Mask flood

[askdjasd]

I could ask this in the noobie section.. but since i look at this section and nothing else, i figure i'll ask you folks.


I continiously had mask floods tuesday night at whytecliff.
I didnt change anything to the setup of the mask.

What could be the cause of the flood?
all the seals are intact, maybe my hood? it's not too tight.

but the weird thing.. when I put my head in the water, it's totally fine. but the second I go into more than 5' of water.. it starts dripping.

my buddy says the hood is covering all the seals.

ps: the mask has been used since day 1. over 25 dives.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Is there perhaps hair getting in between your face and the seal? Have you put on a couple of pounds that might have changed the contour of your face? Did you start to smile or laugh? Did you possibly move the mask a wee bit when equalizing?

Also, the reason for posting in the proper location is so that everybody can get the most out of the information. There may be 1 or 10 or 100 new divers with the same question but are afraid to ask. They may never look in this section because they are from Hawaii or the Phillipines, so all of the other divers wanting the advice here will lose out. Whereas, you can simply click on your "Subscribed Threads" to get access to it quickly. Just a thought for future posts.

 

[askdjasd]

touche.. to defend myself.. im lazy and I thought and I was already in Western when I thought of it.
Im bald
no weight increase.
when I was in stupid shallow water, it was fine.
second I got below 5. it started dropping. 10' full on flooding.

 

[ScubaSteve]

No defense necessary. Do you know if there has been any time where the mask (the frame that holds the lens in place specifically) has been bumped? I would suggest for next dive (maybe even in a pool if you have access), just move slowly putting it on, then pull it out slightly andlet it seat itself again. If that does not work, loosen it. While you may think it is not tight, that does not mean that it may not be tight enough to cause it to not seat well. This is just one of the troubleshooting steps to try. Also, definitely look over the skirt again very closely just in case. A small tear will be easy to overlook.

 

[BlueDevil]

The hood is the most obvious possible cause.

A few years a go I did a dive where my mask constantly leaked throughout a dive and I couldn't figure out why. Nothing I did seemed to help and it was very unpleasant being at 40m with a constantly flooding mask. It wasn't until the last 5 or 10 min of the dive that I found the problem. I discovered that the mask strap was sitting high across the top of my head rather than at the back of my head. It would seem that that this was therefore pulling the mask at an unusual angle and causing the leak. I pulled the the strap down to its proper location and the problem instantly stopped. I sure wish I had figured this out at the start of the dive rather than at the end!!!

 

[TheWetRookie]

Possibly a small hole in the side somewhere. My son's mask had this problem till I found the hole.

One test is while in the water, say 15', gently blow out through your nose and see where the bubbles come out of the mask.

 

[r2t]

Mask can be funny sometimes. I can go dozens of dives completely dry and then one dive it leaks.

 

[KrisB]

I'm with r2t -- it happens.

My solution (that works here in Maui... none too comfortable in BC waters) is to completely remove the mask, give my face a quick scrub with the free hand, then replace and clear the mask.

Nearly every time, this solves whatever was causing the sealing issues.

 

[ChevaYEA]

Great suggestions. I have found that it is often what ScubaSteve001 said, the strap is often too tight. I've noticed some divers get some water in their mask, then tighten it up, get more water in, tighten it up some more and the problem just gets worse.

Have you gone diving again since then to see if you are still having the same trouble. It could have just been sitting wrong that day.

 

[Web Monkey]

I could ask this in the noobie section.. but since i look at this section and nothing else, i figure i'll ask you folks.


I continiously had mask floods tuesday night at whytecliff.
I didnt change anything to the setup of the mask.

This is another one of those "Need to see it to fix it" questions.

If you can snag an experienced diver the next time you're out or stop by the pool and talk to your OW instructor, you can probably get this all fixed in a couple of minutes.

Some common problems are:

• Strap too tight
• Strap positioned wrong
• Mask positioned wrong
• Hood cut-out too small for mask
• Breathing out through your nose (air breaks the seal between mask and face)
• You made faces (smiled, frowned, etc.)
• Purge valve popped out of place
• You didn't equalize the air space in the mask
• The mask is actually damaged (cracked plastic, something came apart, etc.)

In any case, it's hard to tell from inside (you) but if someone can take a look, it's usually not too difficult to see what's happening.

Terry