Ran out of air today...

[openmindOW]

I was the air donor on a dive charter in the Florida Keys. Buddy was my daughter on her third open-water dive. I was happy to help, and glad that I was there. She was pretty rattled. The gauge showed almost 800 psi. On an empty tank. I showed this malfunctioning rental gauge to the boat driver. Without saying a word he picked two 4-lb. weights out of the crate. Set one of the weights on the deck, placed the offending gauge on top of it and used the other weight as a hammer to crush the gauge to death. My daughter used his personal rig for the next dive.

Wow. Thank you for sharing your story. I hope that your daughter is still diving.

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

...I'm a bit old school, but I was taught to look at the gauge to confirm it reads zero and then turn it away from you (no longer neccesary as new SPG's don't decontruct the way the old ones did if they fail), pressurize it and then look and confirm that the tank reads full as expected. In this case you probably would have noted the gauge at 30 bar with the reg depressurized and that would have been a much more obvious indicator of the gauge failure than the excessively full tank reading....

This is how I was taught. I still "check for zero, turn SPG away, pressurize, then check pressure" each dive.

El Orans, if you are still reading this thread: Do you remember checking the gauge before pressurizing it? What would be especially spooky is if this type of failure happened during the dive, thus could not be easily checked for...

Best wishes.

 

[diverrick]

I check it before turning it on to confirm Zero, and then while on to confirm full tank, then check to see that there is no drop while inhaling. Turn it off to confirm that it returns to zero. and always turn the gauge away from you, and not towrads others, IE towards your BC. Don;t forget to turn it back on before dropping in.

 

[fppf]

Sorry .. but if you feel the need to suck a tank dry at 15 feet to prevent DCS, your diving WAY too close to the edge. That also goes for anyone who needs to buddy breath from 15 feet as well.. because their gauge was off for what ever reason.
Just not a good way to dive..IMHO. You could ascend just as easy from 15 FSW by simply breathing out.
What is abundantly clear is I am not going to change your opnions, no matter what, so like I said before "To each thier own".

The last 15 feet of your accent is the most critical part. The pressure change is 50% from 15 feet to the surface. That means, the volume of any gas bubbles will also increase in size by 50%.

The whole reason behind "safety stops" at 10-20 feet is to allow your very fast tissue groups to clear out, IE your blood. It takes about 2 minutes for the blood to run through the body, hence the 3 minutes.

 

[Doc Harry]

A friend of mine once let me use his 2nd car when my car broke down. He didn't tell me that the needle on the gas gauge would drop and then stick at 1/4 tank. I ran out of gas on a busy Los Angeles freeway with the gauge reading 1/4 tank!

 

[LeadTurn_SD]

Sorry .. but if you feel the need to suck a tank dry at 15 feet to prevent DCS, your diving WAY too close to the edge. That also goes for anyone who needs to buddy breath from 15 feet as well.. because their gauge was off for what ever reason.
Just not a good way to dive..IMHO. You could ascend just as easy from 15 FSW by simply breathing out.
What is abundantly clear is I am not going to change your opnions, no matter what, so like I said before "To each thier own".

I'm really not trying to argue, but this is actually a fairly important safety topic we are discussing, so I'm going to try again:

I think one (or both) of us is missing the point the other is trying to make. We might actually agree and be trying to express the same thought... But it sounds like from a deco standpoint we are on totally different pages...

I agree that surfacing with less than 500lbs in many dive situations is cutting it too close. I'm not advocating cutting it that close, nor do I regularly do that. But I have surfaced with about 300lbs a few times, sometimes less than that.

I often felt like I had really screwed up my dive plan when I did surface with <500 lbs .... but I did not hesitate to stay down at 15' for an extra few minutes, in total safety, to make sure I had off-gassed as much as possible. Situations that would make me take an extra long stop would be increased, unexpected exertion during the dive, feeling a little cold, maybe feeling a little dehydrated, or maybe just a "feeling" that it might be a good idea. All these dives were well within "NDL", and in theory I could have surfaced "safely" at any time, without a safety stop. I just thought it was a good idea, based on the dive and how I was feeling that day.

Again, the "back on board with at least 500 lbs" rule is good in theory, but often very foolish in practice. Take the time you need, if you think you need it. If you need the extra time, take it, even if it means going to your buddy's back up reg, as El Orans did.

By the way, well done in handling the unexpected OOA El Orans.

Best wishes.

 

[scubadude79]

Good to hear all turned out fine. Now toss that DIR ZONE gauge and get a good air intergrated computer.

My setup has both an air integrated computer (wireless) and a simple SPG for backup.
Part of my pre-dive check list is to make sure my SPG says ZERO before turning on air, and then comparing the SPG to the computer for air pressure comparison.
This gives you a method to verify accuracy of your computer since the transmitter can too need calibration. Less

Thanks for the story!

 

[Thalassamania]

Thalass - and where can I get ahold of this publication? Sounds interesting, and I'ld like to read it. Is it related in any way to AAUS?
Thanks

Get it from Best Books. AAUS relationship was indirect, this is the international standard prepared for UNESCO.

The code, developed by CMAS (an organization with consultative status with UNESCO), focuses on the conduct and administration of safe and efficient scientific diving in various environmental and laboratory settings. The advisory text is written for informed divers, diving officers, scientific project leaders, and senior administrators responsible for diving programs. Covers international and national law, organization, training, medical examinations, equipment, and safety; includes bibliography.
(Paperback: 278 pages) ISBN:0-941332-51-9

Sorry .. but if you feel the need to suck a tank dry at 15 feet to prevent DCS, your diving WAY too close to the edge.

Given the stochastic nature of DCS, it has nothing to do with how close I am to the edge, since no one can say, for any given moment, ust where the edge doth lay.

That also goes for anyone who needs to buddy breath from 15 feet as well.. because their gauge was off for what ever reason.

It is always good to follow SOP, even when it is not required by the situation. And buddy breathing is a completely different thing.

Just not a good way to dive..IMHO. You could ascend just as easy from 15 FSW by simply breathing out.

Follow the SOP.

What is abundantly clear is I am not going to change your opnions, no matter what, so like I said before "To each thier own".

"To each thier own" is just so much BS., My opinions are easily changed by the presentation of new data and/or good reasoning and analysis, none of which have you offered.

 

[TSandM]

That also goes for anyone who needs to buddy breath from 15 feet as well.. because their gauge was off for what ever reason.
Just not a good way to dive..IMHO. You could ascend just as easy from 15 FSW by simply breathing out

Isn't that funny? I read the account, and my first reaction was how lovely it was that they initiated an air-share and still spent 2 full minutes ascending from safety stop depth. It's my personal opinion that everybody should be able to do that as a matter of course, and for that reason, we rarely announce such drills in the pre-dive briefing. All of my buddies know that a surprise air-share is fair game at any point in almost any dive, so nobody gets excited about doing one, and we all remain facile with the procedure.

Although I do not do it routinely or even often, I have had dives where we have loitered in the shallows below 500 psi, because the viz was unusually fabulous or because we found something particularly fascinating to admire or photograph. I don't recommend it as good practice, but as I am within one breath of the surface at such times, and also know I have readily available gas around me, I don't worry about it very much. One of these days, I may also have the uncomfortable experience of finding a hose dry when the gauge doesn't think it should be!

Thank you all for the reminder to check that the gauge reads zero, before you check that it reads full.

 

[lamont]

I often felt like I had really screwed up my dive plan when I did surface with <500 lbs ....

Yes.

The point is to surface with >= 500 psi and without any fear of DCS-induced paralysis or loss of sexual function (as thal so dramatically invoked).

If you screw that up, either way, you've screwed up the dive. Arguing over which one is better to screw up is kind of pointless.