Can anyone help me with whether this was due to me or a regulator fault?

[ScubMK]

I recently did my OW and on one of my dives ascended from 18m with my group and at about 10m we slowed down. Now my error here was I dumped all my air and some panic set in and forgot to add more air to my BCD. Due to the finning I started exerting and I appreciate novice’s fin like mad and unnecessarily compared to experienced people.

I then found water was coming into my reg and I was wet breathing and struggling to breath and this did trigger actual panic and the combination of finning, wet breathing and panic meant the DM had to give me their octopus and slow me down to calm me.

I said after my main panic came in from the wet breathing and I was told that at the speed I would have been shallow breathing the reg cannot work quick enough and water may have came in due to that and it compounded and snowballed when the panic set in obviously making the wet breathing worse. However they changed my reg between this dive and the next and the reg was fine.

So the crux of my question is can what I did have led to wet breathing or was it a faulty reg as I was a bit skeptical to be told the first thing for them to replace the reg and wondered if it was a slight cover?

Thanks in advance .

 

[jborg]

It's of course hard to say without having been there, but generally speaking a reg should not breathe wet just because you're breathing "more". What I could maybe see happening is if you were really stressed and tense and tensed up your facial muscles, grinning, thus no longer getting a good seal between your lips and the regulator.

I suspect you already reached this conclusion, but making smaller adjustments slower to your BCD and letting things settle, taking it slower in general, will make things better and more comfortable.

 

[Lorenzoid]

I recently did my OW and on one of my dives ascended from 18m with my group and at about 10m we slowed down. Now my error here was I dumped all my air and some panic set in and forgot to add more air to my BCD. Due to the finning I started exerting and I appreciate novice’s fin like mad and unnecessarily compared to experienced people.

I then found water was coming into my reg and I was wet breathing . . . .

First, let me reassure you that dumping way too much air as you ascend is a common error. The root of it seems to be that we remember from our training that we are supposed to dump air on ascent, and this becomes ingrained in our mind as "If I don't dump enough air I'm going to rocket to the surface!" so we end up dumping too much air.

As for the water entering the reg, did it happen when you were looking up? Many regs will allow some water to enter if you're swimming inverted (which we rarely do) and to a lesser extent when you're simply looking up. I had some regs like that. Not a big deal unless it happens unexpectedly.

 

[Wibble]

Probably as you've already concluded...

The main thing is it's not like that normally; more diving will sort out your concerns and grow some familiarity.

Have fun on your next dive

 

[rick00001967]

i had a wet breathing reg many years ago on a dive and it caused me a lot of grief for some time. i wont get into the whole story.
but in my case, we determined the most likely cause was sand in an exhaust valve.
there is a one valve on the second stage reg (the one in your mouth). they are to allow air out when exhaling and keep water out when inhaling.
if something gets in that valve (like sand) it can prevent the valve from sealing properly. then it can allow water in when inhaling. especially if you are breathing hard.
this is certainly a possibility. it is even more likely if you were doing a shore dive.

 

[Still Kicking]

"I was told that at the speed I would have been shallow breathing the reg cannot work quick enough and water may have came in due to that."

This is bogus. If the exhaust valve is not obstructed, water pressure should close it as soon as you stop exhaling. It's a one-way "mushroom valve." A few drops may get by but not enough to notice.

Second, remove purge cover and diaphragm on the second stage and see if there is sand or debris obstructing the exhaust valve or if it has curled up. Ask shop where you bought reg for help if you are not sure about how to remove purge cover.

Third, reassemble reg and then do a vacuum test. Put reg on a tank but don't turn on, or block first stage inlet with tight fitting dust cap or thumb. Then suck on second stage. You should be able to suck pretty hard with no air getting by. This shows the second stage is air/watertight.

If you can suck air or hear it whistling into the second stage there are three common culprits: torn main diaphram, stuck exhaust valve or torn/loose mouthpiece.

Since you said it cleared up on second dive, I bet it will pass the suck test. Probably the exhaust valve that fixed itself.

 

[Seaweed Doc]

I think others above have given you most likely causes:

1. The reg was inverted while you were finning. Some regs breathe a little wet if you're upside down. Maybe in all the crazy finning you ended up that way?

2. Sand in the valve is another likely culprit. I'm a little surprised you didn't notice it earlier in this case, but stuff (like suddenly breathing really hard) happens. A slight tear in the exhaust flap might do it, I imagine. But then it wouldn't work normally again until repaired.

3. Water coming in from somewhere beside the reg. I've not seen a student tense up and have their lips open for water to come in, but I could imagine it. I have had students exhale repeatedly through the nose and end up with their mask displaced enough so there whole (usually small) nose is exposed to seawater. And they didn't know it. That's a potential source of water.....

 

[NorCalDM]

Also you are probably overweighed if you have to fin that hard after dumping the air in your BCD. The reg issue as other have stated is more than likely a result of the panic. Get the weight dialed in and everything becomes easier.

 

[Belzelbub]

Simply breathing fast and heavy should not lead to wet breathing. Fast breathing, and more accurately, not exhaling fully can lead to panic as you'll seem like you aren't getting enough air.

A well maintained reg should not breathe wet in normal orientations. Some designs do breathe a little wet under heavy load inverted.

So, I would suspect either a maintenance issue where the exhaust is not forming a good seal, or as suggested, you were tense and near panic, leading to a less than ideal seal by your lips.

Was this your regulator or a rental? If yours, I would probably get it serviced to make sure everything is functioning as it should. If only for piece of mind. If a rental, depending on the shop, sometimes these don't get enough TLC. A big part of the reason why divers that do more than a couple of dives a year use their own regs.

 

[steinbil]

I agree with the other posters saying it's probably because of looking up, or possibly debris in/damage to the exhaust valve. It's also possible that it came through the nose if you had some water in the mask and then looked up, or exhaled through the nose into the mask, but you would probably register that it came through the nose unless you were so panicked/overloaded you didn't really notice what was happening.

Just as a visual example of what debris in the exhaust valve can do, here's a reg I opened the exhaust tee on last week after it was breathing a little wet on the previous dive: