The air in my tank is escaping fast !!!

[Hillmorton Scubie]

As a new diver (certified 3 weeks) could you please give your advice and knowledge.
We went to Cozumel in December to complete my 4 open water dives.(I had done a number of resort dives over the years). The certification dives were done from a boat out on the reefs (Palancar Gardens etc). I then booked a further 4 additional dives with the same Dive shop.
I had an superb time. We dived Palancar Horseshoe and then up through the swim through on the first dive. Second at Paradise reef. -shallow
The third was down a sand chute and out on to Santa Rosa Wall. It was like swimming out of the window of an office block many floors up. WOW The water was so clear I felt completely relaxed, but was surprised at the depth 102 feet recorded on the SPG.

Anyway at the end of the second dive as I approached the surface (maybe only 3 feet down) my tank started violently belching out air at the O ring. Fortunately I filled the BCD, the boat threw me the rope as they could see what was happening and I pulled myself in. It wasn't a panick situation, but I did dwell on it when trying to sleep that night.
What would have happened if this had occured at depth on the wall, or through the swimthrough or sand chute.(Possibly no room for air share).
How long before the tank would have been empty.
Does this failure occur often.
Could I have crushed the O ring (overtightened).
The positive thing is that it took my "over confident Im invicible attitude" down a peg or two.
Thank you for your advice
Ian

 

[Jimmer]

Well for starters what happened was the Yoke O-ring burst, which is why most tech divers, and many recreational divers use what's called a DIN valved, instead of the yoke, which has a trapped O-ring and is more secure. As for what to do, that is when you rely on your buddy and your training, and hopefully to stay calm. I don't think I would call that a "common" failure, but it is more likely to happen with yoke than DIN. I would suggest making it a habit of checking the oring on rented tanks before you put the reg on, and if it looks cracked or scored, have it replaced. As for how long it would take to empty, that depends on how much air was in the tank, but I would suspect on a reasonably full tank, it would take several minutes, and you should have time to reach your buddy and make a controlled air sharing ascent. As for the bringing your over confident attitude down, that's probably a good thing and all I can say is practice practice practice your out of air situations.

 

[pwwm]

Slightly different but still on the subject of escaping air, I had a free flow at 23 mtrs some years ago, watching my guage I was quite surprised to note I was not losing the air as fast as I would have expected, I did a normal ascent with my buddy close just in case I needed to switch to his alternate, even did a safety stop.
The thing is remember your training ie stop, think, then act as long as your buddy is close, just change to their alternate or stay close and ascend. Obviously still within the guidlines.

 

[scarefaceDM]

Glad you had fun and got certified. and fortunately you made it...

A blown o-ring is nothing to worry about it happens before you hit the water most of the time. Happens in the water before you decend. I have had o-ring failures at depth and when that happens...this is where your buddy comes in handy to share air and get to the surface slowly.

It happens to yoke valves as opposed to DIN...That is another topic.

Nothing to worry about here. Reacting in a calm manner getting your buddies attention and getting his/her octo then doing a valve shutdown is the procedure to follow. A tank will take less than a few minutes to empty out with a failed o-ring. You would have plenty of time to get Air from a buddy and react in a calm manner. If not depending on depth you would make a slow emergency controlled acent - just as if your regs would free flow. Again calmly and remain focused is the key. If you freak and bolt your in for a ride to a chamber or worse..Dead at sea.

Bleak but true. In this case...you learned from this. Did you over tighten the yoke..Maybe you did. Maybe not. Many new divers do it from time to time. next time around..just snug. It may have been an old O-ring and its time was up. This is where inspecting o-rings and doing a run through gear comes in handy.

And glad it knocked you down back to earth. Diving is fun and is meant to relax you while you enjoy the underwater world...A cocky attitude will do you no good here..it is not a competition...you gain nothing by taking risks. And think nothing can happen..Well SURPRISE!!!....

Lesson learned.

Safe dives

 

[fishballer]

i had a busted o-ring connecting my octo to the 1st stage when i was diving in the flower gardens.

everything was ok until i descended to about 60 ft, then heard a huge gushing sound. checked my octo, saw it wasn't free flowing, then signaled my buddy.

he looked, and we did a normal ascend, with a 3 min safety stop. i kept my eye on my pressure gauge, and he gave me the finger the whole time for cutting his dive short.

it happens, but as long as you keep your cool, it's a learning experience.

 

[Blackwood]

What would have happened if this had occured at depth on the wall, or through the swimthrough or sand chute.(Possibly no room for air share).

Avoid situations where sharing air is impossible.

 

[Guba]

A diver on our boat blew an o-ring at about 60 feet (didn't even make it to depth--we were at the Flower Gardens, too). He and his buddy made a normal ascent, sharing air as they did so. They managed to shut off the tank, but it's amazing how much air he lost in the minute or so it took to get to his partner, get settled on the octo and then shut down the tank. The DM's on the boat estimated that at the rate he was losing air, it would have emptied the tank in about two and a half or three minutes, tops.
Congratulations! You just experienced one of the best "learning moments" you could have at this stage. Capitalize on it by making sure that certain routines become a part of your diving "habit" (Checking o-rings, reviewing out of air situations, monitoring your buddy and maintaining contact with him/her, etc...). Situations like this one are only bad if one does not learn from them.
Have fun getting underwater!

 

[Wayward Son]

This seems to be more common with rental tanks. Carry an assortment of O rings with you in your gear bag & when using rental tanks take a real good look at the O ring before putting your reg on.

I started scuba in 1972 or 73, rarely use rental tanks & have never had an O ring blow during a dive. I have had to replace a couple at the surface that were nicked up.

 

[RoyN]

The avatar is the best Wayward Son, can't stop laughing at it even though it is disturbing but yet hecka funny.

Anyways, newbie question here, how often should we replace the O-rings? I have spares but don't know what is the life span of those suckers....?

 

[Wayward Son]

If they show any visible damage I toss them. If I hook up a reg & pressurize it & hear a leak, I toss it.

They cost about a nickle each. Cheap insurance if there's any doubt.