Gear Failure Experience

[wilde100]

Funny thing my 2 gear failures on the same dive.

1) Was breathing part water from my octo. I was testing it after having it (and my reg) dragged through the sand on a previous dive trip (another story) but I decided it was best to test all my gear properly on my first dive

2) Lost my dive comp. I know, I couldn't believe it too! Apparently I strapped it on too much at the tip and it dropped off mid way through the dive. I only discovered it when I needed to do my safety stop.

I found it back though, retraced my dive route and located it Talk about finding a needle in a haystack!

3) My Olympus SW1030 malfunctioned in the water. The camera just gave up on me once it hit the water. It was fine before, I even snapped a pic right before I hit the water. I believe the rubber seals on the camera corroded. Despite washing and proper care, it is probable the rubber seals were so thin that even minor corrosion was sufficient to cause a malfunction. Lesson learnt: Get a waterproof camera case!

 

[bigken462]

I had a spooky failure ascending from a deep quarry dive the other day. All of a sudden out of nowhere I found myself in an uncontrolled ascent and just barely managed to grab a hold of a line to keep from breaking the surface. My buddy pointed to my SPG which was free-flowing fast. I made a controlled ascent (faster than I would have liked) using the few breaths that I was able to manage before the tank bled dry.

During the post-mortem is became apparent that the super tiny O-ring that fits into the gauge side of the SPG assembly cracked clean in half.

Anybody ever heard of such a thing? This was a new one to me.

Last time I ever dive without a fully redundant air source.

Was it the SPG or second stage? High pressure hoses only have a pin hole, and even with taking the SPG off all together you should have near 20 or more minutes of gas left - from a full cylinder down.

Below is a experiment done by Curt Bowen; publisher of Advanced Diver Magazine.

ADM Failure TEST / Please answer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Divers


Here is a little test I did at Eagles Nest cave on Feb 12th for a small article to be placed in issue 17 of Advanced Diver Magazine.

The question I wanted to answer was:

How much time would it take to empty a full aluminum 80 cuft cylinder from 3000 psi to 0 for the following situations and would depth affect the times.

1. Failed Burst Disk
2. Failed HP Hose
3. Failed LP Hose
4. Free Flow high performance regulator 2nd stage.

I completed the test on the surface (0 feet) with 4 aluminum 80’s and a Zeagle D50 regulator.

Here are the results

1. Failed Burst Disk = 72 seconds
2. Failed HP Hose = 22 minutes
3. Failed LP Hose = 83 seconds
4. Free Flow High Performance Regulator = 255 seconds


I then repeated the test at 4 atm’s / 99ft

1. Failed Burst Disk = Same within a second or 2
2. Failed HP Hose = Same within a minute
3. Failed LP Hose = Same within a second or 2
4. Free Flow High Performance Regulator = 155 seconds

I then repeated the test at 8 atm’s / 231ft

1. Failed Burst Disk = Same within a second or 2
2. Failed HP Hose = did not complete due to time restraints but would assume it would be with a minute difference
3. Failed LP Hose = Same within a second or 2
4. Free Flow High Performance Regulator = 91 seconds

The results show the small amounts of time a diver would have to solve a major equipment failure while at deeper depths.

The question I post for you is

What would be the best procedure to follow if such an equipment failure occurred to you and why?

1. Isolate manifold
2. Turn off affected post
3. Dive independents
4. Other answer

Next time you’re in your rig, conduct a test on yourself and your buddy by doing a shut down drill. Not cheating estimate in seconds how long it takes you to shut down you manifold.

By the numbers given above, estimate how much gas you would have lost, would you have enough left even if you where following the rule of thirds or half + 200.

The answers will affect the finished article.

Thanks for your responses

Curt Bowen
__________________
Publisher Advanced Diver Magazine
ADM Online
"Life is Short! Get off your Butts and Explore"

 

[tkdgodess]

Drysuit inflator decided to operate itself at 70' on night dive. Got my lp hose off with one hand, broke neck seal with the other, while gripping rocks with my knees. It happened really fast I was inflated like a puffer fish. I aborted the dive after that.

 

[Web Monkey]

During the post-mortem is became apparent that the super tiny O-ring that fits into the gauge side of the SPG assembly cracked clean in half.

Anybody ever heard of such a thing? This was a new one to me.

Last time I ever dive without a fully redundant air source.

A broken SPG or cut or damaged hose or spool o-ring is best handled with additional training not additional equipment.

The only thing you need to do is verify that you have a properly designed HP hose where the fitting has a tiny orifice, and not a big hole like on a LP hose. Additionally, many regulators also have a tiny orifice on the regulator-side of the HP fitting.

Assuming you have a properly designed HP hose and/or regulator, even if you took a knife and cut your HP hose in half, it would take a very long time (more than 20 minutes) to drain an 80; so while it's impressive, it's not dangerous.

The emergency procedure is the same as for any other LOA/OOA emergency: End the dive and do a normal ascent with your buddy, sharing air if necessary.

Terry

 

[b1gcountry]

I had a spooky failure ascending from a deep quarry dive the other day. All of a sudden out of nowhere I found myself in an uncontrolled ascent and just barely managed to grab a hold of a line to keep from breaking the surface. My buddy pointed to my SPG which was free-flowing fast. I made a controlled ascent (faster than I would have liked) using the few breaths that I was able to manage before the tank bled dry.

During the post-mortem is became apparent that the super tiny O-ring that fits into the gauge side of the SPG assembly cracked clean in half.

Anybody ever heard of such a thing? This was a new one to me.

Last time I ever dive without a fully redundant air source.

It sounds like you may have had other things happening as well. The small o-rings are fairly fragile, and often cause some pretty annoying leaks, but they usually start out small, and don't cause overwhelming streams of bubbles. The amount of time it takes for a HP hose to vent a significant amount of gas is also pretty large. Even cutting a HP hose cleanly in half, it will still take something like 30min to bleed a full AL80 dry IIRC.

I would also be concerned about what caused the uncontrolled ascent. This cannot be caused by a HP hose.

Tom

 

[ringmod65]

Thanks for all of the thoughtful contributions. I'm going to have a pro give my rig the once over twice. =)

 

[b1gcountry]

That sounds pretty smart to me.

 

[shoredivr]

broken mask strap (had spare)
broken fin strap (now dive spring straps)
computer crapped out at 20 ft (had bottom timer)

 

[urbanrob]

stuck bc inflator (cleaned and replaced valve)
leaky hp hose (replaced)
leaky lp hose (replaced)
multiple light failures (fixed/replaced, always had spare)
free flow octo (had serviced)
fin strap broke (lost fin, bought new ones)
multiple birds nests reel (unwound, rewound tightly, made habit of checking regularly)
dry suit inflator leak (replaced inflator)
dry suit seal leak (replaced seals)