Buoyancy problems !!

[aftershock109]

Hey

I am having a problem with my buoyancy and I taught I would ask advice from you guys ! I have a 100 dives logged with approx 70% in a dry suit I recently changed my bcd setup from an Oceanic probe to a Halcyon eclipse with cinch harness before I changed my buoyancy was good could hold a myself at any depth without much issue, I have about 6-7 dives on the wing and to be honest I am hating it Ever since moving to it I find I can’t hold my position in the water I am up and down like a yoyo and every couple of minutes I feel like I am going To have an uncontrollable accent which leads me to dump all air in the suit and wing( I only use wing for buoyancy only add enough air in the suit To offset squeeze). The only change is the wing one small note I was quiet underweight when I purchased my dry suit 2 years ago and have put on A good bit of weight in recent months leaving the dry suit very tight fitting could this be causing me issue. Whatever it is I would really like to find out Whats wrong as its taking away the enjoyment of diving for me if any of you have any suggestions I would greatly appreciate it

 

[ekremer]

It sounds like your weighting is very off. I would do a real and proper weight check. remember your backplate also adds about 6lbs over a traditional BC, so you could very well be over weight now. Plus the lack of neoprene, reduces the buoyancy of the bc even more. So do a weight check!

 

[Diver0001]

what happens if you stop swimming and just relax your body and breathe slowly? do you sink/float? do your feet go up/down? etc.

R..

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I concur that you have proper weighting problem. Whenever you change equipment, or you have more than a slight fluctuation in body weight, proper weighting will change. You have changed everything, from exposure suit to buoyancy control gear, to body weight, so you need to start from scratch. As you re-establish proper weighting, bear in mind that being over weighted will really make buoyancy control difficult. The more air in you dry suit and/or bc and/or wing, the more it will change your buoyancy with even small changes in depth, as the excess air expands and contracts. I suspect you have been overweighted of late.
DivemasterDennis

 

[aftershock109]

Thanks for your replies really appreciate it
@ekremer Yeah I must do a weight check, I know about the added weight in the backplate I used to carry 15kg on the belt now i carry 10kg but have the backplate which is 2.6kg and integrated weight sta which is 2.6 also. normally i would dive trimmed with my knees bent and feet up a little but since all this I am paranoid of a feet first accent as my feet are feeling very light its a horrible feeling.
@Diver0001 if i stop and just breath I move up and down alot approx .6 or .7 of a meter each way where as before I would only move maybe .1 of meter up or down
@DivemasterDennis Yeah will definitely do a proper weight check never changed my suit but definitely need to do a good weight check will have to get a buddy to give me a hand with it

thanks again !!

 

[TSandM]

You may be a bit overweighted, since many BCs have some intrinsic buoyancy, which you lost when you changed gear. In addition, the Cinch setup may be adding a bit more ballast than just the backplate. I agree that a formal weight check is in order.

With regard to your feet feeling light, is it possible that, prior to the gear change, you weren't really quite horizontal, but always a bit feet-down? If so, and you are now horizontal, your feet will feel quite different. If you have plastic fins, you may be a bit light in the back, and need something to help keep those feet down. (There is a reason a lot of dry suit divers, especially with backplates, use negative fins!)

Every time you make a gear change, you have to fiddle with things for a bit to get weighting back to perfect, and to figure out the most comfortable distribution of the weight you are carrying. Sometimes you have to learn a little different posture, too. I'm sure you'll get this sorted -- as my friend Diver0001 says, a good diver can dive well in just about any gear!

 

[Diver0001]

@Diver0001 if i stop and just breath I move up and down alot approx .6 or .7 of a meter each way where as before I would only move maybe .1 of meter up or down

Well if your trim is more or less dialed in then I would have to go with what the others said and suggest doing a thorough buoyancy check.

What Lynne mentioned about posture can make a difference too. You can compensate for a lot of trim imbalance with, for example, how you hold your arms or the arch of your back. But to keep first things first you need to make sure the amount of weight you have is right and you fiddle with the placement until you're comfortable.

Something else that nobody mentioned yet is that the new BCD may affect how your drysuit vents. How's venting working for you since the change? Notice any difference?

R..

 

[coldwatercanada]

Im thinking it's a weight location/trim problem! I'm not fimilliar with the harness he's talking about but with the Hollis system you can thread weights anywhere in. Also i agree that it might just be a new position for your body. When i teach PPB or if im working one on one with a student i start by holding them in the proper position they feel it odd! Big difference when i get someone hovering in a jacket style bcd then switch them over to a back inflate! The other question I have is what is your current breathing pattern like?

 

[dwhthediver]

I agree doing a buoyancy check whenever you change equipment. Light feet in a drysuit, there are a couple of things you can do, negative fins, gaitors(not my preference) or get in a pool and practice horizontal trim.

 

[Wayne at DiveSeekers]

Definitely check weighting. The other 2 issues can be the Drysuit and Infinity System.

For divers to be in trim and have control, head up/arms out/stiffen shoulders/crunch butt cheeks together/ankles close to butt/point toes. If like you said, drysuit is too tight, then that will prevent you from applying theses techniques to get control.

Drysuit: Check flexibility in drysuit - In regular close put hand in front of nose and reach straight back behind shoulder blades (note point) then do the same with the other hand. See how easy it is and pretend to put fins on. Lastly, lay on floor with arms out in front and knees up. Repeat this process with undergarments. Repeat this process in Drysuit. You should not loose range of motion or flexibility just because you are in a Drysuit, if you do fix the ill-fitting equipment

Infinity: This is a great system but the one problem with it is the "cinch system". Divers tend to over-tighten the harness. When you over-tighten, it limits you in applying everything I said to do for control. 2nd issue: The backplate puts you in a horizontal trim position with feet up and ready for frog kicking (good thing). Coming from a jacket style bc and maybe not having good trim before, this style of diving may take a couple of dives to get use to. Find an Instructor that dives a BP&W and that teaches a quality Buoyancy Class, then you will be squared away! Please don't take offense to this last statement, I know you have 100 dives but not sure what training you have or don't have.