Need someone to make me a lift bag valve

[HOGDiver]

Hello SB members,

I am making this request out of not being able to find anything out there so far as to what I want. I do a lot of diving with a lift bag and want a more efficient way of filling a lift bag. I want something similar to the scuba pro blow gun however I want flow controls along with an air on/off switch next to it. The purpose is to allow me to turn the valve on the 1st stage prior to entering the water and then leave the tank on my back or off to side while inflating the bag. I would have the same purpose as a BCD inflator but longer and having controls. The purpose of the flow control would be to inflate the bag fast at first and then bring the flow down to when getting it just right is needed. If any on you can help with this please PM me or post. Thanks

 

[tbone1004]

what ar eyou doing to where standard inflation techniques won't work? I.e. put regulator under the bag and inflate that one? One of the dangers with your proposed setup is that any type of latching mechanism links you to the lift bag and that's bad in case of a runaway, so you don't want a permanent link to the bag.

One way to do it is to get a regulator to 1/4" NPT adapter and go to Home Depot/Lowes and have at it

Husky 1/4 in. Full Port Ball Valve-HDA70100AV - The Home Depot
ball cock which you can use as flow restrictor

20-Piece Air Compressor Accessory Kit-41225HOM - The Home Depot
something like that
7-Piece Blow Gun Kit-18249HOM - The Home Depot
or that

https://www.divegearexpress.com/regulators/adapters/npt.shtml#600
there is the adapter to go from a standard QD to NPT hose fitting. Be careful in salt obviousl making sure everything is rinsed out and you'll probably have to replace them eventually, but that will work

 

[Rich Keller]

Are you talking about inflating the bag off of a separate tank? If so you could just use an old LP hose with the fitting cut off at the second stage end of the hose, push it up into the bag and use the tank valve itself to adjust the flow. If you are using the tank on your back then the suggestions above will work just fine. What you NEVER want to do is be attached to the bag in anyway at any time so forget any type of quick connect air fitting. A better and safer way to do this is without using a lift bag at all. Use a continues feed rope come along instead, it will give you a steady lift regardless of depth and requires no air to fill the bag so it can extend your time on the job. Once you connect the rope to the object you go back to the surface and start cranking, so you are no where near the object during the lift should something go wrong and you are not using air from your tank during the lift. The rope can be any length you need, mine is 100', and should be spliced at one end not knotted. A knot will reduce the safe working load of the rope by as much as 55%, depending on the type of knot used, a splice will only reduce the SWL by 10%. If you have a davit on your boat the come along will not only get the object to the surface, it can place it on the deck for you.

 

[HOGDiver]

No I would not be attached to the bag, that is down right stupid. I will just have to go to home depot and make it myself from those parts. I dont want to cut off the end of a LP hose and turn it on from the 1st stage which is what I said in the beginning. I just want the hose charged with air and ready for a quick push or pull of a lever that will directly send the air up under the lift bag. I just want that extra shut off lever just in case it inadvertently discharges when I swim around or in a tight space. Redundancy is something I try to have with all of my gear. Its all about being more efficient and my opinion a device like this would be much more efficient for me under the water while still having it be separate from my main tank. Yes I could just use a regulator but that's not creative enough. I appreciate the feedback though and the parts you listed. I will use my imagination and see what I come up with and I will post of a picture of it.

 

[tbone1004]

the blow gun operates on the same principle as a demand valve second stage, just looks more of the part....