BCD Inflator Hose v. Dump Valve- Which wins?

[JonBath]

I have to admit I'm kind of confused at the question. Maybe you just have a very powerful LPI for your BCD, but on my Buddy jacket holding the deflator button on the hose is more than enough to compensate for a stuck inflator. Indeed we practise the skill of disconnecting a stuck inflator as part of OW training lesson 3, holding both down simultaneously to simulate the failure and the response. In any case having both hands on your inflator hose will make disconnecting the hose a lot easier than faffing around one handed whilst the other holds your dump valve open.

I guess the only way to find out what works best for your rig is to try it a few times in the pool, and find the best solution with your inflator hose and dump valves until it becomes an ingrained response.

 

[Diver0001]

Hello-

I was down about 60 feet when my BC suddenly began to inflate. I tried to grab onto someone, couldn't and began moving up.

Luckily, someone then grabbed me and held me until they could wrestle apart the stuck inflator hose.

The whole thing was over in seconds.

But it got me wondering.

If I had been alone and unable to disconnect the inflator hose, and had started up fast, aside from trying to be spread horizontal to increase resistance, if i had yanked the dump valve and then turned head up to let the air out would it have been enough to overcome the air coming in from the inflating hose?

Thank you.

Yes. All BCD's that I'm aware of can dump air faster than they can fill.

R..

 

[Nedster]

@zeroviz

This is excellent advice and how to respond perfectly in this situation.

 

[Angelo Farina]

In a single tank, you do not have the option of closing a post, so your best bet by far is to disconnect the hose, and it is very difficult to do this with one hand, if nothing is holding the inflator steady while you try.

My single 15 liters tank has two valve plus reserve, so I can easily close the valve feeeding the LP inflator, if needed.
I never understood why so many people buy tanks with just one valve, and use only one first stage...
As I started diving with doubles, when moving to a single tank I had already two full regs, and I wanted to keep them unmodified, so I did buy a tank with two valves.
But it is much simpler to disconnect the hose: on my Cressi power inflator the hose is very easy do disconnect even with a single hand, to the point that sometimes I did disconnect it by error, while manipulating the power inflator.
On the other hand, connecting again the hose, when pressurized, is quite difficult. You need two hands and pushing very strongly.

 

[inquis]

 

[happy-diver]