Bonaire accident issues Close Call

[archer1960]

We are all glad you wife is doing okay. This is one of the reasons my wife/buddy and I both dive with bungeed backups and underarm primary. Really easy to just reach down and your backup second is in your mouth. I have been known to jump off the boat with nothing in my mouth and quickly get that bungeed backup in even before I hit the water..
(Please don't tell anyone)..

...

Yeah, I did that on my recent trip to Coz. On a hot-drop, no less! This was on the C-53 wreck, and due to the current, the DM wanted everybody to go in negative and head straight for the down line. So I go in with no air in my BC, and no reg in my mouth, and don't even realize it until I have already turned and headed for the line and go for a breath. Not really a big issue, because I quickly grabbed the reg (I practice finding it blind quite a bit) and continued on, but it was a bit disconcerting to find that I had gotten that lax in my pre-entry preps. That was the first time I've gone in from a boat without my air in my mouth. And then when doing the Devil's Throat, I had my reg kicked out of my mouth at about 120 FSW while I was helping the guy in front of me get past a low spot...

 

[USdiver1]

How often should a 2nd stage diaphragm be changed?

I do inspect all of my gear, including 2nd stage diaphragms, on a regular basis but only replace the diaphragm if there is some indication of a problem. I do have spare diaphragms for most of our regs but have not had to replace any in the last 20+ years. The diaphragms on my 40 Y/O pilots show no sign of deterioration.

I also inspect my diaphragms regularly, and replace them when they show signs of wear, start losing their suppleness, deform, and most importantly, when some improvement becomes available. Case in point, when Mares went with silicone in their MR-12 and the old Voit/AMF MR-12 rubber coated canvas diaphragms could be updated. Most commonly, I have come across diaphragms that have deformed due to too many years being kept under pressure from both the retaining ring / cover and the poppet lever.

 

[Dan]

Well awap that comment is a bit asinine. #1 It was not user error. #2 It could have been a service error, but there is no way to prove that. #3. No one can ever say it will never happen again. #4 However, it will never happen again with that particular regulator because it will never be used again so yes common sense would tell most people that issue is resolved. #5 On the off hand chance it does happen again... she will NEVER forget her second stage again! awap, it's easy to sit in a chair on your pc and point fingers. Point is...you don't know how you will react until you actually experience the trauma yourself. When exactly was the last time you inhaled a lung full of sea water??? Thanks for your empathy.

First of all, I'm glad to hear that she's going to be all right.

I think you confuse people by saying 1st stage for the primary 2nd stage regulator, the one she used to breath on & 2nd stage for the back up 2nd stage regulator, some people call it Octopus or Octo for short, the one has yellow color hose. Both of those regulators are 2nd stage regulators.

The 1st stage is the regulator that clamps on the gas cylinder. They call it 1st stage regulator because its function is to regulate the high pressure in the tank to the low pressure where the 2nd stage regulators (the primary & the backup) tapped into the downstream (low pressure) side of the 1st stage regulator to drop the low pressure further to the slightly above the ambient pressure where you can draw air by simply sucking the air through the mouth bit.

So, it sounds to me there is nothing wrong with your 1st stage regulator.

 

[Schwob]

Thook, I just want to join in in expressing how glad I am your wife is allright...
And thank you for posting. It is one thing to read of mishaps in the abstract and another to hear of a first hand experience. Thanks also for staying with the thread and posting updates etc. and looking past some of the, albeit undoubtedly well meant armchair quaterbacking and moving the thread ahead. I quite valu yours as well as some of the resulting contributions. Very interesting thread ... and a very good reminder to not give into creeping complacency.
I wish you and your wife the best on the endeavor of trying to overcome the traumatisation. At times a very, very hard thing to do.

 

[Dan]

I did suck seawater through my primary 2nd stage once & also noticed the reg hose turned 90 degrees. It turned out to be the tyrap of the mouthbit came off. So I just grabbed my backup 2nd stage that hung on my chest and used it, instead of the primary 2nd stage. When I was back on the boat, I just put a new tyrap on the primary 2nd stage and it was good to use for the rest of the trip.

 

[gcarter]

On a drift I wound up sharing air (donating) to a new diver who didn't have quite enough to make the exit. Literally two minutes after putting him on my secondary, the mouthpiece on the primary tore half off. It was easier than I would have thought to hold the reg steady with one hand and avoid sucking water. The key was to stay calm and think, not just react. My buddy never even knew I had an issue until I had him safely ashore and I told him.

 

[halocline]

For those who are curious in having the reg dissected asap, what exactly would you be looking for? Do you have a list of possible reasons why the reg would fail in the manner described?

If a regulator is working fine during a dive and then immediately delivers a mouthful of water instead of air, there are only a few things that could be responsible, all in the 2nd stage. Any 1st stage or hose failure would result in air leaking out, not water leaking in, as long as there's pressure in the tank.
1. The diaphragm could tear badly. This is really unlikely, I've never ever seen a 2nd stage diaphragm tear catastrophically, and I've seen many that are way older than 20 years.
2. The diaphragm could somehow become dislodged. This is also very unlikely, probably only could be the result of really bad servicing.
3. The exhaust valve could get folded over and allow water to get in. This is probably the most likely scenario.
4. The mouthpiece could tear or leak. This is also fairly common, I've seen a 2nd stage just drop right out of someone's mouth, leaving the mouthpiece in the divers mouth. She had a bit of a surprise next breath!
5. There could have been a crack in the case which somehow got way worse during this dive. This probably would have been obvious to anyone looking at the 2nd stage after the dive, so it's not likely to have been the problem.

The fact that this was a 20 year old regulator is completely irrelevant. First, 20 years is not that old; second, good service techs would inspect the exhaust valve and diaphragm and replace them if there was any sign of wear.

There is another possible culprit, that would be water in the tank coupled with a missing dip tube. It's easy to check; if there's a lot of water in the HP section of the 1st stage (probably in the SPG as well) and the filter is green, there's your answer. My money would be on the exhaust valve or a leaky mouthpiece.

In this situation, I'm glad your wife is ok, and it is really scary inhaling water. But, the real cause of the accident was her reaction, not the fact that her equipment failed. Any piece of dive gear can fail at any time; they're all mechanical devices. Its up to divers to be able to deal with gear failure in a responsible way, and for dive buddies to be close enough to assist. She panicked and is lucky that it did not end way worse. We're all glad about that.

Regardless, she may never get back in the water with that reg anyway, so it's time for a new one!

 

[halocline]

Still here guys... further inspection reveals second stage degredation/crack, in the diaphragm as expected. I appreciate all your input. The wife has been somewhat traumatized by this so soon we will do a few pool sessions to see if she will be comfortable enough to contiune diving.....this is just something she will have to work through. I am hopeful for a positive outcome.

I posted my last reply before I saw this. I really don't think "second stage degradation/crack, in the diaphragm" is much of an explanation. I realize you probably don't care too much about it, with good reason, but I'm kind of curious. If you still have it, maybe take a photo and post it? Basically if there was a crack in the case, as I mentioned before, it would let water in, but for the reg to suddenly fill with water it takes more than a crack, it takes a big hole in something. Maybe your wife was looking down for a while, the 2nd stage was filling, then for some reason she looked up at the surface. That would basically cause any water in the 2nd stage to drain right into her mouth.

 

[diver0008]

10mins at 60ft on air even with a rapid ascent is not really DCS territory.

Such a scary and unfortunate incident.

I am curious; are the DCS/bent results from this emergency ascent from what seems like a short (10min.) and shallow (60ft.) dive what might be typically expected?

Perhaps some doctors on-board could weigh in, and please excuse me if I have missed any pertinent details previously posted.

Also, some info here: Decompression Illness: What Is It and What Is The Treatment? — DAN | Divers Alert Network — Medical Dive Article

 

[gfaith]

@Murky Waters see post #53 and following posts from @fmerkel