Bubble Check Problem

[in_cavediver]

I guess I am different in that I don't like ANY leaks. I guess that's just me or maybe becuase I maintain my gear properly. Then again, I don't frequent cattle boats either.....

 

[MikeFerrara]

The O ring is held is such a tight place that catastophic failure is just not going to happen, theres's no where for the (failed) rubber O ring to go.

Not true. I've seen several yoke o-rings catastrophically fail. It can be pretty exciting too.

I've also seen o-rings extrude right out of the LP hose connections...probably caused by the connection being lose in the first place.

If you are still not convinced, unscrew you spg from its hose, remove the O ring, screw the hose back in snug and connect it to a full tank. My guess is, without the O ring, the connection will leak, but it will take about a day and a half to leak 3000psi.

Completely unrelated. The reason that it takes a while for a leak in the HP hose to drain a tank is because the HP port is designed for very low flow. Try that same experiment with an LP hose and see what happens.

 

[Flatliner]

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?

Thats what I do but I make sure to hold my breath on the ascent since I can lay upside down and use the reg bubbles to guage my ascent speed.

 

[MikeFerrara]

You guys are some paranoid people. Seriously. You would call a dive for a little o-ring leakage??? Especially if you had paid money to do the dive??? Come on! :11:

It is glaringly obvious if the bubbles are coming from the first stage itself or from a leaky O-ring. Rental tanks' O-rings always leak. It takes a lot more bubbles for it to actually affect your dive time than you think. I've had them sound like sizzling bacon at the surface and noticed no real effect on my calculated air consumption. Probably 2/3rds everyone I have ever seen underwater had leaky o-rings. I have yet to see an O-ring catastrophically fail (that doesn't mean they don't just BLOW, but it's not a common occurence even with leaky rings.) Even if it did, you should still be able to make it to the surface.

Well they can catastrophically fail and I've seen it. Yoke o-rings are a pain and we I owned a dive shop and was still using yokes we went through those orings like popcorn but...ours didn't leak in the water. I don't use yoke connections any more at all but if I were to be on the road and had to rent equipment, they will give me tanks that don't leak or I'm not paying.

The answer to leaking yoke orings (which is common) is to carry a bunch of them with you and swap them out when they leak...NOT to dive with a leak.

I don't know about the rest of you but I never intend to have my life depend on any single piece of equipment and I would not expect a catastophic failure of any one piece of equipment to kill me. However, I don't see that as a logical justification for intentionally diving with faulty equipment.

I don't see the fact that 2/3rds of the divers you've seen are diving with leaks as evicence that the risk of diving with faulty equipment is acceptable. I see it as evidence that there are a lot of poor judgement out there.

 

[Diver0001]

You guys are some paranoid people. Seriously. You would call a dive for a little o-ring leakage??? Especially if you had paid money to do the dive??? Come on! :11:

I'll step up to bat on that. The answer is that I never go anywhere near a rental tank without a pocket full of O-rings. I have one of those little key-chain things that looks like a tiny scuba tank and it's always in my gear bag.

The way I see it, if I paid money to be on a boat then I can foot the extra 2c. I'll visually inspect it and if I see anything that doesn't look like it was replaced yesterday I just replace it preventively as part of my gear set-up..... Incidentally, I don't have problems with O-ring leakage on charters.... wonder why....

It is glaringly obvious if the bubbles are coming from the first stage itself or from a leaky O-ring. Rental tanks' O-rings always leak.

Wrong attitude. You don't have to be a raving perfectionist but you can certainly set your expectations a little higher that that!

I have yet to see an O-ring catastrophically fail (that doesn't mean they don't just BLOW, but it's not a common occurence even with leaky rings.) Even if it did, you should still be able to make it to the surface.

Well..... On the one hand I think you're right. it's not *common* in absolute numbers. However, it does happen more than you seem to think it does. Extruded O-rings are proably happen at rates of about maybe upwards of 1% on yokes and they can happen any time above or under water. they also happen a lot more often if the o-ring is old. A leaking O-ring means a worn out O-ring and I don't see any good reason to gamble on it staying put when replacing it takes 2 seconds. I don't want to insult you but I have to be honest that this statement makes me wonder how much real-world experience you have. Perhaps it's worth taking the time to fill in some details on your profile.

Now if the first stage itself is truly leaking and that is not a normal thing for it, then you might have a problem. If the dive were relatively easy I would dive it any ways as long as it appeared to function on the surface and the rate was relatively low. I wouldn't go 120 feet into a zero viz swirling vortex with it though!

Well.... clearly you're willing to take more risks than I am. A leaking 1st stage is a show-stopper in my book. That's just asking for trouble.

R..

 

[lamont]

This board is known for its paranoia and ridiculous "safety" rules, but I think we have hit a new low.

Most of the "paranoid" people own their own equipment and maintain it, and a leaky o-ring can be fixed at the surface in the water most of the time just by taking the first stage off, getting the crud out of it and reseating it. Since I send my regs off for maintenance every 50 dives or so all the o-rings get changed out then so actually failed o-rings are uncommon. We're not calling half our dives just due to failed bubble checks, that's silly...

 

[WeekendDiver]

On cattleboat type ops I've noticed a lot of leaking tank valves and tankvalve/tank connections. Usually an alkaseltzer type leak. Unless it's severe I don't care. ANY connection leak is something I check quite carefully, especially in yoke setups.