I have a question about the power inflator hose on the S38 wing.

[LowDrag]

I was "trying" to dive this weekend with my new wing and was having trouble with my hose disappearing on me. It would ride up high on my shoulder where I could not reach it making it impossible to inflate and deflate my wing. I measured the hose and it is only 15" long which seems kinda short to me. 15" is from the elbow to the power inflator but does not include the two pieces. As for me...I am 6'2" and 240ish lbs. I am thinking I need a longer hose. Anybodies assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks,
LowDrag

 

[eelnoraa]

15" corrogated hose is fine. In fact, I think it is on the long side.

Do you have bungee looped through the tri-glide that hold the left shouder d-ring? The bungee should hold the inflator. The inflator should completely pass the bungee but not much longer.

 

[LowDrag]

That depends on where you think the D ring should be. I have mine set about 6" below my armpit not up on my shoulder. If the power inflator itself is sitting directly on top of my shoulder I can't reach it and use it when needed. Granted I am used to using a standard BC with a hose almost reaches the middle of my torso.

 

[DM_cappie]

It sounds like you might have the fit of the plate a little off. The plate itself might be too low on your back or the D-rings are a little off. here is how i normally try and set people up with a new plate.

when setting the BP+W up you should have the plate riding on your pack so that you can reach behind and touch the top of the plate with your fingers comfortably. the D-rings should be positioned such that you can hold your arms by your side, and by bending just your elbows you should be able to loop your thumb through the sholder D-ring.

by following these steps I've never run into a problem with the inflator hose being too small, most cases it almost seems like it is a hair longer than needed.

 

[LowDrag]

That makes sense but how do you keep the plate from dropping down when you have a tank on it and put it on your back? Reaching over my shoulder is tough, it seems as though the straps are very tight and cut into my shoulders. I loosened up the straps because at first they were seriously tight and hurt my shoulders. Another thing that comes to mind is, how do you keep the plate up higher on your back? If the hose length is correct then the plate has to be to low on my back I would think.

 

[DM_cappie]

when you fit the plate you should be wearing your wet/dry suit so you can get the shoulder straps adjusted correctly. The suit will also help reduce any discomfort of the straps on your shoulder when you do this (acting like a shoulder pad). A little discomfort is ok in this situation though because you shouldn’t find yourself in need of touching your plate very much in normal use, the only reason you would is to turn on/off tank valves.

The shoulder straps themselves will hold the plate in the correct spot and even with a tank attached you shouldn’t see any movement in the plates position on you back unless the straps are loosening by themselves.

Do you have the plate close to check the D-rings, I’m curious if those might be more off than the plate position is.

 

[LowDrag]

Sorry, I don't, I am at work but will be home later and I can let you know.