Halcyon Inflator Care to prevent sticking?

[Cacia]

ha ha. Yes, I know you all are right... I am just having a hard time accepting it. Now, I anticipate seeing if it is working each time I press the button. It is Russion roulette, for sure! I know I need to replace it...

I have been through so much with this inflator, I feel kind of attached to it in a weird way. It is the first thing I have ever learned to "fix". Seeing that guy pinned to the ceiling of the cave, well the visual is still there. His eyes were big.

I don't use the inflator much. I love diving with it disconnected, but I do have times when it is handy and holding the camera makes quickly disconecting it a pain.

So, if I ask Larry at Scubatoys for a balanced SP inflator, he will know what I need?

 

[Diver0001]

So at the end of yesterdays dive, my SS inflator stuck. Luckily at the surface and not at 80+ feet.

I know that they replaced a buch of the first gen SS inflators, but I purchased my Pioneer last October. After the dives I always ensure to rinse the wing, inside & out, but I guess that's not enough to prevent some rust. It has about 35 dives on it since I purchased it.

So my options are 1) Get exceedingly anal about rinsing and soaking the inflator
2) orally inflate the wing and leave the LP inflator hose disconnected or
3) purchase a plastic replacement

I'm leaning towards option 3 as it would seem to be the least hassle and safest.

If you have a Halcyon wing purchased recently I'm curious if you are having any inflator problems, or if not, how much rinsing / soaking you do post dive.

Thanks in advance

Bjorn

P.S.: It pays to have a good relationship with my LDS, they got the inflator cleaned, lubed & put back together while I waited

Buy a proper inflator. It's a well known fact that the Halcyon inflators are dangerous and Halcyon has (based on *years* of complaints gone undressed) *no* inclination to fix them.

R..

 

[1amphibian]

I just purchased 2 Eclipse wings from E.E. I asked them about the stainless inflators because I had heard about problems with them, they informed me that they no longer offer the stainless inflators. Mine came with the newer plastic ones with the asterisks on the buttons, have used them on 3 dives since last Thursday and they are very smooth.

 

[boomx5]

I too have just had my inflator stick during a dive. Fortunately I was not too deep. I clean/rinse retentively after every dive. My LDS was on the boat and quickly took it apart and cleaned it. My LDS made the comment that I could bring it in for servicing for $15.

I am with you - get rid of it. Why should I worry about something so easily correctible with a brand new inflator -when the alternative could kill me??

I'm very glad everything worked out for you since it can be a very bad when these things fail. Mine stuck on @ 200'. We were doing a scooter run out to a pinnacle called "Deep E3" that is about 1.25 miles out in 200'+ of water. Once we got to the pinnacle, we stopped to look at a tube sponge when all of a sudden I heard a hissing. At that point in the dive we at 200' with a average depth of 150' for 45 minutes and a long way from home. Thankfully everything worked out ok due to quick thinking and an incredibly attentive dive buddy. Anyway, I guess the point I was trying to make is bad things happen at the worse possible times and that is why won't mess around with trying to fix a stupid inflator.

 

[flowerpecker]

I've used my Halcyon gear - with the SS inflator - on about 40 dives now, over a six month period. I'm religious about rinsing my gear in fresh water after dives, including putting fresh water through the inflator, and everything is allowed to dry in a warm area with good air flow - all things that should keep SS parts "stainless!"

I noticed small specks of rust on the inflator about 20 dives ago, and then recently it was as if the rust "blooomed" all over the SS parts. I took it apart today and was shocked - although it wasn't covered completely with rust, there was corrosion on all the different pieces inside. I cleaned and re-lubed all the parts and will continue using it, but only until I can get a replacement for it. I've not had any problems with it sticking on me while I've been down, but given the way it looked today I'm sure it would've happened eventually. Any recommendations on good replacement inflators, and will any inflator fit on this Halcyon hose?

 

[jeckyll]

flowpecker: I have the new plastic Halcyon inflator now (I was going to get an OMS but my diveshop got the Halcyon ones in and they sent my failed one back to see if it will be replaced free os charge).

So far so good.

 

[skywalk]

My instructor just gives the SS inflator a light dusting with some WD40 after it's all washed and dried. Zero corrosion. For a guy who easily clocks in almost a hundred dives a month, this seems to work. I just bought myself the new plastic inflator with the astrisk on the button. Why bother if you can skip all the potential problems.

 

[Whale Whisperer]

After 82 dives with my Halcyon Eclipse w/SS inflator, I took it apart out of curiosity. What I saw was parts that looked like they were brand new! I don't know if it's because of the way I clean my gear or if it's a fluke? Kinda weird, lets see how it holds up.

I have seen problems with the new Halcyon plastic inflators too. I was diving in Guam with a family that were using the Eclipse with the new inflators. This brought up some small talk with the father of the family about how their inflators replaced the one I'm using due to autoinflate problems Yada Yada Yada. Well it so happens that after their second dive, the father of the family walked up to me and said "Guess what? My son's inflator was stuck at 60'!". I was pretty surprised to hear this since it was a new inflator. Must have been another fluke huh?

 

[mheaster]

I bought an Eclispe Wing/SS BP in Januaury 2006. I MUST say that I LOVE the feeling of the Wing and BP!!!! BUT, After 80 dives this year, my SS Inflator STUCK after a 78 foot murky dive. It started running away as I was making a 15 foot safety stop. Luckily I was at a ascent line and managed to make my stop and determined what was going on (I had heard of this happening before but was unaware of the Halcyon problematic history of this or I would have been quicker on the uptake). I did manage to get it disconnected after only about 30 seconds of gyrations attempting to stay at 15 feet!

I have sent it back to Halcyon (they assumed me they would service it and make it right!) But I have owned several BCs over the years and never had any problems with inflators on any other brand (including a very inexpensive US Divers BC). I am contemplating the purchase of a more reliable SP Inflator?

For all the rheotoric, I don't understand why/how halcyon would/could allow this to continue!

Maybe THEY should start shipping them with someone else's Inflator installed!

WHAT THINK?

Would love to hear their response here (J.J. ?)

 

[smb1014]

I have a Halcyon Eclipse 30 with a ss inflator. After all of the dive weekends, all of my gear has been well rinsed and cared for. Being the anal retentive person that I am when it comes to gear, I pulled the ss inflator apart and serviced/lubed it up before a week long Cayman trip. The eclipse had about 25 fresh and 20 salt water dives on it. I put it back together as carefully as I could. When I was on the boat midway through the trip, I was changing over a used tank to a full tank and attached the inflator house to the inflator, turned the tank on, the whole inflator button assembly flew out. Not only is the stainless steel in the inflator crap, but the plastic inside the damn thing crap. I guess when I put the inflator assembly back in, the plastic threads stripped. I am not a neanderthal man when it comes to caring for my equipment. Thankfully, I had bought a plastic inflator and replaced it after the original ss inflator (second edition) came apart on the boat. I love the eclipse wing but come on Halcyon, DO IT RIGHT!!!