Stupid Trimix Question

[wreckchick]

I was talking to someone today and he made an offhand comment about helium, long story longer he ended up asking me if divers using helium (trimix) have that funny voice that helium gives you.

So I apologize in advance for asking a dumb question, but before I answer him I should probably have it right.

Do you talk funny after a trimix dive?

Rachel

 

[chrpai]

At the risk of being wrong....

The Donald Duck sound comes from sound propogating faster in helium then air. Its a quick and dirty way of anaylizing the helium content in your tank. Divers will sound funny underwater and for a short period of time after diving it. ( Similiar to breathing the balloon )

But I imagine most trimix divers use high o2 deco mix and the end of the dive so probably when they get out of the water they sound normal.

 

[Cave Diver]

Yes.

If you speak after taking one or two breaths from a helium mixture, you will have the trademark high pitched squeaky voice for a couple of seconds.

However, there is no prolonged effect from it, i.e. someone doing an hour dive on trimix will not continue to talk funny long after the dive is ended. Once you take a few breaths from a non-helium mixture whether it is air at the surface or deco gas at depth, the voice altering effects are gone.

 

[MrBlue]

During a shallow 'leftover' mix dive yesterday, my buddy and I ran across an absolutely monsterous lobster. Exclamations coming from both of us through our second stages sounded so funny. Definte 'munchkin' voices!

I was laughing so hard I completely flooded my mask!

 

[Doppler]

biscuit7 once bubbled...
I was talking to someone today and he made an offhand comment about helium, long story longer he ended up asking me if divers using helium (trimix) have that funny voice that helium gives you.

So I apologize in advance for asking a dumb question, but before I answer him I should probably have it right.

Do you talk funny after a trimix dive?

Rachel

Not after the dive, but certainly during... and before. As already mentioned, breathing trimix on the surface alters one's voice... "trademark" high-pitch, which seems to climb in pitch relative to the percentage of helium in the mix... i.e. a 55% has a more pronounced effect that a 25% mix.

At depth, using full face mask and diver to surface comms, compressed gas voice is so crazy that descramblers are available to clear things up.

Anyway, hope you had some money riding on it... if you did, you win!!

Doppler