Transmitter Hose Length

[jd950]

Personally, i think this is the worst of both worlds.

Adding a HP hose to an AI setup is adding almost all the failure points of an SPG to a system that otherwise has WAY less places to fail than an SPG does.

I have 4 years and 200+ dives with wireless AI and I have never had anyone try to use my AI transmitter as a handle. I would not compromise my setup based on that concern.

I am sure this varies depending on one's first stage design and even more so on the type and location of diving. I have had a transmitter broken under circumstances that could really only be mishandling by the boat crew, and most likely by grabbing the tank/reg improperly. I got on the boat one morning and checked my gear and found no signal from transmitter. Checking further, the transmitter had a crack at the point it attached to first stage and nothing I did would "revive" the thing. It looked like what I would call a stress fracture, and had no sign of flooding. It had worked fine the afternoon before. Had it been cracked before that dive, it would have flooded.

It could have been something else, like dropping the reg or dropping something on the reg, but I think that is less likely. Also, I dive at least once or twice a year in situations where I have to doff gear and hand it to a boat crew guy who halls the gear up over the side of a small boat while I go to a ladder to board. They pretty much grab anything near the tank valve that they can get their hand around when the water is choppy or they are rushed.

I moved my transmitter to a short hose and feel it is less likely to be damaged that way. If I did not dive as much in circumstances where boat crews were moving my gear around, sometimes when I am not present, then I probably would not have it on a hose.

 

[rhwestfall]

my transmitter is run over my right shoulder and clipped to the right chest d-ring...

 

[Scared Silly]

My inflator hose runs through the velcro BCD strap, so I can't take off the reg without removing a hose from the BCD anyway.

I would be willing to bet that you could pull the bcd inflator through the bcd strap without batting an eye.

 

[Scared Silly]

Personally, i think this is the worst of both worlds.

Adding a HP hose to an AI setup is adding almost all the failure points of an SPG to a system that otherwise has WAY less places to fail than an SPG does.

When was the last time you heard of a HP o-ring fail? In 35 years of diving I have seen two spools leak. It is a series of small bubbles. Annoying but not any real concern.

On the other hand I have had my dive knife bent by the deck hands.

 

[stuartv]

When was the last time you heard of a HP o-ring fail? In 35 years of diving I have seen two spools leak. It is a series of small bubbles. Annoying but not any real concern.

On the other hand I have had my dive knife bent by the deck hands.

I personally have used an actual SPG very little. The one I used was one I purchased brand new as a complete assembly with hose and spool. And yet, I have had a spool O-ring blow. Fortunately, it blew after I turned the gas on but before I got in the water. And I had a spare on hand, so it didn't even cost me a dive.