A wake up.....BC inflator

[radiocraig]

I would classify this as a lesson learned...

small backstory..

I was in my drysuit (and use it for boyancy at depth, BC at surface), single steel LP95 tank, i know the dive site like the back of my hand, i have more than 200 dives, conditions were great.

what happened...

We were heading up from 135 and at about 115 I notice that my boyancy is going to crap...im trying to dump more air from my drysuit...not much change, i still want to go up...i think to myself, "did you empty your BC ALL the way at the surface?" i pull the dump on my BC and WOW thats alot of air...ok i must be a dumbass, problem solved, BC empty...until i get to 90 and the same thing is happening, why do i feel so underweighted? I pull the dump on my BC AGAIN, and wow thats alot of air AGAIN!! so i figure i must have a leaky valve...i unplug my inflator hose from my BC and everything is fine, i finish my dive and go to the dive shop to get a new inflator and hose.

what i learned...
im not a bad diver!! i kept my cool, never freaked out, solved the problem underwater and got to finish my dive!

i knew the inflator was a little screwy before i got in the water, it was leaking a tiny bit but if i moved the hose around a little it would stop, i figured it was not leaking INTO the BC but just on the outside. i learned to fix my gear BEFORE i dive it.

if i had not had the training and experiance that i do i might have not been able to solve the problem and it could have been way worse

 

[TSandM]

I've also had a wing inflater begin to leak into the wing. If it's a slow leak, it can take a little while to twig to what's going on. The solution is easy; disconnect the inflater hose and inflate orally. It's a bit more problematic when it's the drysuit hose, but there you can disconnect and reconnect when you need to inflate the suit.

Deep Sea Supply makes a lovely little tool that allows one to take apart ones own inflater. It's not difficult to clean the parts and replace the o-rings. I've gotten much more proactive about this since Tobin made it so easy.

 

[InTheDrink]

I've had the same thing last year, albeit with a rental BC. I don't put very much air in or out, but on these dives (last Nov in Maldives) I was having to dump air every minute or so when I was at 25-30m. Guide just thought I was moaning. In between experiencing this and finding the root cause (which was: absolutely thrashed BC, sliced LPIH. air leak into the bladder) I also had a reg failure at around 20m in the strongest current by far I've ever experienced. Rental kit sucks big style. The particularly annoying part was that I was complaining about there being something wrong with my BC and the guide assuming I was just being an idiot and need to dump every 60 seconds. Eventually on dive 3, on the surface (after having to surface alone because the kit was so screwed), I glared back at him showing the sliced hose. There was also an air leak into the BC, hence constantly having to dump. Just annoying. The resort was an expensive one and you'd think they could provide adequate kit. The BC failure was annoying but the reg failure could've been fairly serious.

Now I've got most of my own kit, diving is SO much easier. Not just cos I know it, but because it works. Well, so far at least....

 

[radiocraig]

after working in a shop and seeing how it is treated, i have vowed to never use rental gear again. that BC is getting old and i am not surprised it is starting to break down. i knew there was a leak, just not a internal leak

 

[SteveAD]

Runaway inflators are a very common problem, especially on rental gear which all to frequently cannot be identified later. Salt water dries in the inflator mechanism leaving deposits which make the button stick, causing the BC to auto-inflate but then the deposits dissolve in the water and the inflator seems fine on later examination. The best way to prevent this is to run fresh water thru the power inflator when rinsing. Put fresh water into the BC, slosh it around as usual, then while empying it out, hit the power inflator button so that water flows thru the nipple.
__________________

 

[NEWIN50]

Radiocraig

Thank you for your post. I also would not have considered an inflation hose leaking into the BC.

I agree a less experienced diver (like myself) would have taken an unwanted rapid ride to the surface.

 

[InTheDrink]

BTW, LOL, the way I found out the BC/LPIH was screwed was when I went to dump. I raised the hose and before I got around to pressing the button, the air flushed out around my shoulder. Telepathy controlled BCs - now that's the way forward!