How did my K-valve get turned "Off" during a dive?

[onfloat]

Guess my sarcasim doesn't translate well through the internet.

 

[Rick Inman]

A couple of people have mentioned buddy checks, and OK, my buddy can breath off my reg during the S drill, but keep your hands off my valve.

Buddy checks are good, but check yourself by taking 3 or 4 good breaths off your reg while watching your SPG before hitting the water. IMHO.

 

[DeepBound]

Just how loose is the K-valve knob on your tank? Mine couldn't be turned just by rubbing against a hose.

I believe this may also be true or a combination of both. What worried me was the ease how the Octo hose being moved back and forth was able to slowly close the knob of the valve... I wonder if I need to have my tank secured higher on my BC?

 

[minnesota01r6]

Guess my sarcasim doesn't translate well through the internet.

I think I got it...I don't think MY sarcasm translated well back to you

My post was along the lines of: $130 piece of unneeded equipment or $130 worth of training dives focusing on valve drills. My skills would switch from tank to talk a lot quicker than that remote.

 

[waynne fowler]

I was making a dive at the local dive hole and ran into a problem... At a depth of 36 ft I was looking at my air integrated dive computer and noticed my PSI go from 2600 to about 1000 PSI... I had to grab my buddies octo. My buddy started looking closer and we found that the K-valve was shut off.. He re-opened it and my dive computer showed a bout 2300 PSI. After that we decided to go ahead and end the dive to find how it happened. Once we made it to shore, the only thing we could figure that would have happened was that the Octo hose may have rubbed against the valve handle and slowly closed the valve. I was able to duplicate the problem with the Octo hose and it did slowly close the valve. Has anyone experienced this problem before?... What have you done to remedy the issue?... Don’t want to make another dive until I figure this one out.....

Glad all turned out well LD.
I don't think it very likely the rubbing would turn a valve off especially in a short time. You had at one point 2600 psi, so you probably weren't in the water all that long. It is possible but I don't think very likely.
Try this after your gear is set up:

Check ALL your gear as per SOP
1) Turn valve on all the way... I like to turn mine back just a tad
2) operate purge on either 2nd stage while watching your gauge to see if there is any radical drop in pressure. If there is either A) you didn't get the valve open all the way or B) your first stage has problems and you need to swap it out before getting in the water.

Now go check your buddies gear just like you checked yours, while they do the same with yours. as per SOP

Then you really should practice reaching your valve. You may have to play with tank height and such to be able to do this. It takes some work but is well worth the effort.
You probably already know all this but sometimes we forget or just get complacent. Others will say they won't let anyone touch their gear, but if I can't trust my buddy to check my equipment on the surface how can I trust him to rectify issues underwater.

JM2C
Waynne

 

[onfloat]

I think I got it...I don't think MY sarcasm translated well back to you

My post was along the lines of: $130 piece of unneeded equipment or $130 worth of training dives focusing on valve drills. My skills would switch from tank to talk a lot quicker than that remote.

Dang, I was hoping it was a new way to meet chicks.

 

[Tromp]

I had the same type of incident. Did a boat dive of an inflatable in Ponta du Oura Mozambique. It was going to be a deep dive to 40m. On arriving at the dive site I personally opened my air and started kitting-up. Someone trying to be helpful started opening all the other people’s tanks and inadvertently closed mine. Before rolling of the boat I checked my air again, I dive with an air integrated D9 and all looked fine. At 21m the water pressure shut the vale that was now only a ¼ turn open. My buddy was 3 meters further down than I was so all I could do was drop my weight and do a SESA to the surface which I thankfully made. Lesson learnt: NO one touches my equipment, ever, no matter how nice they are trying to be and I can get quite rude about it.

 

[jtivat]

Is it me or does the "Solo Diver" under his name scare you?

 

[Packhorse]

Is it me or does the "Solo Diver" under his name scare you?

Scares me too, almost as much as "dive master" or "instructor" next to 100-200 dives

 

[tangfish]

Regardless of how it happened, I'm glad to hear that you and your buddy are both ok. Scary stuff!