DIR- GUE power inflator failure T1

[Rainer]

The good news is dealing with a stuck inflator in doubles is pretty easy if your wing inflator is driven by your right post. Simply go head down, which raises your dump valve and gives you the ability to kick down if needed to maintain depth, then shut down your right post with your right hand while dumping air with your left hand. Once your right post is off, switch to your backup reg, manually inflate to neutral buoyancy, disconnect your LPI, then re-open your right post. It's really easy peasy.

And this formed the basis for how the skill used to be assessed in T1. At some point during the course, the instructor would, without warning, grab and hammer your power inflator to simulate a stuck inflator. You had to immediately recognize what it represented and run the protocol you laid out to shut down the right post. According to rjack's friend, that is no longer included in T1. It was part of the class I took 12+ years ago.

 

[Matan]

During my fundies it was discussed during equipment workshop on the first day.
During my T1 it was discussed when reviewing possible failure points in the equipment.

wasn't drilled UW - my honest opinion it's important thing to do and shouldn't take too long - maybe someone can get HQ from GUE to think about adding this? after all they are literally the fastest agency to update their classes AFAIK (inserting a skill like that in any other agency will take years if not longer).

*note - I checked locally - no other agency here practice this UW (and I didn't see it in their standards either).
I'm referring to ANDI / TDI / IANTD.


Matan.

 

[kensuf]

You couldn't have looked at the TDI standards that close because it's a required skill.

https://www.tdisdi.com/wp-content/u...andards_08_Decompression_Procedures_Diver.pdf

Section 8.11, Required Skill Performance and Graduation Requirements
...
In-Water Drills
....
9. React to BCD inflator malfunction; disconnect LP hose, dump gas and orally inflate BCD/Wing to neutral buoyancy

 

[PfcAJ]

I disagree on the idea of going head down to work on solving the inflator problem.

drysuit gas in legs would be bad. Reaching your rear dump with a light on your hand isn’t going to happen when you have stages on you chest. Shutting off your gas supply compounds the problem.

Feet down vent wing and drysuit while attempting to disconnect is the way. If you can’t pop it off then go for the right post.

 

[huwporter]

Popping a pressurised LPI hose off the LPI while wearing it and your left hand is busy holding it up and the deflate button open has never worked for me. It's just too fiddly and you don't have enough leverage. Go for the right post.

 

[Matan]

You couldn't have looked at the TDI standards that close because it's a required skill.

https://www.tdisdi.com/wp-content/uploads/files/sandp/currentYear/TDI/part 2/pdf/individual/TDI Diver Standards_08_Decompression_Procedures_Diver.pdf

Section 8.11, Required Skill Performance and Graduation Requirements
...
In-Water Drills
....
9. React to BCD inflator malfunction; disconnect LP hose, dump gas and orally inflate BCD/Wing to neutral buoyancy

I listed a note in my post - I checked locally i.e. asked people who teach for those agencies here.
Well I guess that stresses another point - having required skills listed on standards but instructors don't practice them in classes.

Matan.

 

[wetb4igetinthewater]

For the recreational instructors talking about how it is part of open water, when did any of you mash on the inflator button on a student? What was the conversation like with your agency, and which agency are you teaching for now?

 

[rjack321]

I disagree on the idea of going head down to work on solving the inflator problem.

drysuit gas in legs would be bad. Reaching your rear dump with a light on your hand isn’t going to happen when you have stages on you chest. Shutting off your gas supply compounds the problem.

Feet down vent wing and drysuit while attempting to disconnect is the way. If you can’t pop it off then go for the right post.

I DMed for a bunch of UTD tech courses. Every student does this because this is what they are taught in OW/AOW. Every student ends up hitting the surface its like 0/18 success. Every student in my T1 hit the surface doing this too. Then, having been taught properly, we did the head down while dumping the butt dump and kicking down and shutting off the right post. If you act reasonably promptly you don't even ascend a foot from 20ft.

 

[rjack321]

Not a required skill, not sure it's ever been a required skill. Certainly wasn't when I took T1 in 2004, and hasn't been at any point I've been a T1 instructor.

Thanks
John

It was a big deal here at the time of my T1 in 2005. Right around that time, someone in California corked on deco by trying the head up OW disconnect method (which I have never seen succeed in practice or reality). He (she?) was able to re-descend and finish deco but was a major point of much arguing amongst GUE instructors here and online at the time and of course George got into it as well.

 

[huwporter]

I DMed for a bunch of UTD tech courses. Every student does this because this is what they are taught in OW/AOW. Every student ends up hitting the surface its like 0/18 success. Every student in my T1 hit the surface doing this too. Then, having been taught properly, we did the head down while dumping the butt dump and kicking down and shutting off the right post. If you act reasonably promptly you don't even ascend a foot from 20ft.

The thing I'm unconvinced about with dumping from the butt dump while shutting down the right post is the gas has to go through the wing before it can come out again and that surely has more potential for affecting your buoyancy than lifting the LPI dump where the gas can be directly vented without going into the wing.

There is also the question of what to do with the light/light cord. It isn't going to reach round stages, as AJ noted, and it's going to get hella in the way in the right hand while simultaneously trying to shut down the right post, so you have to clip it off first which is going to take a few extra seconds all while managing that gas flowing through the wing. (And kicking down?) It's better to clip off the light head first either way but I'd prefer to lift the LPI while doing that personally.

(From personal experience, the first time it happened for real I dropped the light head while failing to disconnect the LPI hose, and then through pure muscle memory switched to my necklace reg after turning off the right post even though i was breathing a stage. When it was under control, it was like "huh, that was intense... OK status check - light head lying on the bottom. Hmmm. And I'm breathing my backup? Weird, I must have switched..." The second time was marginally more calm and collected... )