Power inflator stuck on

[HullBlister]

I'm still waiting for George Irwin to jump in here...

Blister

 

[Thalassamania]

I think at this point Rich would like that video to gently fade into the past.

 

[charlesml3]

I know lotsa people dislike the Air 2 for a variety of reasons.

So have I, and not one of them makes any sense.

- "If I have to disconnect the hose, I've lost my redundant 2nd." No, you can use your buddie's octo in that case.

- "An octo-inflator adds complexity and therefore it isn't as safe." Please. If anything, it REDUCES complexity by combining two things into one.

- "An octo-inflator offers nothing in terms of safety." OK, but it offers nothing in terms of danger either.

-Charles

 

[charlesml3]

Another problem I found is in practicing the use of the air2 from 60 feed to vent the BC on the way up I had to remove my reg from my mouth, vent, clear the reg and continue. This, in an emergency situation, can ad additional task loading that "could" increase risk.

LavaSurfer : You listed yourself as an Instructor in your Bio and yet you don't know that your BC has more than one way to vent air on an ascent? I'm not an instructor and I can easily breate from my Octo-Inflator and pull the shoulder dump at the same time.

-Charles

 

[battles2a5]

So have I, and not one of them makes any sense.

- "If I have to disconnect the hose, I've lost my redundant 2nd." No, you can use your buddie's octo in that case.

Then what does your buddy use if he has a problem?

- "An octo-inflator offers nothing in terms of safety." OK, but it offers nothing in terms of danger either.

I think a few of us have clearly outlined the added dangers (including the one I mention above). If you don't see it as a risk then by all means dive with one.

 

[HullBlister]

I wont dive with an Air2. I'm sure they work, but they don't fit my style.

I have dove with a few that have them. It seems to me that if you are going to do that, and use your primary to donate, that you should at least be on a long (5-7 foot) hose. The ones I have seen in use continue to just use a 22" for the primary. I don't like most people enough to have them that close to me when I am giving them gas.

Blister

 

[BKP]

But then I've never bought the big blue H.

Only the stainless version from what I understand...

And... you're probably correct about Rich Pyle's vid... (but it's soooo funny...)

One other failure I *have* seen often, and haven't seen mentioned here (in fact it happened to me two weeks ago)... blown o-ring... (and probably an argument for DIN valves over yoke). Although, that's not actually inflator-specific...

 

[dumpsterDiver]

Ok, not sure where to start here but heregoes:

- I would not be diving an Air2, so this is purely speculation, but no. You would not just instantly pop it off. If you are at a shallow stop and it goes, if you don't go head down and get control of the situation like I described before you are most likely going to go ascend above the deco ceiling during the process. If you have ninja-like speed then you might be able to catch it but using the procedure I described before you have the benefit of a wide-open dump AND full propulsion to keep you at least level while you shut down. It is much better to go deeper for a few seconds than to go above your ceiling (may need to switch to backgas in the process, but big deal). Then you can disconnect, open the valve and get on w/ your deco.
- In the second scenario, no you wouldn't breathe from the .

Well I disagree, I honestly think that I could remain vertical, pull down on the inflator hose (which opens the exhaust valve) and unconnect the inflator collar faster than someone else can shut down a tank valve (and sumultaneously swim down while pulling a rear dump string). A disconnect takes only an instant (once it is located); shuttting down a valve takes several turns of the wrist...


It sounds like you have thought out the scenario, which is good. I just wonder if your prejudice against the Air 2 is affecting your thought process about how quick and easy a disconnect can be with the big AIR 2 collar. When you pull the collar back, the inflator is actually shot away from the hose via pneumatic pressure in an instant.

 

[Bottomfeeder Brodie]

I heard nightmares about Air2's so I bought a TUSA IR-3 and modified it to fit my Probe LX....so far so good except for a little tap here and there for sand drags.....but hey...what do you want for a hundred bucks....its one of 3 regs I carry...clutter on my BC sucks so I dont allow it

 

[captndale]

I will relate a runaway Inflator incident that took place during my trimix training almost 15 years ago:

There was a time when some technical divers were using wing inflators equipped with Air2 connectors. Air2 connectors are capable of much higher air flows than the standard BC inflator connector. At extreme depths, a standard connector seems to take forever to inflate your wings to achieve neutral buoyancy, especially if you descend at maximum speed like many tech divers like to do. By using a connector with a larger internal diameter, you can use your inflator like a break to stop your descent and level off. The trade-off is that if it freezes open it can flow truly amazing amounts of gas and fill your wings to overflowing in seconds.

On one particular shipwreck dive in Whitefish Bay, Lake Superior we were just descending on a 240 foot trimix dive in 38 deg water. As we passed through 120 feet, following the mooring line down my instructor's BC inflator froze open. He sensed a runaway inflator immediately and went to disconnect his suit and BC inflators - not knowing immediately which inflator was causing the problem. He got his suit inflator disconnected with one hand as he caught the down line with his other hand. The inflator took off so fast that he had to grab the down line with his other hand too. We, his students, saw a massive cloud of bubbles with our instructor nearly hidden in the middle. He was holding onto the line with both hands and had his legs wrapped around the line as well. His wings, OMS 100 lb lift, were fully inflated. It took a minute for us to figure out exactly what was happening, get his inflator disconnected and his wings dumped.

To me, this was a very good object lesson as to why you need to be able to disconnect your inflator quickly and why high flow connectors are not a very good idea.