How Miflex HP ruined my dive.

[Hatul]

I've used the HP Miflex for several months. Once pressurized it locks and cannot be rotated, so I wonder if the problem is caused by excessive torque on the fitting as people rotate the gauge to read it.

Before I pressurize the reg I first rotate my gauge to the desired orientation so the fitting is not overstressed. I'm hoping that that eliminates the problem.

Adam

 

[ScubaTony]

Mine let go today as I switched to a fresh tank. Popped right in the middle of the hose. THe fittings were not at fault. I had just surfaced from a dive. I took my reg off the old tank and put it on the new one. When I opened the tank valve it blew. I have maybe 300 dives on it in the past 10 months. I love the size and flex of the hose but if that is the service life I can't say I will get another. Perhaps the phantom but I sure was in love with the smaller light weight HP hose. Perhaps too light weight?
I sent a note to the folks at Miflex. Hopefully that can give me some hope.

 

[Blue Sparkle]

I bought my first reg set in December 2010, and I thought the Miflex HP hose looked nifty, so I got one (the rest of the hoses came with the reg set and were rubber). I always wondered why my SPG didn't swivel (I would have to remember to set it in the proper orientation before opening the tank valve). I'm not sure which spool I have, but I think it came with the SPG, which is a HOG.

I never had a blowout although after reading about them I opened my tank valves veeeerrry slowly. I also never forced the SPG to swivel after it was pressurized.

One thing that always made me nervous about it was the way the weight of the SPG would cause the (unpressurized) hose to hang at a right angle just after the strain relief at the tank end. Especially on a bouncing boat. I tried to always clip off the SPG on an upper D-ring to avoid this.

As it turned out, the 24" seemed a tiny bit short, and I wanted to try a 26" hose, so I bought a rubber one. Ahhh, no more worries, which so far seems worth giving up the neat little hose (even if I were keeping the 24" length).

And.... with the same spool... my SPG swivels now (And it's nice to know I was not the only one with a non-swiveling Miflex HP hose.)

 

[steelwindmachine]

i think i'm gonna watch this thread...

I too am interested in how this all works out and whether or not MiFlex or one of their reps responds.

 

[Tortuga68]

Mine let go today as I switched to a fresh tank. Popped right in the middle of the hose. THe fittings were not at fault. I had just surfaced from a dive. I took my reg off the old tank and put it on the new one. When I opened the tank valve it blew. I have maybe 300 dives on it in the past 10 months

Curious to know if it was the newer Miflex xtreme-hi (see picture below) or the original design without the hose protectors?

 

[Sas]

i think i'm gonna watch this thread...

I too am interested in how this all works out and whether or not MiFlex or one of their reps responds.

Yea don't hold your breath on that. I have had two hose failures and despite contacting them about both failures they have not ever given me an explanation. The latest hose they asked for pictures in January so I sent them pictures straight away, then sent a reminder to them for information in March but not had any reply yet.

 

[divingtactics]

I ran Miflex HP hoses for the last 2 years without any issue 24-inch and 6-inch old style, but have now swapped all of them out for Phantoms which seem to be a little more robust.

I am still using a 7.5 meter whip HP hose on my fill panel as it was cheap for the length, so far so good, it is the new style.

@Tortuga68 they look like the new ones as they have the strain relief built in and not the aftermarket two piece strain relief like the original ones could be fitted with.

 

[divingtactics]

Well I have now personally witnessed a 24-inch series one Miflex HP hose blow. We were on the boat and the guy beside me was gearing up and we all heard this load crack. As a joke, I said "It sounds like a Miflex HP hose to me", sure enough, the hose had burst mid way along the braid. Nowhere near the swages. The yellow centre was showing the the braid had exploded too. He was just turning on his tanks at the time when it happened. Fortunately, the boat skipper had an HP plug and the diver was using an air integrated computer, so he could still dive. Glad I swapped all of mine out now.

 

[Ragnar]

Boycott XS, their inaction on this was totally irresponsible, now they are finally forced to do something.....

Miflex High Pressure Hose Recall

 

[rhwestfall]

um.... First, it is a voluntary recall by the manufacturer - MiFlex (not XS, who was a distributor).... you should thank XS for being willing to put up with the hassle of the whole recall process, which they are not likely being compensated for from Miflex..... they could have just left it to you to figure it out internationally.....