Reason for near miss in Mexico???

[deeze]

Hey Guys... I was in Mexico last week diving some really beautiful locations but had a strange thing happen during one dive. After about 15 minutes and at about 80 feet my air gauge started to move wildly during breaths. When I'd inhale it would move from 2000 psi to about 800 psi. Breathing was labored and pretty difficult. I moved up to 20 feet and continued the dive because I could easily move to the surface if I ran out of air. Even at that depth the same thing happened and finally ran out of air at 15 feet (as I was expecting) while the gauge was jumping from 1000 psi to 300 psi during each breath. Tank valve was totally open. Anyone know what was happening? Dive master seemed lost but I was in Mexico after all with rental equipment. I'll post some awesome videos on Youtube soon and share.

I should note. Right before my last breathe my gauge showed 600 psi (as I held my breath). One more breath and it was out. I was holding the gauge right in front of my face and I knew it was coming.

 

[tedj01]

Dip tube inside tank may have been partially clogged.
Another thing did you check filter on first stage and orifice of valve before installing reg?
Oh one more thing did you let some air out of tank before installing reg?

Any of these could possibly block flow of air.

Did you remove reg after dive and open tank valve to see if air flowed w.o restriction?

Just some guesses!

 

[mislav]

Wow, never heard of that happening before unless the valve wasn't fully open. Glad to hear you handled the situation so well.

Post those vids and welcome to the board!

Oh one more thing did you let some air out of tank before installing reg?

Any of these could possibly block flow of air.

How does this have any effect on air flow? I don't know much about these things.

 

[Ocean One]

Looks like another good reason to own your own gear! Not much you can do about travelling with a tank, but if you have your own gear your darn sure going to know that's it's well maintained and working before you go on your trip and get in the water.
Iv've seen enopugh rental gear in that area to know, I'd never dive with it!!!
Glad all went well and you made to surface safely...

 

[drew52]

Wow, never heard of that happening before unless the valve wasn't fully open. Glad to hear you handled the situation so well.

Post those vids and welcome to the board!


How does this have any effect on air flow? I don't know much about these things.

Well if there is something blocking the valve when you open the tank and let some air out this should be forced away/out of the valve.

If you just stick your reg on this stuff will just get forced into the filter and could cause a blockage.

 

[Spike_Digger]

Dip tube inside tank may have been partially clogged.
Another thing did you check filter on first stage and orifice of valve before installing reg?
Oh one more thing did you let some air out of tank before installing reg?

Any of these could possibly block flow of air.

Do you normally let some air out of the tanks before installing your regs? I assume this is to blow any debris out of the way? I don't do this, but wonder if I should.

 

[oly5050user]

heard this before in cozumel..turns out diver used a steel tank that had rust in it so badly that rust was flaking off that it clogged right up to the dip tube..

 

[mislav]

Well if there is something blocking the valve when you open the tank and let some air out this should be forced away/out of the valve.

If you just stick your reg on this stuff will just get forced into the filter and could cause a blockage.

Ah well, that makes sense. Thanks, I misunderstood what he meant to say.

 

[LAJim]

If I had wild pressure readings on my SPG I would immediately call for an air share from my team mate on the premise that my reg. could stop breathing at any moment. I would then do a valve drill to determine that the tank was indeed fully on. If this did not correct the problem (based on purging my reg. while looking at the SPG), I would then thumb the dive and ascend to 30 /20/10 ft. for 3 minutes of deco, surface and start waving for the boat.

Swimming hard and being excited at 20 ft. could still cause sudden loss of consciousness from a CO2 tox if the reg. failed in a manner that made breathing difficult. Continuing the dive (even at 20 ft.) after breaking up the team was the wrong strategy. I could make comments about foreign rental gear too, but these are self-evident.

 

[jon m]

i,also would have thumbed the dive....