inflating a safety sausage at depth

[emcbride81]

Is there a basic rule of thumb as to how much air to put into a sausage based on the depth you plan to release it? Obviously you will put less air at lower depths due to pressure. What I am asking is at 15ft do you fill it halfway, 50 feet one third, 90 feet one quarter, or what is the standard?

BTW I did try to search this and didn't find it, so I apologize if this is a repost of question answered long ago.

 

[webjr]

Think back to your pressure-depth formulas from basic OW and you can calculate what you need . However much you put in at 33 ft will double at the surface.
66ft = triple on the surface
etc....

 

[emcbride81]

I thought that would be the way to go, but I wanted to make sure that I didn't overinflate. So to be on the safe side you would want to inflate slightly below the ATM equivalency.

It seemed obvious, but I am going to practice deploying for the first time next weekend and I really didn't want to pop my sausage

 

[coldsmoke]

Sausages that don't have a OPV are not intended to be inflated and released from below the surface. They are to be used on the surface only. If your's has an OPV then fill it as full as you can manage - extra gas will blow out of the valve.

Hunter

 

[4sak3n]

Do you get closed circuit bags without an OPV? That strikes me as kind of screwy ... after all, how much extra cost can an OPV add?

emcbride81, if your sausage is closed and has an over pressure valve (like the one on your BCD) then it is perfectly safe to fill it with 'too much' air at depth. If it is open (i.e. there is a bloody great big opening for you to stick a reg in and purge) then any excess air will be forced out out of the bottom through that hole.

If it is neither of these two (i.e. if closed circuit and has no OPV) then do as coldsmoke suggests and don't use it as a DSMB, only as a safety sausage on the surface.

 

[Ben_ca]

What's your purpose in sending up the marker?

If you just need a signal for your topside support to know where you are or an upline you really do not need it fully inflated. Don't get so focused on shooting the SMB that you lose bouyancy or situational awareness.

When you surface and find that it needs a little more gas you can always give it a few more breaths...