MikeFerrara:
No. Hit the deflator and disconnect at the same time ideally.
wait to dump. For a fact, not always true though it depends on the inflator design and the failure mode. Divers who have this happen definately do rocket up
I agree but any diver should be able to dive without a power inflator. As I said, this is a failure we've seen a number of times. Taking the reg out of your mouth momentarilly shouldn't be a big deal.
Thanks for dissecting my post line by line. If it's one or the other, I'll disconnect my LP hose first though. You have two problems - air going into BC and air in BC making you positive. Disconnecting LP hose solves first problem completely, freeing you to work the second problem. Venting BC solves the second problem completely, situation resolved. If you vent first and find you can't vent faster than air is going in, you've wasted time and are now in a real jam.
But... if you'll notice I also said "practice this until it's basically one motion" so I essentially agree that you do both at the same time.
I'm a diver who had this happen and I definitely did not rocket up.
The only part you said that doesn't make much sense to me is that often excessive buoyancy is what one notices first. I find that power inflator rather noisy, I can not only hear mine well with a hood but also my buddy's. If I press the button and hear the hiss, let go of button and continue hearing the hiss, I'll know in about 1 second that there is a problem. Maybe because I've had this problem I'm more observant than most but I typically hold the inflator a few seconds after I release the button to ensure it isn't sticking.
But it's not like I'm constantly hitting the inflator button throughout a dive, typically a few times on descent and to level out at bottom depth.
Now maybe that is where we are differing. If someone cannot hear the sound or is oblivious to it, and the first sign they get is when they wonder why everybody else is sinking so fast, then maybe they better vent immediately.
My advice to not dive with disconnected LP hose was not to say that one should be dependent on it. Of course you need to know how to be comfortable with manual inflation. The point was that the power inflator should be there as an option and not to begin a dive with faulty equipment.