New Equipment? Get it checked out!

[sshawn09]

Okay folks, this was a mistake on my part, I'm willing to admit it, and share my experience with everyone as well... So here it goes:

Recently I bought a handful of "used" equipment from a fellow down the road. I was told that the equipment was 3 months old and only seen poolwater 4 times. Well, I took the equipment home and jumped in my pool to test it out. I'm a new diver and I'm also technically savvy, so after a very successful dive to 5 ft, and inspecting the insides of the regs, I convinced myself that everything is in great working order.

A few dives later my regs free flowed a bit more than I thought was normal. I was going to get the annual done next year some time until I read a fatal story out of the book "Diver Down". It scared the crap out of me, so I went the next day to the dive shop to talk to them about the free flow. The tech put em on the test bench and noticed an out of spec pressure from the low pressure hose. He immediately told me they need service. But, heres the real reason I am writing this today... He inspected the side of the regs, and noticed one of the regs had a firm cap with an o-ring placed inside of it, which is normal. The primary reg has a rubber cap that fits ever so perfect into it in the side of it. Me being new didnt see anything wrong with that. He pulled it out and said what the hell is your Suunto dust cap doing in the side of the reg???!??!? He explained that if that fell out underwater, it would have been a strait deep breath of water for me. I have done 6 dives with that dust cap in the side of the primary. I'm glad im here writing this today, and I want to send a big thank you to anyone who writes a lesson learned.

Lesson learned: Don't ever convince yourself that your equipment is working properly. The techs know their stuff and can find these issues immediately.

 

[PhilEllis]

Okay folks, this was a mistake on my part, I'm willing to admit it, and share my experience with everyone as well... So here it goes:

Recently I bought a handful of "used" equipment from a fellow down the road. I was told that the equipment was 3 months old and only seen poolwater 4 times. Well, I took the equipment home and jumped in my pool to test it out. I'm a new diver and I'm also technically savvy, so after a very successful dive to 5 ft, and inspecting the insides of the regs, I convinced myself that everything is in great working order.

A few dives later my regs free flowed a bit more than I thought was normal. I was going to get the annual done next year some time until I read a fatal story out of the book "Diver Down". It scared the crap out of me, so I went the next day to the dive shop to talk to them about the free flow. The tech put em on the test bench and noticed an out of spec pressure from the low pressure hose. He immediately told me they need service. But, heres the real reason I am writing this today... He inspected the side of the regs, and noticed one of the regs had a firm cap with an o-ring placed inside of it, which is normal. The primary reg has a rubber cap that fits ever so perfect into it in the side of it. Me being new didnt see anything wrong with that. He pulled it out and said what the hell is your Suunto dust cap doing in the side of the reg???!??!? He explained that if that fell out underwater, it would have been a strait deep breath of water for me. I have done 6 dives with that dust cap in the side of the primary. I'm glad im here writing this today, and I want to send a big thank you to anyone who writes a lesson learned.

Lesson learned: Don't ever convince yourself that your equipment is working properly. The techs know their stuff and can find these issues immediately.

Hi Shawn. Glad you got your gear squared away by some that has the proper knowledge. I have read this post over several times and am trying to understand exactly what your problem is. Maybe you could convince your regulator technician to give you more details, or maybe even come on to ScubaBoard and post a more exact description of the problem you faced. Suunto does not market regulators, so I am at a loss to understand exactly which cap it is and where it was lodged in your regulator. We look forward to hearing more from you about this problem. Thanks.

And.....welcome to Scubaboard! You will enjoy being a member.

Phil Ellis

 

[redacted]

If you would, also identify the regulators you are talking about. It is quite hard to envision exactly what your problem was and why a service was called for.

 

[sshawn09]

I'm sorry I didn't provide more details... I rushed in writing the post.

The reg is a Sea Elite XR3:
divebooty.com/prodimages/lg/1588.jpg
(sorry it wont let me post a url until I have 5 posts here, so I had to strip it)
As you can see the cap on the left side of the reg, as its placed ever so nicely for the perfect fit.

Well my Suunto Cobra quickdisconnect that I got with the dive package had 2 dustcaps (I just found that out). The dustcap fit so perfectly into the side of it, and my assumption is that the seller somehow mixed it up and put it in there thinking it was correct. Then I thought the fit was how it was supposed to be, though, the primary and the octo has the same exact cap, and I should have realized sooner that this is strange.

Please don't get my post wrong here, I'm not shooting down the Sea Elite reg at all, its a very simple reg, or maybe the term should be economical. Not much to go wrong on it, as long as its assembled correctly. As for the incorrect pressure reading on the low pressure side, I dont know anything about that issue, and I'll try to find out more details.

Right now I dont have the regs with me, as they are being serviced. But I will post a pic of the actual regs as soon as I get em back. Its embarrassing knowing that I made such a mistake, but I really want to share so that a newbie like me wont have an accident and end up with a big problem.

-=: Shawn :=-

 

[herman]

http://www.divebooty.com/prodimages/lg/1588.jpg
I get it, the Suunto cap was in place of the second stage adjustment access port. Relax Shawn, if it had fallen out you had 2 easy "outs". First, just grab your octo..that is what it is there for or you could have just put your thumb over the hole, purged the reg and ended the dive, a PITA but not much else. Any time you buy used gear, and there is nothing wrong with doing so, you need to have it completely checked just to make sure. I would also suggest once the reg is back to do another couple of test dives before hitting the open water with it. Even the best techs make a mistake once in a while.
Welcome to the board

 

[sshawn09]

Thats true... Just as a new diver I would hope I can react that fast. Either way, I think it will make me practice my emergency procedures more often. Thanks for the good word. Good to be here.