the 1st stage.
Same as when we do reg swaps underwater to a stage. I have a couple 1st stages for this. Remove the reg from one bottle and swap it to another. 1st couple breaths will be a little wet, then it's fine. At the end of the training weekend I plan to be rebuilding that reg. I don't put an spg on it because spg's are expensive.
1st stage kits are cheap.

 

[Gone for diving]

If you breath it down, no water will get in... (think finger on a straw)
Unless you go deeper, then water will go up the straw and compress the air,
Or the second stage gets higher then the first stage and the air bubbles out being replaced by water...

I wouldn't worry about it,

Not an atomic fan, but don't they use fancy materials that don't corrode ?

 

[rjack321]

I am trying to decide between the Atomic M1 and Scubapro MK25 EVO/A700 regulators and I was leaning towards Atomic until I realized the seat saving design prevents submerging the second stage unless it is pressurized. I'm not concerned about cleaning but when I was taught how to handle a major leak or freeflow in sidemount I was taught to signal, shut down tank, breath the tank down, switch to the other regulator, slowly reopen the leaking tank and if it is no longer leaking you carry on. My question is, is it really necessary to breath down the leaking tank? I don't remember if I was taught this but I thought you breathed it down to depressurize it and then when you turn the tank back on, in some instances the depressurizing could fix the problem. I think in a real world problem the Atomic regulator would perform fine even if some water made its way into the first stage, and then i would just have it serviced. But when I do these drills regularly should i be concerned about breathing the Atomic regulators down while submerged? Thanks in advance for you input!

You might want to refresh the drill/exercise - you should at least check the depressurized 1st stage handwheel and tighten if possible. Also LOOK at what is broken and where the bubbles are coming from. For instance, a HP hose failure can feel like a significant amount of bubbles but it's an insignificant amount of gas. Which is important to know. Don't just spin it off and on expecting resolution

The 2nd stage depressurizing is not important, water goes into that space anyway. It won't reverse up the hose.

 

[Wibble]

When you’ve a depressurised regulator it is possible for the first stage to loosen off from the valve seat and water to get into the valve and first stage. When powered up you sometimes see a cloud of bubbles spewing out of the valve when you need to shut down the valve and tighten it, then try again. Water will then run though the first and second stage. However, the dry gas will quickly dry out the first stage and second stage, especially if purging.

Regs are designed and built for this. They don’t need servicing after. Unless you want to.

 

[GLightcap]

If you breath it down, no water will get in... (think finger on a straw)
Unless you go deeper, then water will go up the straw and compress the air,
Or the second stage gets higher then the first stage and the air bubbles out being replaced by water...

I wouldn't worry about it,

Not an atomic fan, but don't they use fancy materials that don't corrode ?

Thank you Rol diy. I hadn't considered that!