Make sure you use the right o-ring on your valve!!!!

[TxHockeyGuy]

I hadn't planned on posting about this until last night when I learned what caused the incident. Last weekend I had an o-ring blow out at depth, we weren't very deep, only 30 ft but it did force me into a shared air ascent. The cause of the problem was I put the wrong o-ring on my yoke valve. I bought an o-ring kit which has many different types of o-rings in it and there are two different o-rings in that kit that will fit the yoke valve, and they are very very similar. Well I put the wrong one on and it blew. The wrong size o-ring is every so slightly too large but it fits in well enough. The correct o-ring goes in a little more easily and is slightly smaller than the other nearly identical o-ring. I'm sure I'll get flamed for being careless, this is ScubaBoard after all, but I thought this post might help someone so it's out here. I plan on buying a set of just yoke o-rings so I can't do this again.

 

[all4scuba05]

The forst set of O-rings were bought from an LDS?

 

[DivingsInMyBlood]

whoever trys to flame you would just be a jerk, your putting your hand up to your mistake and helping others out and letting them know at the same time.

 

[do it easy]

whoever trys to flame you would just be a jerk, your putting your hand up to your mistake and helping others out and letting them know at the same time.

Man, after that, I guess I better put the gasoline away.

Glad you were able to make it back in one piece and share your hard earned lesson!

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

The forst set of O-rings were bought from an LDS?

Yes, the o-ring kit was bought in person at ScubaToys, they are my LDS. There is now some doubt as to whether or not the wrong o-ring was in at the time it blew on me. That being said there are two o-rings in that kit that will fit on a yoke valve and only one is right so the moral of the story remains the same. Make certain you're using the right o-ring. I picked up a bunch of yoke o-rings and I will be storing them separately so I will always be certain to use the right size.

 

[dlndavid]

o-rings and their applications can be tricky, glad you learned something

 

[Dash]

Is there a standard yoke o-ring size and material? And if so, what are the measurements or o-ring size number?

 

[TxHockeyGuy]

Is there a standard yoke o-ring size and material? And if so, what are the measurements or o-ring size number?

Size 014 is the standard yoke o-ring. There are rubber, viton, and I believe silicon materials that are used for o-rings as well as probably some exotics out there.

 

[Steven Kingston]

What did the damaged O-ring look like?

 

[wilton]

I have an O-Ring "Box Kit" from Innovative Scuba Concepts. I see these everywhere. The only documentation is a statement: "Use on Tank Valves, HP & LP Air Hoses." It also says "003, 010, 011, 014, 112, 214 'O' Rings".

Based on the O-rings I have sitting on my desk right now, I'm going to make a guess that the numbers correspond to diameters in millimeters)

003 - this o-ring goes around a plug on the SPG that fits into your high-pressure hose (blew this one three weeks ago).

010 - probably a low pressure hose -- low pressure hoses are a tiny bit smaller in diameter than high-pressure hoses.

010 - probably the o-ring for the high pressure hose

014 - O-Ring for Yoke-mounted first stage

112 - O-ring for DIN-mounted first stage -- important to note that this O-ring is significantly fatter

214 - O-ring for tank valve

I'm guessing you used a DIN O-Ring on a Yoke adapter. It's an easy mistake to make because they're similar in diameter, although the DIN is a lot fatter.

Hope this information helps in the future.
Wilton