AirSource 3 - Wet Breathing

[mikeguerrero]

I purchase a lot of Aqualung equipment and I would call them and speak to a tech... They will determine if a recall is in order... I couldn't imagine a wet breath at 100 plus feet, thats dangerous enough you are pushing your limits...

 

[Couv]

Sounds like a leaky diaphragm, but I don't know much about octo/inflator combos. You could try screwing off the cover (if it works like a typical 2nd stage) and making sure the diaphragm is seated correctly, then re-install the cover. Or, seeing as it's new, you could just bring it back to the dealer and say "fix this please".

Exactly....but if you unscrew the cover, do not tell the LDS you did so. If it just unscrews, have a peek inside you may be able to quickly sort out the problem. If you do not feel comfortable doing that, just bring it in. It is probably a 2 minute fix.

c

 

[srcalDiver]

Here's the end of the story: My LDS needed a special thin wrench to remove the diaphragm cover. He did that, looked it over, pulled out the diaphragm, silicon lube'd a few parts and reassembled it. Now it holds a vacuum when you suck on it.

I'll give it a workout on Oahu next week!

 

[Couv]

Glad to hear the news. Have a great time on your trip. I'm looking forward to hearing about how it performed in OW.

c

 

[rcs9250]

I took 5 airsource 3's to the pool last night that were in for wet breathing. 4 of them were from a group of divers that dive together . Seemed odd that all would be wet breathers if there was a mechanical problem. Serial numbers were to random to suggest that maybe one person at AL was assembling incorrectly. So that suggests maybe a design flaw ???
Put each and every one on my rig and hopped in the water. Sure enough every one (all 5) were very wet after you would do your initial clearing. Didn't matter what position I was in.What I did learn is that if you gave it a good and I mean good hard exhalation it would blast the water out and then would be dry as a bone. I also did the purge button method for the initial clear (full depression of the purge button) and the very first breath was dry.
I'm 6'3'', tall people have large lung capacity, me included, and as hard as I could possibly inhale after the good purge I was not able to get a wet breath.
There must be a low spot in the reg that allows a little water to sit when breathing normally. I'll admit it can be a little disturbing if you didn't expect it especially in an actual emergency. Could turn in to a tug of war for your primary reg back.
Good advice would of course be to try out your Airsource 3 or any gear prior to an emergency need. Do it in shallow water shallow enough to stand up in if you encounter a problem. I aleays tell my students to use that boring 3 minute safety stop to do buoyancy checks and air share excercises. Repitition really works so that it becomes instinctive and fast.
All in all it brethes great, just do a good clear and you will be fine.

Randy

 

[Doc Jai]

The airsource 3 does breathe a little wet on mine too, but as other have suggested, if in doubt get it checked, may be a diaphragm issue.

I bought an aqualung Balance that came with the AS 3 QD (second hand- it had only been used a few times and was in great condition) and I regularly practice using the airsource with my buddy.

My personal 2 PSI's worth is that whilst okay, I believe a regular octo is probably simpler to use, and ultimately in the event a buddy has a problem, the last thing I want to do is take out a fully functioning reg (I've got an Apeks xtx50 that breathes beautifully) that's in my mouth and give it to them and then switch to something I know breathes a bit wet.......I've tested the AS3 with the tank turned off and there is no leak around the diaphragm

However, having read some other posts here I'll get our dice tech to take it apart and give it a good once over

Dive Safe

J