leaking power inflator and staying calm

[freewillie]

I had a rather unsettling experience to the start of my Manta Ray night dive a few weeks ago. We had completed a late afternoon dive previously and all my gear worked just fine. The dive boat then went to our next dive spot in preparation for the night dive. Because of the unique nature of the manta ray dive we where told during our briefing extra weight had been added to our rigs to help us stay at the bottom during our dive.

Since I had no problems with my gear the previous dive I didn't have any specific concerns as I geared up. But once I hit the water I noticed my inflator hose had a steady stream of bubbles coming out. I've had this happen before with the inflator hose and it usually doesn't affect my dive and doesn't even affect my air time. But I couldn't seem to get my BC to inflate properly. Every time I pushed the power inflate I got more bubbles.

Then I realized I was having a very difficult time staying at the surface. I'm kicking really hard since I was overweighted and trying very hard to keep my head at the surface. My daughter was asking me if I was alright and I said yes but at this point I was become a little unsettled.

I called back to the boat to tell them I was having problems with my power inflator. The first piece of advise was to try and disconnect the low pressure hose, maybe I could try diving by orally inflating the BC during the dive. I unclipped the hose but instead of the bubbles stopping I seemed to get more bubbles, this time they seemed to be coming from the screw valve that connects the inflator to the BC hose (I have a Zeagle and the inflator is designed to unscrew and attach a hose to make cleaning/flushing easy). As I tried to screw the inflator back on but then the whole thing came off!

Keep in mind during this time I have practically no air in my BC at the surface and I'm kicking hard just to keep my head at the surface to breath. A few times took in a little water into my mouth. Not enough to choke but I was getting a little queasy by this time. The thought did cross my mind to hell with the weights, maybe I should just dump thme and get back on the boat. I finally put the inflator back on the hose, reattatched the hose and lo and behold it inflated without leaking. I quickly inflated my BC which now actually inflated, leaned back and took a couple deep breaths.

The rest of the dive was absolutely amazing if anyone has ever done the manta ray dive can verify.

I kept thinking I should have checked my gear before I got back in the water but why would I suspect the power inflator itself was loose? Especially since there were no problems with the first dive. At least I will have a better idea if it ever happens again. I just glad I was able to stay calm and work through the problem. I definitely think this is were just diving and having experience comes in handy. If I was a complete newb I honestly think I would have panicked. Having now 47 dives under my belt I feel a little more comfort in the water when these things happen.

Sorry if this was a little long. Keep diving for that experience, always remember to think trough your situation first, try to remain calm, and recheck your gear in between dives.

 

[Akimbo]

This sounds like yet another minor inconvenience that could have easily turned dangerous. Being too heavy, especially on a night dive, is rookie mistake but minor. A totally failed BC is a loss of a handy piece of gear. Forgetting that all you have to do is dump weight is where it becomes dangerous. Assume that your BC will fail on every dive and proceed accordingly.

 

[redacted]

I've had this happen before with the inflator hose and it usually doesn't affect my dive and doesn't even affect my air time. But I couldn't seem to get my BC to inflate properly. Every time I pushed the power inflate I got more bubbles.
....

I finally put the inflator back on the hose, reattatched the hose and lo and behold it inflated without leaking. I quickly inflated my BC which now actually inflated, leaned back and took a couple deep breaths.

maybe this time you should get it fixed.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Yelling for help was not a good idea. Keeping the reg in your mouth and motoring over to the dive boat would have been better probably. Something like that could EASILY cause a death.

So the metal nipple on the BC was partially unscrewed and was leaking air, it sounds like... orally inflating it and disconnecting is not going to help and disconecting might even loosen the fitting more.... I've had similar problems with a bc inflator mechanism.

Now I mostly use an AIR 2, that kind of unscrewing failure is impossible with an AIR 2.

 

[diversteve]

It's not metal - it's one of these - it unscrews so you can use a hose to flush the BC. It's suprising that it unscrewed enough to fall off...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

It's not metal - it's one of these - it unscrews so you can use a hose to flush the BC. It's suprising that it unscrewed enough to fall off...

View attachment 134089

Oh, seems like an additional failure point. I can add water and rinse without something like that.

 

[freewillie]

maybe this time you should get it fixed.

Prior problem wasn't the BC, it was the rental regs and hoses. Once we switched out the rental it worked just fine.

---------- Post Merged at 07:42 PM ---------- Previous Post was at 07:40 PM ----------

It's not metal - it's one of these - it unscrews so you can use a hose to flush the BC. It's suprising that it unscrewed enough to fall off...

View attachment 134089

It was really surprising since I didn't touch the inflator in between dives and it worked just fine the first dive.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

....... Because of the unique nature of the manta ray dive we where told during our briefing extra weight had been added to our rigs to help us stay at the bottom during our dive......

This statement is scary, it sounds like the boat crew modified your gear by adding weight for you. Maybe I am an anal SOB, but I never let anyone touch my gear once I set it up. It's too easy for someone to screw something up while tying to be "helpful". It might have nothing to do with your issue, but it's a thought.

Glad it all worked out for you in the end.

 

[InTheDrink]

+1 to not letting ppl screw with your kit. Adding additional weight I would certainly balls someone out on.

 

[TSandM]

When Peter and I did the Manta dive off the Big Island, we were instructed to go to the bottom and sit there. The problem was that there was significant surge, and it was REALLY hard to sit still without being blown over. When I finally said to heck with this and got neutral and let myself sway back and forth with the surge, I was far more comfortable. It is sad that the dive operators don't expect divers to have the skill to do that, and tell them to sit -- it's worse to overweight them to make it possible, since that renders neutral buoyancy more difficult, in the event that they get skunked on mantas and just do a night dive, as we ended up doing.