FX-CCR BOV BOOM

[foxdude]

Hey all,

Sharing my recent malfunction.

We were about 165m into the sump and -8m depth.

The oring of the omniswivel (ball swivel) connecting my left sidemount tank to my BOV decided to explode just when we were about to start the exploration of new cave passage.
It was not the big oring inside the swivel but the small oring where it connects to the BOV (2nd stage thread).

In the video did the following:
1. Identify ( easy as I can hear, see and feel the bubbles in my face )
2. Isolate ( shut down left tank ) ( while moving back to a bigger chamber not to mess with visibility in the tighter part where we were at the moment )

From here, no rush, no danger, rebreather is working and bailout is still in the tank.
Thought the thread was unscrewed, I finger tighten it each time so it's not impossible.

3. Tried to tighten the swivel by hand 3 times. Each time ... bubbles.

4. Feather the valve ( As my BOV, BCD and DIL in the left thank were closed to stop the leak).

I have a QC6 on my right tank too, but there was no point of fiddling to plug it into the CCR as we were not deep or so far in.
Each time I needed gas for DIL or BCD I open the tank add whatever and close it again.

I had to go fetch my buddy who was laying line and thumb the dive.
It was a hard thumb to give to my OC buddy, but we will come back another day.

Exit was uneventful and lazy, no stress, no rush just had to loose a small amount of gas feathering the valve to get gas BCD and DIL each time.

Thoughts:
I don't like ball swivels as they always seem to start bubbling at some point. I will probably hook the BOV hose directly but may have to change it's length a tiny bit as it feels short without the swivel for the FX-CCR.
Felt really like a non-issue and I appreciate how easy the FX-CCR is to manipulate in sidemount configuration for me.
Everything is infront of you and easy to access, hek if my buddy was on CCR too we could have fixed the oring in theory.
You can detach it in a minute from your chest and look at the whole machine underwater.
I'm kinda happy I choose a chest mount for my first CCR.
Just sharing.

Video Below:
Note: Vibration alarms are from 'critical pressure on tank Left'

 

[tursiops]

I would not call this a FX-CCR BOV problem, or even an Omniswivel problem (which is not uncommon), but rather just a 2nd stage hose o-ring problem. Everything else was incidental.
You did a good job on managing the issue..

 

[foxdude]

I would not call this a FX-CCR BOV problem, or even an Omniswivel problem (which is not uncommon), but rather just a 2nd stage hose o-ring problem. Everything else was incidental.
You did a good job on managing the issue..

Oh, yeah yeah I agree. Didn't mean to imply it's a problem of the machine or component. Just a ****** oring or I probably got sand/dirt in it draging it around in sketchy environments. Love the FX and appreciate how well it's build on every dive.

 

[grantctobin]

Oh, yeah yeah I agree. Didn't mean to imply it's a problem of the machine or component. Just a ****** oring or I probably got sand/dirt in it draging it around in sketchy environments. Love the FX and appreciate how well it's build on every dive.

How often do you disconnect the BOV from the swivel on either the BOV side or the hose in side? Do you leave the BOV attached?

Personal opinion, the vast majority of the swivels end up as garbage. The fixed 90° or 70° (a la Scubapro) alleviate the potential issue of the swivel itself coming apart but likely not the issue you have experienced.

 

[justinthedeeps]

Thanks for sharing

There has been chatter in other SM/CM threads about "what if you lose your single source of dil/wing gas/bailout?" with many saying essentially "well I don't even need dil if I am not descending, and I can just swim up to my next gas MOD"

But I think few of us have actually experienced that situation, and even fewer 100+ metres into cave

 

[foxdude]

How often do you disconnect the BOV from the swivel on either the BOV side or the hose in side? Do you leave the BOV attached?

Personal opinion, the vast majority of the swivels end up as garbage. The fixed 90° or 70° (a la Scubapro) alleviate the potential issue of the swivel itself coming apart but likely not the issue you have experienced.

I unscrew it every time, but maybe I should reconsider this for the future.

 

[foxdude]

Thanks for sharing

There has been chatter in other SM/CM threads about "what if you lose your single source of dil/wing gas/bailout?" with many saying essentially "well I don't even need dil if I am not descending, and I can just swim up to my next gas MOD"

But I think few of us have actually experienced that situation, and even fewer 100+ metres into cave

Since we didn’t know if the cave will go deep we went a bit overkill on our gas planing and reserves, so I didn’t feel any stress. More of a sadness that I have to thumb the exploration dive. In reality feathering the valve on a sidemount didnt feel so uncomfortable and gass loss was super minimal each time i cracked it open. I am new in CCR (30ish hours) but for me its amazing how it gives you all the time in such situations.

 

[happy-diver]

You know with those you should just catch the thread with the nut then twist the oring in then screw the nut

 

[grantctobin]

I unscrew it every time, but maybe I should reconsider this for the future.

Or at v least, lube and replace it as needed. Not something I'd lube on OC, but def do on anything I expect to add/remove so many times a year.

 

[InWay2Deep]

I unscrew it every time, but maybe I should reconsider this for the future.

Might be time for a QD there, that o-ring in particular is susceptible of getting nicked pretty easily when inserting, I've sheared off a few on connection.