Bubble Check Problem

[timle]

Yup depends on the dive. I was doing some shallow dives when I noticed my HP hose to my SPG had about 3 small pin holes in it. I didn't have a spare HP hose. So I dove it the rest of the day.

I replaced it before diving again and grabbed another to throw in the save-a-dive kit that just keeps growing.

 

[123Scuba.com]

DIve immediately to a depth at least twice as deep as you planned.

Then breathe your tank down to 250 before surfacing.

Did I win?

You do as far as I'm concerned... best answer yet!

 

[Gombessa]

Is there general consensus that a very small leak coming from the first stage is trivial? I was working with one setup where I could just slightly hear a hiss coming from the valve o-ring, and if I twisted the yoke a bit it went away. Took off the reg, didn't see anything wrong with the o-ring or the mating surface, and the hiss was still there when put back together.

This is what it looked like underwater (this was an instructor btw, he didn't mind the leak):

 

[lamont]

That's a bit much for my comfort. Leaks like that should be caught by bubble checks at the surface and your buddy should be able to take the first stage off and clean and reseat the o-ring if thats the issue (which it usually is). If its not the o-ring and can't be fixed and its leaking that much its a little sketchy -- although I can think of one dive recently where my buddy had a non-oring issue and we went diving anyway, but it was a 60-70 fsw small wreck dive in decent viz and we both were a bit "overengineered" as far as gas went with full double-130s. I kept an eye on the leak the whole dive, and had a little heart attack at 20 fsw when he pulled an OOA on me and just for a split-second I thought his first stage had failed for real...

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

I would get out of the water, take my back-up first stage out of my save-a-dive kit, exchange all the hoses, put my rig back together and go diving ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[almitywife]

another reason why i like my DIN

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

another reason why i like my DIN

ah ... depends on the reg. I've seen leaks coming out of strange places on some DIN regs ... especially those with turrets ... :11:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[nereas]

I bring a complete extra regulator set with me, just in case this happens to my reg or to my buddy's. For beach diving, it is kept in my car, and for boat diving, it is in a big plastic bag in my gear bag on the boat.

If a leak developed I would abort the dive (but with a safety stop as usual) and mount the backup reg. If I see a buddy with a leak like this, and he decides to continue the dive, then I will watch him/her more closely than usual, and be prepared to donate my extra second stage.

I have seen a lot of divers with leaking regs. But my own regs are not supposed to leak. If they leak, there is a problem. If there is a problem, it should be fixed before continuing to dive, before it becomes a major problem underwater.

It never hurts to bring a tool kit and extra gear along for scuba diving. Especially for remote or exotic sites, where you cannot get a quick fix or rental at a nearby scuba store. My spares kit has grown to contain a ton of extra stuff, regulators, hoses, etc.

 

[SparticleBrane]

This is what my spray bottle of soapy solution is for. Before I hop in the water, I spray down my gear, anywhere there's a connection involving an o-ring. This alerts you to leaks before you get hop in the water...
It doesn't preclude a bubble check, but it does help identify problems before hopping in.

 

[KMD]

This is what my spray bottle of soapy solution is for. Before I hop in the water, I spray down my gear, anywhere there's a connection involving an o-ring. This alerts you to leaks before you get hop in the water...
It doesn't preclude a bubble check, but it does help identify problems before hopping in.

Plus after the dive your breath is soapy fresh!