I Want My Valves All The Way

[eandiver]

If you are going to take the time to tell every DM/deck hand on the boat to fully open your valves and then ask them again before you step off.... I think you might as well just check yourself before you enter the water? Simply reach back and give it a quick twist.

Removes any element of mis-understanding or mistake, takes 3 seconds and is foolproof - requiring no input from anyone but yourself. Much better than hectoring divemasters, at least in my view.

I agree.

No one opens or closes my valves for me. Period. I turn them fully on immediately prior to putting them on my back then reach back just prior to entering the water and check. Once in the water and occasionally during the dive I check again.

 

[Garrobo]

All the way open and a quarter turn back. Check pressure and both regs and BC while sitting on the boat. I and captain check it before I leap.

 

[TSandM]

The potential problem is that if someone, without you knowing, has cranked the valve closed really hard, you might think that it is stuck hard open when in reality it is stuck closed.

This precise thing happened to me on my first dive vacation trip. The DMs set the gear up for everybody, and I was handed mine to put it on. I checked the valve, trying to turn it more open, and it wouldn't turn. I first thought that was fine, and then got nervous, and tried to turn it the other way, and it wouldn't turn that way, either. I said something to the DM, who told me he had turned it on, it was fine. I almost put it on, and then I just didn't feel good about it. I told him I wasn't getting in the water until the valve would move. He got a wrench; the valve was closed. BIG lesson learned cheaply there.

 

[Walter]

All the way open preferably, but if someone screw ups with lefty-loosy, righty-tighty - I know instantly.

Well, I'd screw up if that was the way I tried to remember valve direction. The valve is a circle, there is no right or left, well..actually, when one part is moving to the right, another is moving to the left, so you have right and left every time you turn it regardless of which direction. It's clockwise to close and counterclockwise to open, although in reality, I don't think about it at all, I use muscle memory. That lefty-loosy, righty-tighty BS just causes confusion.

The potential problem is that if someone, without you knowing, has cranked the valve closed really hard, you might think that it is stuck hard open when in reality it is stuck closed. Testing the valve by spinning it clockwise until you get movement will avoid that potential error.

That happened yesterday to a friend at Venice Beach. He asked a lady to turn on his tank, she couldn't budge it, saw me walking up and asked me to turn it on, saying, "I think it's already on." I tried to turn it on, but it wouldn't move, so I tried to close it, it still wouldn't move. Tossing a cloth on it to get a better grip, I was able to open it. It had been jammed closed. I've seen this lots of times which it why I will not use the all the way open method. It's simply not safe. OTOH, it's very easy to tell if a valve is open only ¼ turn.

 

[Walter]

I told him I wasn't getting in the water until the valve would move.

You are a smart lady.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

I have either missed something, or am very stupid. Possibly/probably both.... Why are you letting other divers muck around with your gear? I don't care What safety checks go on, at the end of the day, I am responsible for my safety, and I always check my own gear before I hit the water. Admittedly, I may have trust issues, but I will never let someone else be the last to touch my gear, and I will personally do my own safety check after my buddy. Especially my air...
And if I open it all the way, I am not going to miss my 1/4 turn and accidentally crank it shut...
So, quarter turn it is, and I always ensure that my own air is right. I trust me.

 

[Geoff_H]

You are a smart lady.

A simple purge would have instantly demonstrated to all involved there was no air supply!

 

[DandyDon]

All the way open and a quarter turn back. Check pressure and both regs and BC while sitting on the boat. I and captain check it before I leap.

It's that "quarter turn back" that I object to, that is causing OOA problems at depth when they get it backwards.

I have either missed something, or am very stupid. Possibly/probably both.... Why are you letting other divers muck around with your gear? I don't care What safety checks go on, at the end of the day, I am responsible for my safety, and I always check my own gear before I hit the water. Admittedly, I may have trust issues, but I will never let someone else be the last to touch my gear, and I will personally do my own safety check after my buddy. Especially my air...
And if I open it all the way, I am not going to miss my 1/4 turn and accidentally crank it shut...
So, quarter turn it is, and I always ensure that my own air is right. I trust me.

Not letting, it just happens at you make your way to the back of the boat with them holding my tank valve for balance or while I'm donning my fins just before in.

A simple purge would have instantly demonstrated to all involved there was no air supply!

Yep. But I still want the valve to move.

A reg tech once told me he knew after servicing that I sucked my regs hard testing them before going in.

 

[ZenDiver.3D]

It's that "quarter turn back" that I object to, that is causing OOA problems at depth when they get it backwards.
Not letting, it just happens at you make your way to the back of the boat with them holding my tank valve for balance or while I'm donning my fins just before in.

I agree, you don't have much control over those, but then you are much more a gentle person than I am. I have a habit of telling people, " Don't touch my tank/gear....." I just hate it when someone else thinks they have to try to double-check or follow behind me. And I do enough diving with commercial and deep divers on our boats, that I follow the,"Stay the hell away from my gear rule," with everyone. I agree completely with you in those scenarios. I don't even check my students' gear for them. I watch them do it. I teach them to do their buddy check and then do their own safety check. They all re-check their own air before entry. If I can build that habit for them early, they may not find themselves in OOA situations due to "helpful" other divers or dm's.

 

[ba_hiker]

The real problem I have seen is when someone, who doesn't get the righty tighty stuff, turns the valve off then a quarter turn on. This will give a good reading on the spg and will give a satisfying hiss when you purge. You can even get good breaths on the regs -- at the surface.

BUT once you have gotten down a bit, you are left with a reg that doesn't breath.

I want my valve lightly on the stop. Then purge it and watch the pressure on then SPG. IF its closed I'll know. If not its full open.