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Ya do know sarcasm is the lowest form of wit doncha?Well thanks for that bit of clarification. I can rest easy tonight.
Of course theres the odvious question. Why would an inflator fault?
When you look at them they aren't exactly complicated bits of kit.
So either you've got hooked up in weed/line/mud thats jammed it up or you are diving with a really well worn inflator.
How would I deal with it? disconnect the inflator hose most likely then figure out what was jamming up the button.
Happy to be shot down in flames here
Hey thanks for that. (no sarcasm meant at all) But all that said I just cant see the mechanical reason for a simple valve to fail.It is a relatively common scuba failure, based on my own observations, it is the most likely failure after a regulator free-flow and maybe regulator mouth pieces falling off.
An uncontrolled inflation is an emergency, possibly more dangerous than a freeflow and it was one of the reasoans that when they were first introduced, power inflators were recommended only for experieced divers due to the perceived danger of this problem..
It is a relatively common failure that could easily cause death if handled wrong. It is an important question. I have been very disappointed when I ask new certified divers what they would do if the inflator stated filling the bc by itself and they just giiggle nervously, because they have no clue and are completely unprepared for it.
I used to like the old style of inflator, Dacor and many others used, if the inflate button got stuck, you could easily grab it, pull it back out, spin it a little and the problem was resolved immediately.
Normal maintenance should make it unlikely, but I have seen it happen many times.
For myself, I think I have only had it happen 4-5 times, but these incidents were slow trickles that I couldn't even hear, I would have to vent the BC every 5 minutes and after the third time, maybe I begin to suspect a problem. Don't recall ever having an inflation emergency myself.
Wouldn't first stage freezeup cause the oposite effect.Ie no air? or your second stage to suddenly freeflow?Like every other moving part underwater, inflator valves are subject to corrosion and salt crystal formation, and the o-rings age and fatigue. I have serviced our inflators many times because of slow inflation leaks -- these are manageable. The old Halcyon stainless inflators were prone to a much more serious leak, which caused at least one injury of which I am aware.
But probably one of the biggest causes of massive inflator leak would be 1st stage freezeup, with the ensuing excess intermediate pressure venting through the inflator. This would be a very rapid and dangerous leak.