Controlling buoyancy with Halcyon Eclipse

[skywalk]

Hi folks, I have spent many many hours reading through various forums over the past months and i must first start by saying this is the best forum i've found! Thank you all for such informative posts.

Well, on to my questions...i had the opportunity to try out my instructor's Halcyon bp/w today and I must say i'm very tempted to buy one for myself. However I would love to hear what some of you do for these minor glitches in buoyancy control that I discovered today.

1) when I came to a complete stop, neutrally buoyant, my tank started to roll to one side. No weight belt, straps fit (I adjusted it twice to make sure it was the right fit) and yet I ended up pretty much facing up. Sounds like the tank is too heavy but it was the lightest aluminum plate and i'd hate to strip off anything and have to add my own clunky weight belt around my waist. I love not wearing a weight belt.

2) While trying a surface swim I made sure not to over inflate. Still, the wing kept pushing me face down into the water, and I had to resort to swimming on my back.

3) my head was knocking into the wing whenever I was horizontal and looked up. Everything was a snug fit, tank positioning was fine, but the back of my head was just head-butting the top of the wing. Very annoying, because I don't like looking down all the time...I like to look in the direction of where i'm finning

thanks for taking the time to read through this post.

 

[PerroneFord]

Lets see:

Probkem 1: Unit misadjusted.

Problem 2: Unit misadjusted

Problem 3: Unit misajusted


When the BP/W is properly adjusted, none of these things is a factor.

 

[mheaster]

Just a thought, what fins are you using?

I use a Halcyon SS BP and Eclispe wing and have experienced none of the issues you have. My SP Jetfins do weigh almost 3 lbs each and I have no problems swimming and looking ahead?

Maybe heavier fins, or a small trim weight on bottom tank band? Distribute trim weighting on BP or in trim weight pockets on tank band?

My 2 cents worth?

 

[pennypue]

Skywalk, on your first problem with the rolling to one side......you need to be sure that the harness has a snug fit. Particularly the waist strap and crotch strap. If you did not readjust the harness from where your instructor had theirs set, this is most likely the problem.

I dive doubles and find that just the changed in my drysuit underwear will require some serious adjustment to the harness. I have a second bp in stainless that is adjusted for when I wear a 3mil wetsuit for warm water diving.

As for the other problems.....on land if you inflated the wing and it hit your head then it was positioned too high. Otherwise your harness wasn't tight enough and was allowing the tank to ride up.

Also for surface swimming, it is possible to fin on the surface face first. It takes a bit more practice though. I use a little, tiny modified frog kick, just from the ankles. Otherwise, I surface swim on my back if I'm not using my reg.

 

[GreenDiverDown]

1) when I came to a complete stop, neutrally buoyant, my tank started to roll to one side.

This may not be a harness adjustment problem. If air is not evenly distributed in the wing, then it will start to roll you toward one side. When you feel a little lop-sided, do a little shoulder twist to re-distribute the air in the wing more evenly. It will soon become second nature.

What tank were you using?

2) While trying a surface swim I made sure not to over inflate. Still, the wing kept pushing me face down into the water, and I had to resort to swimming on my back.

Hmm... When doing a surface swim, you SHOULD be on your back... or face down with your reg in your mouth. If it is pushing you over while just floating on the surface, then it is likely that you did have too much air in the wing. Again, this will get better as you put more time in the rig.

What exposure suit were you using?

3) my head was knocking into the wing whenever I was horizontal and looked up.

The H Eclipse IS a bit generous in the top section compared to some other wings and I don't believe that this wing offers any height adjustment... some wings have multiple sets of grommets in the centerline. Likewise, if you were using a Halcyon plate, it too only has one set of holes... well at least that's the way they used to come. Nevertheless, the wing shouldn't be pushing against your head. To do this when horizontal, the whole rig would have to be too high on your back and you would have to have a lot of air in the wing. This too will get better with some tweaking and some practice. With proper trim you should be able to look forward but you won't be able to look up without changing your body orientation.

It's hard to say just exactly is causing your difficulties without seeing it in person. But rest assured, these rigs dive fine and these little problems are easy to overcome with a little time in the water and a few adjustments here and there.

What plate and STA were you using? Did you have any other weight on the rig... a weighted STA... camband weights... a P weight... a cannister light... or weights on your harness waist strap?

 

[*Floater*]

1. You need to balance out the wing from time to time. For example, if the left side is lighter than the right (has more gas) then tilt your body up and back down with shoulders even so that the gas goes to the top arc and is then split equally between the two sides, or lift your right shoulder a bit when tilted up to run gas from left to right. You might even hear the gas run inside the wing. Alternatively, since it's a donut wing, you could do the same in the back arc of the wing by tilting your butt up. But it also sounds like the wing is too high relative to the tank since the top arc should be empty otherwise and you wouldn't really feel yourself hit it.

2. If you don't want your face to be pushed down, then lie back on top of the wing and swim backwards.

3. People often knock their heads on the first stage, but if it's the wing in your case, then move it further down relative to the tank if possible, or maybe try to lower the plate by loosening the shoulder straps and tightening the crotch strap.

 

[TSandM]

I don't dive a Halcyon wing, but the only time I've had problems with my head pushing into the wing itself is when it's severely overinflated (I've only done this at the surface). Head jamming into the first stage is a rig adjustment issue, but head pushing into the wing seems like you're overweighted.

 

[skywalk]

Thank you for all the answers. I just bought myself the eclipse 30, and spent ages fitting the harness. I now understand how I can improve things, thanks!

By the way, does it matter which side the belt buckle goes on..to the left or right of the crotch strap? the LDS guy told me it should go to the left of the crotch strap because if I need to get it off real quick, I don't have to worry about it getting caught in the crotch strap's loop. Also, in case the crotch strap slides around, it won't accidentally flip the buckle open. Makes sense to me but everywhere I look, pple say it should go on the right side. what's the bottom line here? thanks.

 

[Packhorse]

I asked the same question and was told that the DIR way is on the left waist strap so when done up it sits on the right hand side with the crotch strap to it left.
This does mean that it sits the same way as my weight belt which I thought was a bit silly. Its nice to know which belt is wich by feel only so if you go to dump your weights in an emergency its nice to knoe it is your weightd you are undoing and not your BC.

 

[rongoodman]

The buckle goes on the left strap and sits to the right of the crotch strap. If you had it the other way, you couldn't ditch your primary light. If you release the waist belt by accident, the BP isn't going to fall off.