Sticking HP gauge

[griffindm]

I'm a new member here, and a recent OWD diver as well (11/03). On my 5th OW dive, done in the Bahamas in September 04, I had a OOA incident at about 45 feet that gave me a start. I was diving with rental gear, which IMHO looked a lot worse than anything I have used before. At first they gave us reg sets without depth gauges, which we returned, asking for sets with full gauges. Admittedly, my experience was limited to gear rented on an into dive in Grand Cayman, my local dive shop, and a dive in Crystal River, FL. It was my first OW salt water dive, with lots of distractions in the surroundings, and I failed to check my pressure as frequently as I should have. Fortunately my buddy was right with me, and when I started drawing hard we shared air via his octo to 15 foot without incident. My HP gauge still showed plenty of air left, and my octo alternate was equally dry. After following the group below back to the boat, the DM in the group had me switch to his octo at the boat safety stop. I was drawing a lot of water from his octo. After head tilting and tongue blocking unsuccessfully to keep the water at bay, I chose to surface at that time. I had already spent 5 minutes at 15 foot following the group from above back to the boat combined with my time at the stop. At the surface, an inspection showed that his octo mouthpiece was cracked 1/2 way through.

I've learned to check my gauges more frequently and suspect trouble if air consumption is not following to pattern. I also began checking my gauges by pressuring them and drawing them down with the air off just to make sure they work going down as well as up. I was pleased that my training paid off in keeping my head and thinking, rather than making a panicky response, and that my buddy was equally rational. I was probably the most upset on the condition of the DM's octo than anything else that happened. I did report the incident to the cruise ship that sponsored the dive shop, as well as to PADI, which certified the shop.

I was looking for some more experienced insights here on the reliablity of equipment and rental gear in general, as well as suggestions on other things to learn from the experience.

Thanks.

 

[wedivebc]

I'm a new member here, and a recent OWD diver as well (11/03). On my 5th OW dive, done in the Bahamas in September 04, I had a OOA incident at about 45 feet that gave me a start. I was diving with rental gear, which IMHO looked a lot worse than anything I have used before. At first they gave us reg sets without depth gauges, which we returned, asking for sets with full gauges. Admittedly, my experience was limited to gear rented on an into dive in Grand Cayman, my local dive shop, and a dive in Crystal River, FL. It was my first OW salt water dive, with lots of distractions in the surroundings, and I failed to check my pressure as frequently as I should have. Fortunately my buddy was right with me, and when I started drawing hard we shared air via his octo to 15 foot without incident. My HP gauge still showed plenty of air left, and my octo alternate was equally dry. After following the group below back to the boat, the DM in the group had me switch to his octo at the boat safety stop. I was drawing a lot of water from his octo. After head tilting and tongue blocking unsuccessfully to keep the water at bay, I chose to surface at that time. I had already spent 5 minutes at 15 foot following the group from above back to the boat combined with my time at the stop. At the surface, an inspection showed that his octo mouthpiece was cracked 1/2 way through.

I've learned to check my gauges more frequently and suspect trouble if air consumption is not following to pattern. I also began checking my gauges by pressuring them and drawing them down with the air off just to make sure they work going down as well as up. I was pleased that my training paid off in keeping my head and thinking, rather than making a panicky response, and that my buddy was equally rational. I was probably the most upset on the condition of the DM's octo than anything else that happened. I did report the incident to the cruise ship that sponsored the dive shop, as well as to PADI, which certified the shop.

I was looking for some more experienced insights here on the reliablity of equipment and rental gear in general, as well as suggestions on other things to learn from the experience.

Thanks.

It is a shame that the least experienced divers end up with the scariest rental gear. I think you learned an important lesson about equipment care and the importance of regular servicing. Scary rental equipment is not uncommon unfortunately and so it it VERY important you inspect the gear carefully before it leaves the shop.
You should perform tests like hooking up the scuba unit and inflating the bcd, checking air pressure then shut off tank valve while listening for leaks and watching the spg. Then purge the reg and watch the spg fall. A quick look at the mouthpiece will tell you its condition. All these checks can be performed in a couple of minutes and will find some of the more common problems.
If diving is a sport you really enjoy I promise you will enjoy it even more when you buy some nice made to fit, personal dive gear. Continue to ask questions here on scubaboard and from other divers. And keep diving.

 

[Diver0001]

...snip...

I was looking for some more experienced insights here on the reliablity of equipment and rental gear in general, as well as suggestions on other things to learn from the experience.

Thanks.

Well.... I have done a lot of backpacking and I've rented a lot of gear in my travels and I've had had both regs, and BCD's literally fall apart under water.

Once I had a regulator that absolutely *full* of sand. It didn't show up on the buddy check because it caked dry on the inside of the regulator housing. During the dive it came loose and I very nearly choked on it. Another time I had a BCD literally fall to pieces under water and had to hold on to the tank with my hands to keep it from floating away..... I've also seen the usual array of mouthpieces chewed to bits, broken tie-wraps causing the mouthpiece to leak or in one case fall off completely during the dive and a wide variety of things that leaked where they shouldn't be leaking......

The one thing I've never had is a sticky spg but I did get a depth gauge once where the needle didn't start moving until we were 15 ft under water...... I happened to notice it but I wonder how many divers before me were 15ft deeper than they thought they were during the whole dive.....

It didn't take me too many of these kinds of experiences before I learned to be very very picky about rental gear. I don't rent stuff very often any more but when I do I inspect it as if my life depended on it :11:

R..

 

[Rick Murchison]

I don't rent stuff very often any more but when I do I inspect it as if my life depended on it :11:

R..

Yep...
Rick

 

[Xman]

..........I've learned to check my gauges more frequently and suspect trouble if air consumption is not following to pattern. I also began checking my gauges by pressuring them and drawing them down with the air off just to make sure they work going down as well as up.......

Scary experience, but it seems like you've learned the most important lesson already.
You should be checking your SPG frequently enough, and be observant enough about the readings throughout the dive, that not looking at, or a malfunctioning spg should NEVER be the cause of an OOA. This means that you should always know how much air you have (spg working) or should very quickly realise when your spg has malfunctioned, and call the dive right then, before your air supply becomes a problem.

Congratulations on dealing with it in a calm and sensible fashion.

Also, it sounds like the DM was not doing their job properly. The DM should be damn sure that all of their equipment (especially life support equipment) is in good working order before setting out for the dive. Not good.

Xavier

 

[lostinspace]

You should perform tests like hooking up the scuba unit and inflating the bcd, checking air pressure then shut off tank valve while listening for leaks and watching the spg. Then purge the reg and watch the spg fall. A quick look at the mouthpiece will tell you its condition. All these checks can be performed in a couple of minutes and will find some of the more common problems.

I do all of this each and every time before I dive, even with my own kit. Except I don't purge the reg, I breathe it down. That way I can check when the real OOA reading is for this particular gauge/hose/tank combination.
I always check I can manually inflate my BCD.
Especially at resorts where they set your kit up for you I empty the dump valves to check there's no stickiness or sand and that they work, and the BCD is not full of water.
And I do my buddy checks: BARE - Bouyancy (inflate/deflate/valve dump/valve dump/manual inflate) Air (x number bar/breathe in out through reg/tastes good/no fluctuations/octopus in out/tastes good/no fluctuations) Releases (chest strap/waist strap/shoulder straps/weights) Equipment (computer/gauge/watch/depth gauge/knife/reel/DSMB/mask/fins/snorkel)
Yes, I get funny looks, but it takes only 60 seconds when up to speed and can easily be done whilst getting to the dive site on the boat.
And the checks have saved me many a time from jumping in without my air switched on, or forgetting to put my mask on, or forgetting my weights.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Also doing a negative pressure check on a reg will avoid getting a mouth full of water from a reg with a cracked housing or leaking diaphragm. Simply suck on the reg while it's connected to the tank with the air off and no air in the reg/hoses. When you do this you should get no air at all. If you do, it means there's a leak.

You would have been better off had your DM done this.

 

[Web Monkey]

The bad part about rental gear is that you have no idea what you're getting.

You can get a regulator that looks like it just came out of the box, but is actually completely corroded inside and may stick open, closed, leak or do any number of bad things.

If you think you like SCUBA, you should start buying your own stuff, so you know what kind of shape it's in. I'd start with a regulator and gauges or computer.

If you want to save some money, you can buy used, since a first-class used regulator that you have serviced properly will work just as good as a it did when it was new. The only possible catch here is that some manufacturers provide lifetime free parts, but only to the original purchaser.

Terry

I was looking for some more experienced insights here on the reliablity of equipment and rental gear in general, as well as suggestions on other things to learn from the experience.

Thanks.

 

[Brian Gilpin]

I was probably the most upset on the condition of the DM's octo than anything else that happened. I did report the incident to the cruise ship that sponsored the dive shop, as well as to PADI, which certified the shop.

I was looking for some more experienced insights here on the reliablity of equipment and rental gear in general, as well as suggestions on other things to learn from the experience.

Thanks.

This is why so many of us on this board believe in donating your primary.The OOA diver is usually not as ready to handle problems as you were and needs to get a good reg the first time. You know its working cause you are breathing from it!

Great job keeping calm. This is exactly the type of cascading error situation that could have led to disaster even for a seasoned diver.Ckeck out the DIR forum or check out long hoses for a more detailed analysis of why donating an octo is not the best alternative.

 

[wedivebc]

The only possible catch here is that some manufacturers provide lifetime free parts, but only to the original purchaser.

Terry

Don't get too hung up on that. Depending on the reg, service parts kits run about $15 and you still pay for the labour.