I Want to hear about Reg. Failures. Got any stories?

[tfsails]

I had IP creep in my older Zeagle 50D. It was caused by the technician's installing an HP seat that had been recalled due to its stem diameter being too large. I guess the "technician" who did this didn't know about the recall...or didn't care. This, too happened on the first dive after service; it didn't cause me to call my dive, but I went through a LOT of air on that dive!

Since then I have become a service technician at my LDS. We always tell our customers that they are welcome to come with us to the pool and check out their gear before they go on their trip. We also do everything in our power to make sure the customer's reg is good to go when we give it back to them and we don't turn it out unless we'd dive it ourselves.

 

[DwayneJ]

About four months ago -

Aqualung Legend over pressured and caused Primary and Octo to leak on surface. Had the 1st Stage rebuilt.

1 Month Later - Aqualung Legend 1st stage over pressured and forced Octo to freeflow at 70'.

Thinking it was an Octo issue, replaced Octo reg with new reg and same thing happened on the surface with the new Octo. Back in the shop, could not find anything wrong with Octo or 1st Stage - Output pressures were fine in dry air and in pool.

Three boat dives trashed and no guarantee the problem would not happen again so replaced 1st and 2nd stage with Atomic Aquatics Z2.

 

[mike_s]

It looks as though that guys is turning the hose counter-clockwise. I don't know if he was fiddling with the hose to stop a leak or what happened. In any event, if you turn it far enough counter-clockwise, it will fall off!

]

That was from a video that was posted here on Scubaboard.

The 2nd stage was leaking badly after it was serviced. The shop didn't tighten down the 2nd stage properly and it ended up coming off during the next dive.. (I'm sure you remember the thread. I can find it if needed... but saw not sense running them back through the mud again.).


Whether or not his turning it "helped" it come of, I don't know... I'm sure that "trying to do something (turning it) is a normal reaction to when it's leaking that bad.

If it was serviced properly in the first place, it would have never happened.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

1. I have had a couple of freeze flows over the years on dives in 35 degree F water back when I do those kinds of dives single tank with unsealed regs.
2. I had a partner with a FFM second stage freeze up (failed closed) during a commercial dive under the ice. He did not have a back up face mask along nor another second stage, so it got interesting.
3. I had a LP hose swivel o-ring (the one where it attaches to the second stage) fail on a deco dive. It is the only time I have ever had to shut down the right post for real.
4. I had a PSD buddy with a second stage that cracked and flooded causing him to start a cycle of coughing and gasping that precluded swapping the reg - and caused him to panic.

 

[siikik]

Was doing a dive with a recently certified diver at about 30' in a quarry.

All of a sudden she gave me the OOA sign.

We executed a proper OOA drill and went to the surface.

Upon reaching the surface she said that her reuglator, a Sea Elite, had, ". . . just stopped working."

I took her alternate and found, as indicated by her SPG, that she did have air and that the alternate was in good working order.

When I tried breathing through her primary second stage, it simply would not work. It was if I were trying to suck air from a bottle . . . nothing.

When we got back to shore, I removed the regulator's cover to discover that the actuator lever had simply fallen away from its mount.

The kicker here is that this was the very first time the regulator had been used.

Needless to say, I returned the regulator to the LDS for a refund and purchased another brand.

Kudos for the student !!! Kept her head and did a great job with a true OOA situation.

the K

Yes Kudos to her!



I bought a Sea Elite for a safe second so I could spend a couple bucks more on a better primary. Somewhere around the 5th or 6th dive with it was Alexander Springs... and sad to say it can't handle the sand... it has never been right since, despite cleaning it thoroughly. (I might pass it off if it were one, but I bought the same rig for the wife, and her SE does the same thing!)



So, it will continue to go diving until I can muster up the funds to get a much better one. After all, it does breathe...






Ken

 

[snowflake4727]

Dwayne,

What was the octo attached to the Legend? I ran into this problem with some customers. The shop where they bought the reg (not ours) sold the wrong octo to them. I corrected the problem easily and the customer was as happy as a clam.

 

[Nemrod]

I was at a 1,000 feet when my regulator burst into oxygen induced flames--uh--another time.

N

 

[keyshunter]

Dwayne,

What was the octo attached to the Legend? I ran into this problem with some customers. The shop where they bought the reg (not ours) sold the wrong octo to them. I corrected the problem easily and the customer was as happy as a clam.

What do you mean by a "wrong octo".

 

[DixieDolphin]

Nothing major, but my ScubaPro MK5 started leaking pretty badly on a dive. Other than being rather unpleasant, by means of slurping a small splash of seawater with every breath, it wasn't a particularly big deal.. just annoying. The reg is 30 years old, though... so, what can I say? I took it apart at home and discovered a tiny hole in the diaphragm.

I also discovered a pinhole leaking air out of my hp hose once. I was just testing out some new stuff in my apartment's pool, though.. so it wasn't a big deal either.

 

[Rick Inman]

I have an Atomic M1 that gave me trouble as a deco reg. Actually, as fine of reg that it is, I did discover a design flaw if used for deco bottles in cold water.

Because of the reverse poppet, when the reg is off, water can flow back into the first stage. Even though you should charge your reg before you descend, it's possible for the pressure to be released from the second stage, and then water can flow into the first stage. Then, when you turn on the reg and begin to breath from it, the water in the first stage can freeze and cause a free flow. Or in my case, sputtering, and complete reg failure.

I experienced this several times. I didn't know what the problem was, so I had it rebuilt. The problem happened again, so the dealer replaced it with a new one. It happened again, and I called Atomic, and they confirmed that this could happen due to the reverse poppet. They suggested to charge the reg now and then during the dive, if used on a deco bottle. I do this, and turn down the 2nd stage and I haven't had the issue since - but what a pain. If anyone wants to trade my M1 for a MK17 or an XTX50, let me know![/QUOTE]