swapping 1st stages while at depth; emergency only

[berk]

BTW, one thing to keep in mind is that during the time of swapping your one working regulator to the other tank, you're going to be without ANY working regulator.

And your hands will be numb and shakey if CO2 is building up in your blood since some sort of horrible episode is on like Donkey Kong.

..........Breathing out of a tank is fine in the pool. It's harder to feather that value with numb hands and the shakes. I use cheap Thermo valves and they are NOT easy to feather.

I believe the standard thinking is pistons are better for swapping versus diaphragms, but I unfortunately know that diaphragms do work.

A crushed second stage or badly cracked reg body on a stage bottle is not what I call catastrophic since it's one of those thing can can happen without you noticing it until it's time to use it. Turn it on, see the needle firm up, but all you get is water. If the reg has a big enough hole or crack in it to prevent negative pressure from activating the value it's trouble and you'd have to have the mind to push the purge and still you get lots of water. If the rim, purge or body is cracked the diaphragm that pushes the second stages valve may be prolapsed or out of place so it might not work either.

 

[rongoodman]

I don't remember whose, but I've read about at least one Advanced Sidemount course that includes this drill. I remember the instructor suggesting some apnea drills for the student so he would be less stressed doing the switch.

 

[ianr33]

A crushed second stage or badly cracked reg body on a stage bottle is not what I call catastrophic since it's one of those thing can can happen without you noticing it until it's time to use it. .

I make a point of breathing all my regs in the water before descending,so unless a reg is damaged during a dive the problem can be avoided.

I learnt that the hard way ..........................

 

[BgDadddy]

I make a point of breathing all my regs in the water before descending,so unless a reg is damaged during a dive the problem can be avoided.

I learnt that the hard way ..........................

Ditto!

 

[Cave Diver]

I don't remember whose, but I've read about at least one Advanced Sidemount course that includes this drill. I remember the instructor suggesting some apnea drills for the student so he would be less stressed doing the switch.

I'm not sure how keen I'd be on a course that deliberately required my regs to exposed to such conditions. Having to do it is a last resort in an emergency is one thing. Doing it on purpose just for "training", not so much.

 

[berk]

I make a point of breathing all my regs in the water before descending,so unless a reg is damaged during a dive the problem can be avoided.

I learnt that the hard way ..........................

Same here

Giving it a quick purge is no substitute for taking a breath on the way down.

 

[Doc Harry]

Would a regulator operate normally, or at least sufficiently enough to prevent one from drowning, after removing the functioning 1st stage from the tank that has been breathed out and inserting it into the valve of the tank that still has gas, opening the valve and purging the system with air?

I've swapped first stages underwater.

It still works fine.

Your regulator is badly contaminated and requires cleaning and servicing right away.

The pressure gauge works fine.

 

[AquaticLung]

Great, thanks for all the useful feedback, just what I was hoping for. Please excuse my OP as I may have came off too harsh, but it seems like some questions get beat down even before being contemplated, on some of these forums. This was not the case and I'm appreciative for that.

I always do a complete predive check on all of my gear, especially when diving deeper and/or longer dives. These checks includes breathing on my regs above the surface and for a minute or so at about 5-10 ft. Also, as I dive solo alot, I choose to bring one extra redundant system with me than is usually necessary, this usually ends up being two independant systems, but on the more extreme dives, I also have a third system, being a stage config. thanks for the advice...

I usually test these ideas out myself, but decided against it as regulators are pricey components.

Thanks again and good diving

 

[Amphiprion]

I asked a similar question regarding removal of a left post reg for replacing a broken deco reg at depth. I got the usual, you should plan for loss of gas etc. etc. etc.

I asked my tech instructor and yes you can. Not great for the reg, but it will work.

 

[rongoodman]

I found the article I was referring to here. The regulator switch is described toward the end.