Power inflator stuck on
- Thread starter dumpsterDiver
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That sounds like a great idea. Take his air2 and start hitting all the buttons on it.
Latro
Registered
I experience a stuck infator a few weeks ago. I was at about 30 ft in Monterey when I pushed the inflate button to slow my desent. The button stuck. After a second or two of 'what the hell?' I disconected the inflator hose and looked up to see the surface very near. I just decided to surface and went to the boat where the captain replaced my valve with one from an unused BC and I continued the dive. Now I have experience. Like everything else in life, if this has never happend to you, when it does happen, it happens quickly. Fortunately, I was not injured and if this occurs again I will probably be able to react in a positive manner faster thanks to eperience.
When I got home I examined the valve and found a little residue or deposit from hard water. (We have very hard water in Gilroy). A little vinegar soak and all is good.
Check your valves from time to time and look for a buildup of mineral deposts. This could come from where you dive or, as in my case, from the rinse water.
When I got home I examined the valve and found a little residue or deposit from hard water. (We have very hard water in Gilroy). A little vinegar soak and all is good.
Check your valves from time to time and look for a buildup of mineral deposts. This could come from where you dive or, as in my case, from the rinse water.
charlesml3
Contributor
We can all sit here all day, all week and identify one hypothetical scenario after another. Including the mythical attack from the giant killer squid.
Show me some data. Post a credible account. Hypothetical situations and "I heard of this guy once..." are worthless.
I suppose my inflator could go bad forcing me to disconnect it, AND my primary 2nd stage could go bad AND I couldn't find my buddy ALL at the SAME TIME.
Seriously now, what are the odds? If that kind of thing is going to keep you up then you need to quit diving now.
-Charles
Post a credible account. Hypothetical situations and "I heard of this guy once..." are worthless.
- charles
Charles, several people have posted personal accounts on this thread. You said that you like your octo-inflator. And yo posested your position. That's fine. Other people don't like them and they are posting their concerns. That's what this forum is for.
- charles
Charles, several people have posted personal accounts on this thread. You said that you like your octo-inflator. And yo posested your position. That's fine. Other people don't like them and they are posting their concerns. That's what this forum is for.
Actually, on the contrary, I haven't seen any postings of personal experience with a stuck integrated octo-inflator (which is what Charles is asking about, I believe). I *have* seen postings on stuck standard inflators (in fact the Halcyon stainless inflator had a known issue with sticking).
Without trying to be smug, I'm genuinely interested myself if anyone has ever had personal experience with a stuck integrated octo. I've never heard of it, or seen it. I used an Atomic SS1 for years (as did/does my wife -- she *still* uses hers), and neither of us ever had an issue (and it breathed almost as well as my primary B2, which breathes *extremely* well -- I have no experience with the Air2).
It's not you that you should be concerned with, it's your buddy. You lose the inflator, you lose an alternate air source to lend your buddy should he/she have a problem. I never mentioned anything about "I heard about some guy...".
Look, if every one of us had to rely on personal accounts of why specific gear configs didn't work, there would be a lot more fatalities in the sport. Why do you think everyone dives w/ a back-up? Has everyone had a buddy die from OOG or had a major Charlie Foxtrot during a air-share? No, we learn from the experiences of others so we can avoid the situation. These lessons are built into training, acknowledged as the norm, etc. Same thing goes here. If you think about the different failure modes and the potential consequences of that failure, it gives you a lot of information about how to configure your gear.
One thing you learn during technical training is that serious accidents/fatalities usually don't occur when any one thing fails, but the downward spiral of cascading consequences and bad decisions that can result from them. When you put several eggs in one basket, the consequences of a single failure are compounded and can more easily trigger that spiral. That's more than enough to tell me that these things do not jive with me or the type of diving that I do. I'll repeat that if it works for you, and you are comfortable w/ them, knock yourself out. But you don't need actual first-person accounts of a major *******-up to know that these have the potential to be more dangerous than a conventional configuration. I know this logic is lost on you, hopefully YOU won't have to figure it out for yourself first-hand.
15-20 years ago I had a momentary stuck inflator button a time or two on a 2nd generation Scubapro AIr II (momentary tapping unstuck the button), If I recall correctly the button was partly redesigned in the 3rd generation Air II that was introduced around 1990, I think they are now on the 5th generation.
The first generation Air 2 made in the late 70's /early 80's was a very bulky complex contraption, and very different in design than the newer models (it is also one of the few models of regulators scubapro dropped support on fairly soon after being discontinued.
Well, I posted before that I had an almost-instabuddy who dove sans Air2 because his regs did not have an inflator hose compatible with a rental BC. Not only did that mean he had to orally inflate to adjust his buoyancy, but it also meant he had no backup reg available for himself or for me.
I don't think worrying about multiple failures is a reason to stop diving. I do think selecting gear that prevents or reduces the possibility of cascading failures is the way I want to approach diving.
That said, the majority of divers I've seen use an Air2 and do just fine with it. I've never personally seen anyone outside of a DM actually breathe off one during an air share and concurrently adjust buoyancy via their BC, and I wonder how many Air2 users have practiced doing so or are even aware that they would be task-loaded in such a way if they did have to breathe off the Air2.
I have no problems buddying with an Air2 user so long as they're aware and have the presence of mind to donate their primary and go to their Air2 in case I have a gas emergency.
I don't think worrying about multiple failures is a reason to stop diving. I do think selecting gear that prevents or reduces the possibility of cascading failures is the way I want to approach diving.
That said, the majority of divers I've seen use an Air2 and do just fine with it. I've never personally seen anyone outside of a DM actually breathe off one during an air share and concurrently adjust buoyancy via their BC, and I wonder how many Air2 users have practiced doing so or are even aware that they would be task-loaded in such a way if they did have to breathe off the Air2.
I have no problems buddying with an Air2 user so long as they're aware and have the presence of mind to donate their primary and go to their Air2 in case I have a gas emergency.
Good point... and 2 points for my original OW instructor.
Her LDS liked to outfit her students with SS1s. We all, therefore, dove them for our cert training. During buddy exercises we were all made to practice dumping air slowly on ascent (with AND without using the octo-inflator), via corrugated hose or corner pull dumps, after making sure everyone identified and was familiar with their own... We then practiced buddy OOA ascents, finning up and dumping using the previously practiced methods...
I've never had to do it real time... however, I know I've successfully done it... and that it can be done...
Like anything else... practice=familiarity, and reduces possible task loading...
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