Not sure if this is the proper discussion group to post this in, but here we go.
Had a (initially) pleasant first time diving in a
limestone quarry. During our second dive, however, I had a weird regulator malfunction. Well, weird for my limited experience. It's a Mares Abyss 22x DIN regulator that I bought in July. It has less than 20 dives on it and just prior to the dive I had my LDS fit it with a longhose for the primary second stage.
The problem started almost emidiately as we had descended to approximately 6 meters (~18 feet). I got plenty of air but the air was sort of crackling when inhaling. Almost like there were tiny pebbles in somewhere in the tubing (there obviously wasn't). I signaled to my buddy and we ascended in an orderly fashion. At the surface there were no symptoms or problems with air flow at all so, after a few purges and breaths through the reg, we decided to descend ever so slightly and see if the crackle would persist. It did, but not as much as before so we swam on calmly at a few meters depth while both keeping our eyes ears on my regulator. According to my buddy there were no visible signs of leaks at this point and since the reg was breathing fine (albeit with a light crackle) I didn't really think it would be a problem. I've had plenty of rental regulators making strange noises and wasn't really worried (maybe I should have been). After 10 minutes of shallow diving, as we were circling a curious airplane cockpit at 4 meters (~12 feet) depth I thought I heard a slight wishing sound as I was exhaling. Difficult to say where it came from but if I had to guess it was from the 1st stage. Also, I'm not sure if that sounds had been there before as I was paying way more attention to noises than usual.
This is where it goes weird. I hear a semi-loud pop, like someone is blowing a chewing gum bubble and bursting it right next to me. A few breaths later there's a loud BANG right around my head, very similar to popping a large balloon, somewhere close to my ears and I could swear I felt some sort shock wave on my head. I signal my buddy, who's already pretty attentive from the loud bang, and ascend to surface. The regulator was breathing fine during the ascent and at the surface but we decide to call the dive and do a surface swim back. Took a few more breaths from the regulator, but it seemed fine.
When I unscrewed the first stage from the tank the O-ring was perfectly intact, but wet with a few small, slightly brown drops of water. Looked almost like rust, but seems unlikely. And the water in the quarry was perfectly un-brown
What in the world could this have been? Does anyone have a clue or had a similar experience? I take pretty good care of the regulator, never purge it when not pressurized and so on...
It's now at my LDS for service, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this...
Had a (initially) pleasant first time diving in a
limestone quarry. During our second dive, however, I had a weird regulator malfunction. Well, weird for my limited experience. It's a Mares Abyss 22x DIN regulator that I bought in July. It has less than 20 dives on it and just prior to the dive I had my LDS fit it with a longhose for the primary second stage.
The problem started almost emidiately as we had descended to approximately 6 meters (~18 feet). I got plenty of air but the air was sort of crackling when inhaling. Almost like there were tiny pebbles in somewhere in the tubing (there obviously wasn't). I signaled to my buddy and we ascended in an orderly fashion. At the surface there were no symptoms or problems with air flow at all so, after a few purges and breaths through the reg, we decided to descend ever so slightly and see if the crackle would persist. It did, but not as much as before so we swam on calmly at a few meters depth while both keeping our eyes ears on my regulator. According to my buddy there were no visible signs of leaks at this point and since the reg was breathing fine (albeit with a light crackle) I didn't really think it would be a problem. I've had plenty of rental regulators making strange noises and wasn't really worried (maybe I should have been). After 10 minutes of shallow diving, as we were circling a curious airplane cockpit at 4 meters (~12 feet) depth I thought I heard a slight wishing sound as I was exhaling. Difficult to say where it came from but if I had to guess it was from the 1st stage. Also, I'm not sure if that sounds had been there before as I was paying way more attention to noises than usual.
This is where it goes weird. I hear a semi-loud pop, like someone is blowing a chewing gum bubble and bursting it right next to me. A few breaths later there's a loud BANG right around my head, very similar to popping a large balloon, somewhere close to my ears and I could swear I felt some sort shock wave on my head. I signal my buddy, who's already pretty attentive from the loud bang, and ascend to surface. The regulator was breathing fine during the ascent and at the surface but we decide to call the dive and do a surface swim back. Took a few more breaths from the regulator, but it seemed fine.
When I unscrewed the first stage from the tank the O-ring was perfectly intact, but wet with a few small, slightly brown drops of water. Looked almost like rust, but seems unlikely. And the water in the quarry was perfectly un-brown
What in the world could this have been? Does anyone have a clue or had a similar experience? I take pretty good care of the regulator, never purge it when not pressurized and so on...
It's now at my LDS for service, but I'm curious to hear your thoughts on this...
