Free Flow Incidents

[CamG]

Diving in cold water a free flow will undoubtedly occur at some point if you dive frequently.
We drilled often for dealing with free flows.
On dives over 60' or in water below 45º we always carried redundant air system. NOT A SPARE AIR!
A AL 30cf or 40cf while we were diving a single.

As of late we always dive doubles BM or SM and yes free flows still happen but not often.
I have had free flows behind scooters, in spring flows, rivers, under the ice, you learn how to deal with them.
We train and drill self reliance / self rescue but rarely dive solo.
I have had BC inflators and dry suits inflators stick you simply un-attach them often they stop when you re-attach them.
Cold water has its own hazards and should be trained for drilled to the point of mastery.
Failures are not frequent but do happen even with diligent maintenance.

CamG

 

[cloudflint]

1. Very cold water
2. Nope
3. Just swam up to the surface, always made sure I had enough air on me to make it, be it leaving a bigger safety margin in the main tank or having some air in a separate system.
4. Training and carrying sufficient air that a free-flow at the worst point in the dive isn't a problem.

 

[Kevrumbo]

All: I have had a 2nd stage free flow but never the pleasure of a full on first stage free flow. I'm interested in some descriptions of what it's like. Specifically:Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

1. What triggered it?
-->Catastrophic failure and ejection at 6m depth of the adjustment cracking pressure knob assembly on the 2nd Stage (Oceanic Delta II model), resulting in unfixable free-flow from Long Hose Primary Regulator. Immediately reached back behind to shut-off tank cylinder valve. (Note: was solo doing a weight check on Single Tank without a dive buddy)
2. Did it effect your BC inflator and Drysuit inflator.
-->No, neither. . .
3. How did you handle it?
-->Switch to back-up necklaced regulator, and clip-off & stow malfunctioning long hose reg; reach back with right hand to feather/modulate tank cylinder valve and inhale breaths as needed while performing a CESA from 6m depth.
4. How would you suggest preparing for this type of event?
-->Practice with a buddy doing a CESA while feathering/modulating the tank valve behind you with your right hand & taking breaths as needed, and contolling your BCD hose/deflation on ascent simultaneously with your left hand. See if you can also hold a 3min safety stop in this simulated contingency, using this technique as well. . .

 

[CAPTAIN SINBAD]

All those who are saying cold water was the reason for their free flows. Were you guys diving piston regulator or was it sealed diaphrams that were doing this?

 

[mick allein III]

Excellent information everyone. Thanks keep it coming. I do a lot of cold water dives (low 40s temp). Your experiences are helpful.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[caribean-ted]

Dove the Arabia at 104ft in Tobermory Ontario. I made the mistake as it was never taught to me that putting a load on the reg could cause a freeflow at this depth combined with the temperature of 37F
It could happen anytime but this was the first and hopefully the last time.
1 I was video taping and my buddy was a little to far to reach and when it occurred I had seconds to react and make the right decision.
I had turned the video camera on myself pulled the reg out of my mouth to say hi to my daughter from under the water. When I purged it the extra load applied caused it to freeflow. As I played with it to try to make it stop my air was running out. Nobody had noticed and its possible sharing air could have put extra load on theres so I chose to make an emergency assent. Breathing slowly in and out the entire time to the surface. I was down 7 mins so it wasn't too bad. My air ran dry as I surfaced. I was using 80s.

For those not familiar with this, it does happen often in cold water, be prepared to react. Don't panic it does nothing for you. And remember if you run out of air, breath out very slowly till you surface, remember they taught you this when you were getting certified.
Also the mistake I made, I let my buddy get to far away from me. Lesson well learned.

Hope this can save someones life.
A lot can go through your mind when it happens especially if you never thought about this happening.
Also I was using hollis 221 and 321 I think it is with the enviro pack on it for cold water diving.

 

[victorzamora]

I've had it happen three times. All due to internal o-rings blowing. All were well maintained, nice, high-end regs. So:

1) O-ring split
2) Nope. Just the second stage freeflowing.
3) Luckily I was in SM. I shut down the post and feathered it. Once I was in a single tank, which meant I couldn't just switch to backup. Once I was in a cave, solo, and it happened right after turn. THAT was exciting for about 2 seconds. Then it was all back under control. I diagnosed the issue, feathered it on my way out, and exited with over thirds remaining.
4) Time in the water. Learn to be calm/cool/collected as composure is always the first step. Then, practice air sharing drills.

 

[DaleC]

1. What triggered it?
Reg needed servicing.
2. Did it effect your BC inflator and Drysuit inflator.
No. I had a inflator go once but that was a stuck shraeder valve.
3. How did you handle it?
See video.
4. How would you suggest preparing for this type of event?
Redundancy or good team support, drills, maintenance.


They say a picture is worth a thousand words.. and a video is worth a thousand pictures:

[video=youtube;BKKpuHxGENY]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BKKpuHxGENY[/video]

Try not to be these guys:

[video=youtube;rT4E61DaytU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rT4E61DaytU#t=133[/video]

 

[caribean-ted]

Problem is mine is on my back, the bcd is too bulky for me to reach the valve, and if I turn it off and open and its still free flowing or freezes up altogether im making an emergency assent anyways. Like a lot of divers under a bit of duress, I had thought of it but didn't know how much time I had to try to get the bcd off to reach the valve. So for me, an assent was definitely a good decision. Some things should be practiced as I now see. Mind you if your bcd gets away on you when you take it off. Could be interesting

 

[DaleC]

Don't take your BC off. Just reach back and pull the valve forward or, if you find that doesn't give enough play, loosen the waist band only. Remember you can't see so it's "Righty tighty Lefty loosy" or "clockwise to close" - whatever works as a mental aid.