Newly serviced regs break on third dive

[angryguy777]

Anyone have this happen to them? I just got my gear serviced last week and went diving this weekend. I put the regs on the tank, turn on the gas and everything seems cool. I get ready to put on my harness and... POP! Something snaps and air starts to freeflow uncontrollably. We figured out that it was leaking from the BCD inflator hose where it connects to the first stage, but when we unscrewed the hose the o-ring was still intact. So I ended up borrowing someone else's regs to dive, but I was very mad because I was looking forward to using my gear.

I'm taking it to the LDS tomorrow morning to be repaired. I called the dive shop and the repairman said it sounded minor and hopefully it is.

-Zak

 

[gfisher4792]

Personally? No. To other people? Occaisonally. Did you put the regs on a tank to test them before you left the shop? I do that, just for reassurance on my part. Are they fixing it for free?

 

[Wayward Son]

Sounds like you blew an O ring. They can & do fail, sometimes when they're not very old. This is a prime example of why you should keep a set of spare O rings and a small adjustable wrench in your save a dive kit. Find the bad one, replace it, go diving.

 

[captain]

My philosophy is never trust anyone you don't know very well to do anything right. Especially true of overnight wonder repair specialists.

 

[angryguy777]

I'm taking it to the LDS in about half an hour, so we'll see what's up. I forgot to tell part of the story in my first post. I dove with it three times prior to the failure and it worked fine (2 the day before, one that day, busted on my last dive for the weekend).

They better fix it for free, I'm not paying them another cent. I don't care if they try to charge me at the end, I'll walk with my gear.

-Zak

 

[angryguy777]

My philosophy is never trust anyone you don't know very well to do anything right. Especially true of overnight wonder repair specialists.

My philosophy as well, but then again, I have to because I don't know how to service my own gear.

-Z

 

[angryguy777]

Took the regs in and my faith in the LDS has been redeemed. Turns out it was a faulty o-ring on the HP hose. He replaced it and gave me a goodie bag full of just about every o-ring I could possibly need for the next dive (free of charge). He also apologized, which I accepted of course. I didn't miss the dive and it only cost me $1.50 for the bus ticket and an hour of my time, but I did learn some about fixing my own gear and got some free o-rings, so in the end, everything is cool.

-Z

 

[oxyhacker]

What you had was a leak and not a freeflow. A freeflow is when the regulator won't shut off, and air is coming out of the mouthpiece. A leak is anytime air is coming out where you don't want it to. A freeflow is a kind of leak, but a leak not necessarily a freeflow.

OK I am being picky but if you use the wrong words to describe the problem you are less likely to get a useful answer. Freeflows very rarely start with a snap, leaks very often do.

Freeflows are usually the result of improper tuning, worn parts, or improper assembly, and require some skill to remedy. Leaks are very often the result of a bad O-ring, as yours was, and easily fixed on the spot - as yours will be next time!

High flow leaks are often harder to locate than one would think, as you found, because the air can be blasting out and bouncing around so it seems to be coming from somewhere other than it really is. Immersing the reg will usually allow identifying the problem since it is easier to see a leak than feel it.

Something snaps and air starts to freeflow uncontrollably.-Zak

 

[scubatoys]

Sometimes an o-ring just goes... can be in minutes, days, weeks... when his time is up - that's all there is. I've explained... a brand new o-ring failed on a space shuttle and killed 7 people... and that o-ring was probably a bit more expensive than the 10 cent one on your gear... So yes - it can and does happen.

I think everyone should carry a spare o-ring kit. You can get about 40 o-rings to cover everything for under 5 bucks. Then a scubatool, and your set... (little partial to the scubatool thing... that was my first patent )

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Sometimes an o-ring just goes... can be in minutes, days, weeks... when his time is up - that's all there is. I've explained... a brand new o-ring failed on a space shuttle and killed 7 people... and that o-ring was probably a bit more expensive than the 10 cent one on your gear... So yes - it can and does happen.

Well...the o-ring on the Challenger's SRB was not designed to operate at the below freezing temperatures at which the launch was made and the engineers responsible for it at Morton Thiokol advised NASA of that fact prior to the launch. So yes a brand new o-ring failed (actually 2 of them failed), but they did so as they were pushed past their limits, limits that the admin pukes in charge of the launch chose to exceed.

A problem with annual servicing of regulators is that many techs will remove o-rings from the LP and HP hoses and plugs then inspect, relubricate and reinstall them. On rare occassions the extra stress of reinstalling the no longer new o-ring will damage it enough to cause it to fail in fairly short order. In all cases a plug or hose o-ring runs the risk of additional damage when being removed and when being reinstalled as it has to be stetched over relatively sharp threads.

I also see o-rings come in the shop on Scubapro regs (where o-rings used to be color coded) in colors that have not been used in over 10 or 15 years and it is a safe bet that those o-rings are well past their prime no matter how good they look. I am sure equally old o-rings come in on other brands as well, there is just no way to tell as they are all black.

Consequently, unless I am intimately familiar with the regulator, know it's service history and know that all the LP/HP hose and plug o-rings were replaced at the last annual service, I replace them all every year. In the cases where they are known to be only a year old, I will inspect them in place and relubricate them but will not remove them. If they are removed, they need to be replaced.