stream of bubbles from drysuit valve

[billt4sf]

Yesterday I noticed a steady stream of small (maybe 1/8" as they first appeared) bubbles coming from Emily's drysuit inflator valve. Our LDS said it was most likely a O-ring that needs to be replaced. Would it be OK to continue a dive with this situation?

We stopped the dive because this was the third "strike" -- three seemingly-minor things that weren't right. The other two were that she was a) upset, and b) cold. When I saw the bubbles, I figured, "OK we're done today". We had had a great first dive and I didn't want to tempt fate. But could we have continued if that were the only issue?

Thanks,

Bill

 

[3D diver]

Personally I have a "no questions asked" policy about calling a dive---if you want to stop, stop.

This was just one of several things stressing you out, and stress is a safety issue too. Any one thing may be OK, but these things can add up so it's best to stop while they are under control, IMHO.

Oh...and I'd just exited when you were heading in...with the surge building as it was, you'd have had a roller coaster dive anyway.

 

[Mr Carcharodon]

If your dry suit was not leaking you most likely could have continued. You were a little vague about how frequently the bubbles were appearing but if you do the calculations you will likely find this was a insignificant amount of gas. I have had similar issues with spool o-rings and taking apart the valve and cleaning it will likely resolve the issue. It could be the o-ring is damaged so you might as well replace it if the valve is being serviced anyway.

 

[Tigerman]

Yesterday I noticed a steady stream of small (maybe 1/8" as they first appeared) bubbles coming from Emily's drysuit inflator valve. Our LDS said it was most likely a O-ring that needs to be replaced. Would it be OK to continue a dive with this situation?

We stopped the dive because this was the third "strike" -- three seemingly-minor things that weren't right. The other two were that she was a) upset, and b) cold. When I saw the bubbles, I figured, "OK we're done today". We had had a great first dive and I didn't want to tempt fate. But could we have continued if that were the only issue?

Thanks,

Bill

Any of the other two would make me seriously consider aborting the dive on thier own, while the leak I wouldnt worry too much about unless its from the hose itself or the connection to the LP port on the first stage (blown LP hoses kinda suck).
If I dont feel good about a dive, thats a sign that I might want to reconsider what Im doing and being cold is a good way to have a horrible (and short) dive.
I HAVE aborted dives after less than 45 of the (normally) planned 60 minutes because I was just feeling miserable from the cold. On some occasions its been *freezing* *thumbs up* *bye bye* on others its been *im freezing too* *bartime*

 

[tracydr]

Yesterday I noticed a steady stream of small (maybe 1/8" as they first appeared) bubbles coming from Emily's drysuit inflator valve. Our LDS said it was most likely a O-ring that needs to be replaced. Would it be OK to continue a dive with this situation?

We stopped the dive because this was the third "strike" -- three seemingly-minor things that weren't right. The other two were that she was a) upset, and b) cold. When I saw the bubbles, I figured, "OK we're done today". We had had a great first dive and I didn't want to tempt fate. But could we have continued if that were the only issue?

Thanks,

Bill

Cold is a " one stop" issue for me. If I'm cold, I'm done. My husband has that rule with any of his students, too.
I find that I don't think or function well with cold stress. Plus,cold can set you up pretty quickly for DCS,even with very modest profiles.

 

[mruseless]

Yesterday I noticed a steady stream of small (maybe 1/8" as they first appeared) bubbles coming from Emily's drysuit inflator valve. Our LDS said it was most likely a O-ring that needs to be replaced. Would it be OK to continue a dive with this situation?

We stopped the dive because this was the third "strike" -- three seemingly-minor things that weren't right. The other two were that she was a) upset, and b) cold. When I saw the bubbles, I figured, "OK we're done today". We had had a great first dive and I didn't want to tempt fate. But could we have continued if that were the only issue?

Thanks,

Bill

You were right to thumb the dive. Remember, any diver can thumb any dive for any reason. If it didn't feel right, abort. Also, I would have the valve serviced immediately. Small problems can easily become big problems and start you down the spiral into becoming a statistic. Sometimes minor problems with suit valves are a signal that the valve is wearing out or needs to have a part (like an o-ring) replaced. The last thing you want is a runaway drysuit inflation incident.

 

[kwinter]

You wouldn't be facing a runaway inflation situation. The o-ring is in the hose end and the bubbles were escaping from the hose without going into the inflator. That is a very different situation from a faulty inflator button. If the leak is just some minor bubbles, I would not even think about calling the dive. But if someone did decide it was worth ending the dive, I respect that 100%.

Schrader valves are easy to fix & replace.

 

[mruseless]

yes, I wasn't clear on that. I wasn't saying a leaky o-ring could lead to an uncontrolled inflation. I was saying that an inflation valve that is showing some issues (like minor sticking) could lead to more serious issues (like uncontrolled inflation) if not taken care of immediately.