Cold water freeflow?

[Lamnid]

Hey. I recently heard that if the water is too cold it can cause your reg. to freeflow. I live in UK and this could be a problem for me! (Breathing from a freeflowing reg. was my hardest skill to master in open water, so i'll need to practice some more!)
Hm...also a friend of mine said that if it freeflows, the way to stop it is to press the purge button. This didn;'t sound right to me so i came to ask here if it's true or not to dispel any rumour! What is correct procedure if the reg free flows? Thanks. Caz.

 

[captndale]

Hey. I recently heard that if the water is too cold it can cause your reg. to freeflow. I live in UK and this could be a problem for me! (Breathing from a freeflowing reg. was my hardest skill to master in open water, so I'll need to practice some more!)
Hm...also a friend of mine said that if it freeflows, the way to stop it is to press the purge button. This didn;'t sound right to me so i came to ask here if it's true or not to dispel any rumour! What is correct procedure if the reg free flows? Thanks. Caz.

Four things influence regulator freeflows:
Regulator design
Water temperature
Air flow rate
Depth (air density)

You can't really do anything about the water temperature or the depth but you can learn to breath more slowly and you can choose a regulator that is noted for good cold water performance. That said, any regulator can freeze and it can happen to anyone. The important thing is how you deal with it. The first priority is to be aware of what is happening. Usually you can tell when a free flow is just starting if you just pay attention. The regulator will not quite stop flowing as you stop inhaling and begin to exhale. If you notice the problem at this point, you probably have two or three minutes before you have a total, bubbles everywhere, freeflow. Meanwhile, the regulator will just be increasing the rate of freeflow gradually until it gets totally out of control and you can't ignore it anymore.

The only way to fix a freeflow is to turn the valve off long enough to thaw out the regulator. Depending on how long it has been freeflowing, this may take a while. I have seen 1/2 inches of ice built up around the first stages of regulators.

 

[Lamnid]

okay cool, cool. So of course you can use the skill to sip at the air and breathe that way before ascent, but is switching to the octopus also a viable option? I realise that if one reg has been affected by the cold then the octo may well be up the spout too but it'd be a chance that you could use it right?

 

[Web Monkey]

Hey. I recently heard that if the water is too cold it can cause your reg. to freeflow. I live in UK and this could be a problem for me! (Breathing from a freeflowing reg. was my hardest skill to master in open water, so i'll need to practice some more!)
Hm...also a friend of mine said that if it freeflows, the way to stop it is to press the purge button. This didn;'t sound right to me so i came to ask here if it's true or not to dispel any rumour! What is correct procedure if the reg free flows? Thanks. Caz.

Here are the short answers:

• Yes, cold water can cause your regulator to freeflow. It's caused by ice buildup inside the first stage, which allows too much air pressure into your second stage hose, which causes it to come out through your reg (instead of blowing a hole in your LP hose).
• Purging your regulator will not stop a freeflow unless it's caused by a foreign object inside your first stage (not very likely). in fact, purging your reg can cause a freeflow.
• The correct procedure to stop a freeflow is to turn off the tank valve and let the first stage thaw. Unfortunately, since you can't breathe with the tank off, this either requires diving doubles, of sharing air with your buddy.
  
  The way to avoid a freeflow is to:
  1. Dive in warmer water (I should be so lucky )
  2. Don't breathe very much (not an especially useful option, since you may have an emergency or need to share air)
  3. Buy an environmentally sealed reg, or have yours sealed (some regs have kits available).
  Personally, I like #3.

Terry

 

[Lamnid]

cool. thanks for the advice - it's helped a lot!

 

[Web Monkey]

Switching to your octo won't help, since the freeflow is caused by ice buildup in the first stage, not one of the second stages. The second stage freeflow is only a symptom, not a cause.

In fact, there's no need to switch. If you can't find your buddy, you can just breathe the freeflow. It's a little weird, but the air is just fine. You should note, however that a really good regulator can empty a tank very quickly, so if you have a freeflow and no buddy, you should be thinking about ascending and not wasting time.

Terry

okay cool, cool. So of course you can use the skill to sip at the air and breathe that way before ascent, but is switching to the octopus also a viable option? I realise that if one reg has been affected by the cold then the octo may well be up the spout too but it'd be a chance that you could use it right?

 

[Diver0001]

Hm...also a friend of mine said that if it freeflows, the way to stop it is to press the purge button. .

Your friend is mistaken. It won't help if the freeflow was casued by the cold and might only make matters worse.

Why did you have trouble with that skill? It's the one that almost everyone gets without too much trouble....

R..

 

[Lamnid]

yeah - my stupid boyfriend has just done his open water and sent me a cocky e-mail saying how easy that skill was! lol. I figured that pressing the purge button wouldn't stop a free flow because that's how you cause a free flow during your open water training! lol. Thanks for all the good advice.

 

[Zak OHara]

Lamnid,
Along with the skills mentioned above, equipment also makes a difference as noted about the enviornmental seal. Should you be looking for a new reg at some point, you may want to consider an all metal second stage regulator. Metal is a better thermal conductor than plastic (which most regs are made of today). There are other benefits that are associated with metal regs, but they don't pertain to your post. Mares has a complete line up of all metal regs.

Sincerely,

Zak

 

[aquaoren]

Regs do not have to be sealed to be excellent regs for cold water.
Some of the best cold water regs (In regard to freezing resistance) are not sealed. Like the Poseidon regs and the Mares Abyss.
FWIW, I was not able to get my Mares Abyss to freeze (unsealed) while my sealed Apeks froze once without even trying.