BCD inflator button stuck

[falcos]

This has never happened to me, but I will be sure to practice the one hand inflator hose removal.

Thanks.

 

[wetman]

I've had that once - its a pain to take that hose out when the inflator is stuck on though i found. I turned upside down and swam towards the bottom until i got it under control. It was a zeagle ranger and apparently mine wasnt the only one that stuck.

steve

 

[SOUTH DEVON]

Yep happened to me as well, luckily on my pre-dive check , it was my first dive after certification which didn't inspire much confidence on rented gear !!!!

 

[Charlie99]

Look around at some hoses and you will find that some have a large, heavily knurled collar for the quick release while others are much harder to grasp, particularly with gloves on.

I replaced the hose that came stock with my SeaQuest BC because it would be too hard to uncouple in an emergency.

Another way to improve your ability to remove LPI is to put a Dive Alert onto the hose. It has a very nice, easy to grasp collar ---- and you can use it with rental gear.

 

[Phish-phood]

Eek this is one of the worries I have when diving and can be anal about checking valves before I dive.
It is one of the reasons that I hate the BC I dive with because the inflator button is halfway up a very short inflator hose making it difficult to get to and the hose itself is difficult to get to to uncouple because of the length. Roll on the dive show where I can buy the BC I really want and give this one back

Glad it worked out okay, I have to say I think if it were me I would be reachig out to grab the first thing I could to keep me down!!

 

[Bob3]

He missed around 15 mins of deco I think, he went to the chamber "just in case".

"Standard procedure" for skipped deco:
1. Return the diver to the depth of the first stop.
2. Follow the schedule for stops 40-fsw and deeper.
3. Multiply the 30-, 20-, and 10-fsw stops by 1.5.
(USN Diving Manual vol. 5, chapt. 21)

I had my drysuit inflator button stick while I was crawling through a tiny hole into a barge. Couldn't get my hand down to disconnect for a while & had to peel back a wrist cuff to dump 'till I wiggled clear enough to get at the inflator.
Times like that a guy appreciates the VIKING style quick disconnects, they easily operate with 1 hand.

Even a well maintained valve can stick if you're in the habit of plowing through the bottom on your belly. If you're using a jet, sand & mud can wind up in some very strange places.
Viking exhaust valves are positioned that they can be operated with the head, by the way. You can be dumping, unhooking the hose, and still have a hand left over.

 

[o2scuba]

Kettle once bubbled...
I was diving on Saturday, down about 22m or so and had just hit the bottom. I was waiting for the rest of the group to catch up and went to inflate my BCD a bit and the button got stuck in. The thing just kept pumping air into the BCD and it inflated to an incredible pressure around my chest and I started floating up from the bottom. I managed to grap hold of the anchor before I got too high and I also held in the manual inflator button to try to get rid of the air in the BCD. It relieved some of the pressure but I was still struggling to hold onto the anchor and stay near the bottom. I fiddled with the button a bit and finally managed to unstick it. It was quite a scary experience, not sure how long it went on for, would only have been 20 seconds max, but enough time to get the adrenaline going. I continued the dive, avoiding using the inflator. Anyone else had this happen to them?

First of all, glad you are OK.

Curious, what Make & model BC?

This is a situation that happens all too frequently. I don't know if you tested the LPI during your pre-dive safety check. Even so, it can happen. It can be caused by: sand in the mechanism, oxidation, something physically jamming the button, friction from lack of service (storage) or many other reasons.

Inm any case this is a good example of why it is important to practice disconnecting the hose. PADI divers practice this skill during the open water training program (as other agencies, I am sure). It is a good idea to practice all skills from time to time after certification.

Although this can be a very scary situation, it can also be handled quickly with very little stress. The bc should be serviced immediatly. Sounds like it was a rental? In this case be sure to alert the company who rented it to you.

Hopefully this "inflated" not only your bc, but your confidence that you can calmly handle situations like this when they occur. Also the importance of ongoing training and experience.



Best of luck,

Andrew

 

[rdriver]

I had my Dry suit inflater freeze on me at 120 feet I felt like the Michelin Tire boy I disconnected the hose without a problem but the dump valves on most suits don't dump as fast as with BC so I had to grab my neck seal and gave it a tug to help out the venting process....but I got it stopped by the time I got to 100 feet and for the rest of the dive I just lived with the suit squeeze.
Rob

 

[DeepScuba]

Bob3

Thanks for the info I already know.

It wasn't me, i wasn't there, I think it was 15 minutes. I don't know from what depth, I don't know if he was "wigged out" on the surface and decided not to return to depth.

I never talk to him about it. (Or i'd know more info). I only have to worry about what I would do.

you're damn skippy I'd return to depth.....and I wouldn't need to be told!!!!!!

 

[Kettle]

Unfortunately this wasn't a skill we were taught during training and the thought never occured to me that it could happen. I will be practicing in future though. As for the model of the BC, I don't have access to it right now so I'm not sure what one it was. It was a club BC so I will let the guy know when I take it back this afternoon.