Dump Valve Failure

[pants!]

JeffG, I think mpenner is wondering why lamont was using the dump valve to dump air, instead of the inflator, during a normal dive.

 

[xiSkiGuy]

JeffG, I think mpenner is wondering why lamont was using the dump valve to dump air, instead of the inflator, during a normal dive.

JeffG can't hear you over the automatic weapon fire. . .

 

[miketsp]

..snip..
What had happened was that my normal motion to find the string on the dump valve is a CCW loop with my index finger. Over the course of 40-50 dives that had managed to finally losen the dump valve until it came off. I hadn't felt it losening when I was dumping because the smurf gloves don't give me that much tactile feedback.
..snip..

Now the bit I don't understand is, how can you go 40-50 dives without unscrewing and rescrewing the dump valves.
Don't you unscrew your dump valves every time you wash the BC?
After I have washed my BC inside and out, I remove the dump valves to flush water through and then leave it hanging with the valves off to dry the inside. Only when it is dry do I screw the dump valves back on. So they are automatically checked tight before every outing.

 

[mpenner]

You stay pretty vertical while diving, don't you?

It doesn't take a large change in angle to vent out of your inflator hose...you can bend your knees (more than usual if you're already frog-kicking), tilt your torso a little, and give yourself a shake or two; that should be enough to get any air out of your wing. If it isn't, then maybe the wing is too big and is trapping air because it's wrapped around your cylinder(s), or you're weighted heavily so that you need to add air to both your drysuit and your wing... That is, if you're using a drysuit... Either way, if you need to go vertical to vent air, I'd say the dive isn't as safe as it could be.

 

[xiSkiGuy]

It doesn't take a large change in angle to vent out of your inflator hose...you can bend your knees (more than usual if you're already frog-kicking), tilt your torso a little, and give yourself a shake or two; that should be enough to get any air out of your wing. If it isn't, then maybe the wing is too big and is trapping air because it's wrapped around your cylinder(s), or you're weighted heavily so that you need to add air to both your drysuit and your wing... That is, if you're using a drysuit... Either way, if you need to go vertical to vent air, I'd say the dive isn't as safe as it could be.

My apologies. In my limited experience I haven't met anyone diving a BP/W who preferred using the inflator hose while horizontal. Anyone else prefer the inflator hose while horizontal?

 

[JeffG]

JeffG can't hear you over the automatic weapon fire. . .

What?????? I can't hear you

 

[JeffG]

My apologies. In my limited experience I haven't met anyone diving a BP/W who preferred using the inflator hose while horizontal. Anyone else prefer the inflator hose while horizontal?

Nope, but I have used it when I have been vertical...works good then.

 

[mpenner]

skiguy, you do have a point...
now that I think about it, I don't use a wing much at all when I'm horizontal...
But then again I have another compartment - the drysuit. TWO compartments if you count the air in my head

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

By this time my buddy had his wetnotes out and we had communicated what the problem was.

Lamont, you left out the best part.

After the dive, his dive buddy showed us his wet notes, wherein it was written ...

"dude, is that yours?"

:heh_heh:

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[waynne fowler]

I actually prefer to use my inflator dump rather then the butt dump most of the time. I find that I have to change trim so little that it doesn't really matter all that much. 2 degrees head down and I can use my butt dump 2 degrees head up and I can use my inflator... which ever is handier.. I'll admit that at first I found it difficult to use the BD and so didn't practice it all that much. However I have, through forcing myself, become accustomed to using it. I still use my inflator dump alot as I tend to be abit heads up rather than head down. Improper I know... but I like being a rebal.