HOG regulator free flows

[Bhtmec2]

I'm not sure why you're isolating this incident to HOG regs as I have know quite a few that have had this problem (the Mares Proton comes immediately to mind).

Out of curiosity did you try just depressing the but again? The simply motion of the button being actuated often removes the small debris. I've never had a this (or any other) problem with my HOG regs, but my proton used to do this constantly. My solution was 2 fold

1. During beach entries (or any other) I made sure my reg never touched the ground
2. When it free flowed I worked the purge button repeatedly until actuated smoothly again (usually 3 or 4 quick depresses did the trick)

Also removing the face plate of a reg isn't a big deal for most people and the HOGs are designed with field serviceability in mind (as any good tech reg should be).

No I was not isolating this to the HOG but the PO was addressing his HOG situation. I actually had a HOG, LegendXL and a SP reg. all were tried during this dive.

I did try multiple depressions of the perge button on all. Some times it worked but sometimes it didnot clear the FF.

If there is a good surf going at entry and exit sand will be an issue possibly as it will be floating and can get into the regs.

Opening a reg faceplate is a big deal for a lot of recreational divers. Remember this is not the tech section and a lot of divers just dive, rinse and dive again. If they have an issue they drop them at the shop to fix. I wish all divers had to do some basic maint as part of dive training. I see People al the time that are afraid to change a hose. The other day I was on a boat at the dock and a diver had a problem with a hose and SPG that was lose and he wanted to call the dive and take it to a shop. I opend my kit and fixed it for him in 2 min and he thought that was great but was worried that a shop tech did ot do it. We tested it at the dive site and then he was comfortable to dive..... Dive saved. He had been diving for 6+ years.....

 

[FM1520]

I'm never sure the best category to post things as I don't do many original posts, hopefully this is a good place. In my opinion this is an incident and a good learning tool (at least is was for me).

Towards the end of a dive I noticed a diver in the group had less than 500psi and I had not seen him signal the DM leading the dive that he was less than 1000 as was requested during the dive briefing. Earlier in the dive I thought he was trying to share air with one of his family members but their hoses seemed too short to do so while trying to continue the dive.

We were ascending and were probably in 40 FSW. I offered him my 7 ft hose and primary reg he accepted. The only thing I could think to do was kink the hose in hopes it would stop or slow the flow. I did and it stopped. I held it until we surfaced. Sallye Martin, PalegicSal on here, was diving with me also and I signaled for her to turn off my tank when we surfaced which she did.

Two thoughts: 1) did you really need to establish an air-share, how much air did he have left? Were you his buddy? 2) when the free flow started and after establishing an air-share why not just turn off your tank? Kinking the hose worked but depending on the type of hose it may not and you have to hold it. Turning off your tank frees up both hands.

Not being critical, just some thoughts. That is a pretty good real life situation.

 

[airstream]

A full rubber cover absolutely solves this problem. The tolerance between the original button and surround allows the button to lock with the purge lever pressed when exposed to a sandy environ. My cave buddy had the same thing happen 1500' back in J Blue. He shut down and went to his other side mount cylinder, we "repaired" the rig on deco and replaced with the rubber covers before the next day of diving.


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[Griffo]

The HOG's are good in that it's also real easy to take the cover off underwater. I've done it to stop a freeflow before, although obviously it's easier if you haven't donated your other one

 

[Father]

I've been told if you pop the cover you can adjust the tension on it so it doesn't freeflow so easily. I think it takes a hex wrench.... don't quote me on this though.

 

[kwinter]

The HOG's are good in that it's also real easy to take the cover off underwater. I've done it to stop a freeflow before, although obviously it's easier if you haven't donated your other one

I have learned that if you take anything apart in the water, some small piece is going to go to the silt or sand or into a dark hole where it can not be reached. If you cup your hand, it will slip through the cracks. And if you prevent all of this, a fish will swim by and eat it out of your hands. The loss of this part is an absolute certainty. One of the many corollaries of Murphy's Law.

 

[Jim Lapenta]

Popping the cover will not give you access to the adjustment. You need to remove the hose and tweak the orifice a tad which adjusts the lever height. This changes the cracking pressure so only tiny adjustments should be done if you don't have an in line tool.

NOTE: Before attempting this it's a good idea to take the class, read Regulator Savvy from Scubatools (I can also sell you a copy) or Regulator Repair and Maintenance from Airspeed Press. At a minimum get with someone who has done this before you go cranking on your regs. You could make it worse quite easily.

 

[fuzzybabybunny]

I've had HOG regs for a couple years and noticed this issue immediately. Sand or grit will get into the purge button well and prevent the purge button from springing back into the closed position.

I talked to the owner of HOG at length about this and he said that he doesn't think this is a widespread problem.

When the button gets stuck, I sometimes have to bang the entire regulator against my hand to unstuck the button. Simply pressing the buttom again does nothing. And sometimes even with the banging it stays firmly stuck, so it continues to freeflow.

So I insisted to the owner of HOG that he give me flexible plastic faceplates, the type that have no moving parts and simply flex when you press them to purge. He said he didn't like those faceplates because the plastic rots.

I have not had any rotting and the flexible plastic faceplates have been magnitudes more reliable than the crappy hard plastic button purge design that gets stuck.

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[billt4sf]

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