using a BC for SSA commercial work

[Akimbo]

Ya looked like the guy hooked the BC right off the 30cf bailout bottle reg. Nothing coming from the side block. The max depth in the harbor was only about 35ft. Not to sure what they were doing but it looked like some piling inspection work…

OK, now that is stupid on several levels. I can see wanting a wing/BC wearing a really thick multilayer wetsuit in cold water on long dives. The blended Neoprene that has virtually replaced Rubatex G231 is way more compressible so a large guy can see 15-20 Lbs change in buoyancy due to suit compression in 35' of water. Assuming you inspect each piling top to bottom, that is a lot of weight to fight all day.

So, lots of inspection cycles can empty a 30 Ft³ bailout before the shift is over. Add the risk of umbilical entanglement under a pier, dirty water, next to moored ships, an old cheap crap compressor that these jobs tend to draw, and maybe rookie tenders. I can see wanting a bailout with something left in it.

…I still would prefer hog lines at least I have something to get leverage off of…

Everyone would, but rigging one on some jobs can take more time than the inspection. That might be OK if everyone is paid by the job and not the hour.

.... I would figure if you are doing inwater decom you would still have to have a platform or at the least a down line even if you got a BC on...

I should have been clearer. The risk of using suit or a BC's buoyancy to move heavy crap is if you loose your grasp. An embarrassing screw-up in 15' of water becomes a long treatment or body bag in 150'.

Most of you guys have probably heard this story, but nobody seems to know where, when, or who — where is myth busters when you need them? Anyway, this guy in heavy gear wraps his arms around some 200 Lb piece on the bottom and inflates his suit. He is walking it over the bottom, looses his footing, and drops it. He shoots to the surface like a Polaris missile, his suit bursts just as he breaches the surface, and falls back to the bottom like anchor chain.

For guys who don't know heavy gear, here is why the story is plausible. Arm cuffs on heavy gear are really tough molded rubber, not like the wimpy latex used on dry suits today. They can hold a seal tight enough to inflate the suit so stiff that you can't bend your arms and float like a Zodiac.

Old suits were expensive, made from cotton canvas over rubber, and were retired when they were so rotted they wouldn't hold any more patches. Also, the exhaust valve is nowhere near big enough to vent the suit on an explosive ascent. The exhaust valve is basically an adjustable relief valve you set for enough back pressure so the suit is comfortable in terms of squeeze and buoyancy. There is a chin button to override the exhaust valve and dump air. It can also be pulled shut with your mouth to inflate the suit.

So, is this one of those "don't screw up" stories from diving school or did it really happen?

 

[DCBC]

So, is this one of those "don’t screw up" stories from diving school or did it really happen?

You're right it has been around for a long time, but I always thought it was just a tale to scare students. I had something similar happen to me while wearing a Unisuit in the 80's. It's not difficult to bleed off the expanding gas through the sleeve or the inverse neck seal (depending upon configuration).

 

[Akimbo]

... I had something similar happen to me while wearing a Unisuit in the 80's. It's not difficult to bleed off the expanding gas through the sleeve or the inverse neck seal (depending upon configuration).

I think it would be a lot harder in a deep sea suit. Two hundred pounds of lift is no problem and the suit doesn't get very stiff. In training, they would have us fully inflate and there was no way I could reach the air control valve or even roll over. They made us lace both legs up to the knee and the damn 35 Lb boots would still float the toe caps out of the water. The suit would inflate between the laces and boot like a grandmother with edema.

It is really interesting to me how small changes in gear, training, or operating costs can completely change how people get a job done. I got so much crap from old farts about light-weight hats and hot water suits being crap toys that I try to keep an open mind; especially now that I are one. There is a lot to be said for letting divers decide how to get a job done. However, people do work everyday these codgers couldn't have imagined.

There is a fine line between sticking with what works and just getting stuck. The trouble with offshore diving operations is the cost of failure has become so phenomenally high that everyone is reluctant to try anything new — including divers, supers, and company reps. It seems like innovations are very slow unless you are pushing new limits.

 

[DCBC]

I think it would be a lot harder in a deep sea suit. Two hundred pounds of lift is no problem and the suit doesn't get very stiff. In training, they would have us fully inflate and there was no way I could reach the air control valve or even roll over. They made us lace both legs up to the knee and the damn 35 Lb boots would still float the toe caps out of the water. The suit would inflate between the laces and boot like a grandmother with edema.

Yes, now I understand where you're coming from.

It is really interesting to me how small changes in gear, training, or operating costs can completely change how people get a job done. I got so much crap from old farts about light-weight hats and hot water suits being crap toys that I try to keep an open mind; especially now that I are one. There is a lot to be said for letting divers decide how to get a job done. However, people do work everyday these codgers couldn't have imagined.

I suppose I would be classified as a codger, but I haven't experienced this problem. Perhaps it was my early exposure to DCIEM and diving research. I've always employed new methods and equipment with the blessing of the contractor. In-fact that's why I was hired in the first-place.

There is a fine line between sticking with what works and just getting stuck. The trouble with offshore diving operations is the cost of failure has become so phenomenally high that everyone is reluctant to try anything new — including divers, supers, and company reps. It seems like innovations are very slow unless you are pushing new limits.

Sometimes this is the case. Although I've been usually pressured to come up with innovative cost-effective solutions. Situations like the Deepwater Horizon incident have people scampering for new ways of solving the problem.

 

[Akimbo]

.... Situations like the Deepwater Horizon incident have people scampering for new ways of solving the problem.

I would say that qualifies a pushing the limits. Not so much for divers, but there seems to be a lot of trying anything that might skim oil happening in the Gulf right now.

A lot of people don't realize the pressure, figuratively speaking, on the guy locked out of a bell. Picture a construction site with a dive support ship, 4 supply boats, a 5,000 ton semisubmersible crane, some half billion dollar thing to get online, and a limited weather window. With interest payments, fixed overheads, and lost production the rep is telling you the cost is $2 million a day.

Now picture the whole parade waiting on you, locked out at 600', and all you have to do is slip a pin in a shackle. Did I mention the pin weighs 50 Lbs and the shackle is moving 4' with the swell? Say they figure the job should talk 10 minutes and you take 30. That extra 20 minutes cost the client $28K and you may not be coming back if the rep needs a goat.

 

[DCBC]

I would say that qualifies a pushing the limits. Not so much for divers, but there seems to be a lot of trying anything that might skim oil happening in the Gulf right now.

Roger that. They're digging a second (relief) well to intercept the primary and inject a plug so they cap it. The ROV's haven't been successful. It's 1500M and the current is causing havoc.

 

[Akimbo]

Roger that. They're digging a second (relief) well to intercept the primary and inject a plug so they cap it. The ROV's haven't been successful. It's 1500M and the current is causing havoc.

I can't figure out what is happening from the news. Did something happen to the BOP (Blow Out Preventer stack), a blow-by (outside the casing), or did some manifold on the bottom get wasted? Was this an exploratory hole (drill, test, and cap for later) or were they drilling a production matrix? Are pipelines involved?

 

[DCBC]

I can’t figure out what is happening from the news. Did something happen to the BOP (Blow Out Preventer stack), a blow-by (outside the casing), or did some manifold on the bottom get wasted? Was this an exploratory hole (drill, test, and cap for later) or were they drilling a production matrix? Are pipelines involved?

There was a malfunction of the BOP (shear ram failure). As an investigation is already underway, I can't speculate, if you understand me...

To my knowledge, there are currently 3 leaks in the riser pipe. Other damage may exist but it's still yet to be ascertained. What a mess!