Air bubbles coming from mask?

[SkydiverChick]

I hope this doesn't sound really stupid but on my last dive I noticed that I seem to have an almost constant stream of small air bubbles coming from my mask. Is this normal? I don't remember experiencing this before. It was a weird sensation. I was wearing my normal mask. I cleared it a few times to see if that would change anything but it didn't. I only have a few dives. I was a little nervous and I seem to breathe a lot more than the divers around me anyway.

 

[dhammer]

A few questions to clarify:

Could the bubbles have been coming from your regulator and only seeming to come from your mask? The way to eliminate this possibility is to take your reg out of your mouth and hold it away from your head to see if the bubbles continue.

Were the bubbles constant during both ascent and descent? This might be expected during ascent, as the air inside your mask expands.

Do you repeatedly have to clear or equalize your mask?

 

[mislav]

You might be exhaling both through your mouth and through your nose. Some people do that.

 

[katdiver]

I had this one for a while, it turned out to be a small crack in the frame of the mask.

 

[rebeccaf]

I've experienced this with two masks with two separate solutions:

1. Hair - especially an issue with woman, as hair may be pulled back and causing a break in the seal, which is easily remedied.

2. The mask skirt may be starting to fail, which I didn't consider (thinking I didn't do the hair right, regulator, nose breathing, etc.) then my mask skirt failed during a dive with a total blow out. The dive shop said a common warning sign of impending failure is a problem with a constant stream of bubbles. You may want to consider the age, abuse (I'm fairly hard on my gear), etc.

 

[D_B]

It's funny but I've had that happen to me several times, and could trace it to every time I exhaled, I must have been blowing a little air out my nose as I did so .... the funny part is that I usually do not do that ... maybe it's like the other poster suggested, a little hair caught in the mask skirt, allowing a leak with only the slightest pressure increase inside the mask on exhale

 

[imasinker]

I had a simular problem with a mask that didn't fit right. It fit well enough before the reg was in my mouth, pool and snorkle. It seemed to not conform to my face after i put a reg in my mouth and always leaked tiny bubbles from the same place. I ended up getting a different mask and havent had the problem since.

 

[SkipperJohn]

Did the mask flood?

 

[Redshift]

Inspect your mask. Make sure the seal and frame are in good condition.

Then, when diving, make sure you don't have any hair trapped in your mask. Ask your buddy to verify it for you. The hood can also be interfering with the seal.

Some masks adapt better to a person's face than others. I don't know if you've been using the same mask all the time. Even if it is, the way you place the mask, the position of the strap, having different hoods, longer or shorter hair... can change the way the masks seals.

As stated before, make sure the air is really coming from the mask.

And try to notice if you exhale through your nose.

If it happens only on the way up it's normal.

As regard to using more air than the others, give it time! You've just started diving so that is normal. And besides you were uncomfortable with your mask and trying to deal with your problem and that makes you use even more air.

 

[imasinker]

Did the mask flood?

Yes the mask did flood but in a slow process, I kept having to clear it every few minutes.

I also read somewhere to that the facial features you make while putting the mask on will effect the way the mask performs. If you squint, close your eyes or something to the effect once you open your eyes the skin around the mask changes the pressure and shape of your face. (ie..wrinkles and so forth) Basically make the same face you will have when diving as you fit the mask to your face.

maybe someone else can explain it better!