leaking o-ring in tank- should i be worried?

[rab1412000]

hi everyone

i recently dove in coron, palawan, philippines and during one shallow dive i noticed the tank hissing. i continued with my dive but i kinda cut it short cause o just felt that the leaking o-ring of the tank may damage my regulator, a newly bought aqualung legend lx.
i asked the dm if i should be worried and he said that i should not since the leak seemed small. he also said that the escaping high pressure air would prevent any water from entering my first stage.
my regulator still performed as usual after that dive but it just gt me a little worried. my AQ legend does not come with a warranty so any servicing or checking will cost me a fair amount of money if i do have it checked.

what do you people suggest? am i worried over nothing?
thanks in advance

 

[Jorgy]

As long as you had positive pressure (greater than the water pressure) in the tank for the entire dive then water could not have gotten in.

So I would not worry.............

Next time you here a hiss on the surface, request they replace the O-ring for you.......

M

 

[divinginn]

No problem as long as the tank still had air in it.

 

[rab1412000]

thanks guys.
i was thinking that the dm was giving me semi-bull.
couldnt change the tank too since it was the last one available that day on the boat

but good to know my baby ( reg) is safe and sound

 

[herman]

As long as there is even a little air pressure in the tank your reg is OK.....and if it's that low you have bigger issues.
Just to make you feel a little better, getting salt water into a reg is not that big of a deal as long as you get it serviced shortly after the water gets in. If water gets in and you have it serviced with in a few days, you will not damage anything. You will need to have the reg serviced every so often anyway and the cost of servicing a reg after a flood is the same (same thing is done with a little more cleaning at most) as a normal service. Warranty or not you will still have to pay for labor, the only thing a warranty would get is a free service kit...about $25-30 USD worth of parts.
The AL regs are tough and very forgiving, don't worry about it- go dive and have fun.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

I agree with the statements that the positive pressure will keep all water out of the reg. This is the same principle that sherwood uses on their dry bleed regs. Positive pressure is used to keep water, dirt, etc out of the regulator by having a constant very small stream of bubbles leaking out. That all being said, this is a good reason to carry spare o-rings with you.

 

[Doubler]

I wouldn't worry about the regulator as much as I would worry about a complete oring failure at depth and losing all your air, but that is just me.

 

[rab1412000]

I wouldn't worry about the regulator as much as I would worry about a complete oring failure at depth and losing all your air, but that is just me.

very good point. i see more seasoned divers bring these in their cases.
ill make spare o-rings a part of my kit.

 

[Doubler]

very good point. i see more seasoned divers bring these in their cases.
ill make spare o-rings a part of my kit.

I pretty much bring a dive shop with me. Spare orings, valve seats, 1st and 2nd stages, hoses and never go anywhere without my trusty surgical tubing.

 

[spectrum]

what do you people suggest? am i worried over nothing?
thanks in advance

Positive presssure will protect the regulator.

It does represent a risk however. Are you sure it's the o-ring or is something else in the hardware distorted? If things are not seated up square total o-ring failure could happen.

As for the shallow dive, it's a risk judgement.

When in doubt ask for a fresh o-ring or have some with you and just take charge.

Pete