I think it has the opposite effect … you have to work harder to breathe. The easier it is to breathe, and the more you are able to relax, the longer your air will last.
Unknown Praising my Instructors
- Thread starter CrazyIdahoan
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I think it has the opposite effect … you have to work harder to breathe. The easier it is to breathe, and the more you are able to relax, the longer your air will last.
Get a your whole reg set examined, tested, stripped down and adjusted. Have the tech explain the test results and show the results to you. Have them show you all the controls and what they do.
For sure your regs are not working as expected. It should not be possible to over breath a working regulator fully pressurized.
Congratulations on following your training to resolve to difficult situation. Thank you for sharing!
For sure your regs are not working as expected. It should not be possible to over breath a working regulator fully pressurized.
Congratulations on following your training to resolve to difficult situation. Thank you for sharing!
I've never dived Guam and don't know the sites.
Kudos for making it back alive and sharing your experience.
Equipment issues aside, did you check tide timetables and assess when the best time to dive is on that day?
Kudos for making it back alive and sharing your experience.
Equipment issues aside, did you check tide timetables and assess when the best time to dive is on that day?
OP
CrazyIdahoan
New
Guam is great. Lots of easy sites to get to...especially with a military ID. Most of the best shore dive sites are on the Navy Base and have great outdoor showers and dive access stairs.
We did check the tide tables. Started the dive about 1.5 hours before high tide that was predicted to only have a difference of 9 inches from the low tide so current should have been near zero and the water clear (it was). We have done dives at that location in the past and swam into what is normally the prevailing current. We have also done boat dives nearby outside the bay and always drifted in the same direction so we thought we were swimming into a light current.
Got the set back from the shop today. Set was tested and adjusted. Found the IP was low and crack pressure was high. Tech opened it up but didn't find any problems. He made adjustments to the proper ranges and we walked through how to adjust the knobs. He let me breath through it at the bench and it did feel a LOT easier to breath. I'll be taking it out this weekend to a place where the max depth is only 20 ft and my buddy agreed to help me check it out. If everything checks out we'll go to a deeper dive site and check it out again.
Glad everything worked out. My last duty station was Guam, before I retired. Just some advice, while you’re there make time to go to Saipan, Truk (Chuuk), Palau etc. It’s so much easier to do when you’re so close. I didn’t do it and I regret it.
Umuntu is right, I just want to give a little more context....
Sometimes second stages have one or two kinds of adjustments:
One is Venturi control, which is meant to make the regulator a little less prone to a free-flow when out of your mouth on the surface (think: on a long swim-out). You move it into the "restricted" position to prevent the free-flow until you are ready to dive, then you move it to the unrestricted position so that the Venturi affect is such that the air is flowing straight into your mouth.
The second is a "work of breathing" adjustment. Turned in, it's harder to inhale. Turned out (or open), and it's easier to breathe.
As somebody said, sometimes these are "combined into one control.
To share my opinion....I've always preferred second stages without these features....although the Venturi control is minimally problematic. If you are on the surface a lot, you can be a little more careless with where the second is when it's out of your mouth if you are in the habit of flipping the Venturi "off." Over the years, some manufacturers have presented this feature as a "Pre-Dive/Dive" setting. (ScubaPro D-series regs for one). Very high performance regs can blast air like a banshee!
The Work of Breathing adjustment has always baffled me. I can think of no normal circumstance where I would want to make it more difficult to breathe. (to Umuntu's point) The operative word there is "Work" of Breathing. If you have to work harder, you'll use more energy and need more air. Turning UP the Work of Breathing to save air will likely cause you to use more air. The only credible scenario anyone has ever offered to me that makes any sense is that it's helpful to be able to detune the reg if the seal in the second stage starts leaking a bit during a dive. OK. Maybe.... But here's the thing. That adjustment knob works by tightening and loosening a seat in the second stage. That action of tightening and loosening causes wear, which contributes to leaks over time. SO the knob CAUSES the problem. Proper annual (or more) maintenance can prevent that, but leaving the think wide open is the best idea.
It used to be common for us to remove this adjustment from our ScubaPro G250s (effectively turning them into G250Bs) to reduce this failure point. A properly tuned reg without the adjustment breathes just as nicely as one with it.
I think the reason these features have endured is the same reason why you don't see a lot of stripped-down "work trucks" on the lot at your local Ford or Chevy dealer. People like options, and dealers and manufactures like to give people what they want.
Anyway, kudos for asking for information, and enjoy the diving on Guam. I was there for many years, and miss the easy and variety of diving at your doorstep. Also try to get up to Saipan and Rota if you have the chance. Of course, Palau and Chuuk are close too,,,,but get some more dives under your belt first!
Happy Bubbles,
Nathan Dent
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