oldschoolto
Contributor
Yesterday I had the free flow of all free flows...
Dive facts : Bonaire at red slave , Depth was 85 feet and water temp was 81*
Gear : 1979 Conshelf XIV surpreme
The dive was uneventful for the first 15 minutes... Gear set up was normal as was the gear check... Entered the water and donned fins in 5 feet of water, Dumped some BC air and started to the reef... Dropping down to 85 feet and heading south after checking current drift... At about 15 minutes in to the dive my conshelf 14 started to violently free flow... So I took a minute to play with it , Trying to get it to stop... You know... Hitting it with my hand and playing with the purge button... Even tapping it on the bottom of my tank... Well, Nothing was working.. It was a bubble fest that was not ending... My wife had heard the noise and turned back to be close to me... I removed the free flowing regulator from my mouth and went on to her octo and had her shut down my tank valve... I played with the regulator a little and then had her turn the tank back on... Again Violent free flow... So she shut the tank down and I thumb the dive....
I got a good grip on her harness and we started up... Nice and easy at about 20 feet a minute taking our time and giving the " OK " back and forth... Me taking compass headings to return to our start point.. After getting close to shore and in about ten feet of water we surfaced right in front of the second and third slave hunts.. The exact spot we went in..
Now I'm a old rusty Northeast wreck diver with over a 1000+ dives so it really was not a big deal for me... But for my wife it was a true test... At 150 dives, This was the first time she had to use the skills we worked on so much in her early diving , Skills that we still practice every few dives... But, It's a big difference when you have the sound of air rushing from a runaway regulator and your at 85 feet.. She did a out standing job of keeping her cool and working with me to get safely to the surface...
In review : The free flow was caused by a run away IP... I have not had a chance to service to first stage but I'm sure to find a failed O-ring between the high and low pressure side... And this first stage has gone 37 years without anything more then a cleaning and inspection... So my test is over, First stages should be over hauled every 30 years.... LOL....
Jim....
Dive facts : Bonaire at red slave , Depth was 85 feet and water temp was 81*
Gear : 1979 Conshelf XIV surpreme
The dive was uneventful for the first 15 minutes... Gear set up was normal as was the gear check... Entered the water and donned fins in 5 feet of water, Dumped some BC air and started to the reef... Dropping down to 85 feet and heading south after checking current drift... At about 15 minutes in to the dive my conshelf 14 started to violently free flow... So I took a minute to play with it , Trying to get it to stop... You know... Hitting it with my hand and playing with the purge button... Even tapping it on the bottom of my tank... Well, Nothing was working.. It was a bubble fest that was not ending... My wife had heard the noise and turned back to be close to me... I removed the free flowing regulator from my mouth and went on to her octo and had her shut down my tank valve... I played with the regulator a little and then had her turn the tank back on... Again Violent free flow... So she shut the tank down and I thumb the dive....
I got a good grip on her harness and we started up... Nice and easy at about 20 feet a minute taking our time and giving the " OK " back and forth... Me taking compass headings to return to our start point.. After getting close to shore and in about ten feet of water we surfaced right in front of the second and third slave hunts.. The exact spot we went in..
Now I'm a old rusty Northeast wreck diver with over a 1000+ dives so it really was not a big deal for me... But for my wife it was a true test... At 150 dives, This was the first time she had to use the skills we worked on so much in her early diving , Skills that we still practice every few dives... But, It's a big difference when you have the sound of air rushing from a runaway regulator and your at 85 feet.. She did a out standing job of keeping her cool and working with me to get safely to the surface...
In review : The free flow was caused by a run away IP... I have not had a chance to service to first stage but I'm sure to find a failed O-ring between the high and low pressure side... And this first stage has gone 37 years without anything more then a cleaning and inspection... So my test is over, First stages should be over hauled every 30 years.... LOL....
Jim....
