“Fairly” Uncontrolled Ascent - Please help me understand what went wrong

[KristenK]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I borrowed equipment yesterday and all was just fine. I’ll do that the last two dives, as well. (We’re diving with Dive Provo. They are wonderful!!! Rental equipment was really good too.)

Once I’m home I’ll get both serviced and ask for a new power inflator. I’m still a bit concerned because we’re going to the Philippines with SB next month and I don’t want problems there. I’m thinking about buying a travel BCD.

The good news is I’m learning so much. I may jump in the pool and practice manually inflating (I haven’t done that in a long time) and disconnecting the LP hose.

I love SB and all you great people who jump in to help. Happiest of holidays to you all!!

 

[KristenK]

[AL Mikron has a flow adjustment knob (mini/maxi) - my guess is @KristenK you already knew that?

Yes, but it doesn’t seem to make a substantial difference.

 

[Boarderguy]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I borrowed equipment yesterday and all was just fine. I’ll do that the last two dives, as well. (We’re diving with Dive Provo. They are wonderful!!! Rental equipment was really good too.)

Once I’m home I’ll get both serviced and ask for a new power inflator. I’m still a bit concerned because we’re going to the Philippines with SB next month and I don’t want problems there. I’m thinking about buying a travel BCD.

The good news is I’m learning so much. I may jump in the pool and practice manually inflating (I haven’t done that in a long time) and disconnecting the LP hose.

I love SB and all you great people who jump in to help. Happiest of holidays to you all!!

Test your shoulder dump to see if it's working. Fill the BC and give it a tug to see if it's working. Do the same for all your dumps. The next step is make sure your inflator dump works. You always have the option of raising your inflator and holding that open to dump air while you deal with whatever is causing the inflation problem.

Glad you got in a good gay of diving today.

 

[Edward3c]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I borrowed equipment yesterday and all was just fine. I’ll do that the last two dives, as well. (We’re diving with Dive Provo. They are wonderful!!! Rental equipment was really good too.)

Once I’m home I’ll get both serviced and ask for a new power inflator. I’m still a bit concerned because we’re going to the Philippines with SB next month and I don’t want problems there. I’m thinking about buying a travel BCD.

The good news is I’m learning so much. I may jump in the pool and practice manually inflating (I haven’t done that in a long time) and disconnecting the LP hose.

I love SB and all you great people who jump in to help. Happiest of holidays to you all!!

Enjoy the SB event. I was planning to go, but I need to visit BSAC Egypt in January.

 

[KristenK]

The other good news is I didn’t panic. I recognized what was happening. Thought through the situation and did what I could (and knew about) to fix the situation. I slowed down my ascent as much as I could so I didn’t get in real trouble. My computer didn’t alarm, so I thought I was ok.

(My computer did alarm once when I was in Indonesia. There were mantas above us and I got so excited I stopped paying attention and started going up from about 80’. I got back down fine, but another good lesson learned.)

 

[billgraham]

Thanks to everyone for your replies. I borrowed equipment yesterday and all was just fine. I’ll do that the last two dives, as well. (We’re diving with Dive Provo. They are wonderful!!! Rental equipment was really good too.)

Once I’m home I’ll get both serviced and ask for a new power inflator. I’m still a bit concerned because we’re going to the Philippines with SB next month and I don’t want problems there. I’m thinking about buying a travel BCD.

The good news is I’m learning so much. I may jump in the pool and practice manually inflating (I haven’t done that in a long time) and disconnecting the LP hose.

I love SB and all you great people who jump in to help. Happiest of holidays to you all!!

You can do this yourself easily, it's typically held on the hose with two tie wraps.

 

[rx7diver]

Test your shoulder dump to see if it's working. ...

+1

The next step is make sure your inflator dump works.

I've never been a fan of pull-on-inflator-to-dump. You can't see that things are, in fact, dumping. And you might pull something a part.

You always have the option of raising your inflator and holding that open to dump air while you deal with whatever is causing the inflation problem.

+1

Part of my pre-dive routine involves testing the functioning of the power inflator and dump valves (and over-pressure-relief valves) when on the dock (or on the boat), before donning my gear.

When I dive my AIR 2 (instead of a power inflator), I test its regulator functionality, too.

I do this immediately before I don my gear, always, even if about to begin a repetitive dive after a surface interval. Takes only a moment.

rx7diver

 

[happy-diver]

This one looks rather svelte

Compact Power Inflator for 3/4-inch Corrugated Hose

This quality Compact Power Inflator is reliable because of its drift pin design and compatible with 3/4-inch diameter corrugated hoses along with the slide-lock fitting on standard low-pressure BC hoses.

www.divegearexpress.com

 

[gordonscuba]

A power inflator mechanism that is simple and easy to take apart, field service, clean and lubricate and put back together yourself is nice to have. Your LDS should be able to show you how to do that.

 

[Endler's]

The last paragraph, of the Tek Tip, at the bottom of happy-diver's posted DGX page, explains how best test leaky inflator theory:

"Want to check your power inflator for a leak? Setup your BCD and regulator on a tank with at least {300 psi | 20 bar} remaining then open the tank valve to pressurize the regulator. Make sure the low-pressure BC inflator hose is firmly connected and the over-pressure relief & dump valve on the BC is working, then use the oral mouthpiece on the inflator to suck out all the gas in the BCD bladder. Let the entire rig sit overnight. If you return in the morning to find your BCD inflated then your power inflator is leaking and should be replaced.", Dive Gear Express Tek Tip

(The complete Tip is worth reading of course!)