Valve drill gone wrong...and my regulator died, too

[tbone1004]

as mentioned above, those din posts are prone to coming loose. Most techs don't use a torque wrench on them unfortunately, especially since they are usually put in with a hex key instead of the wrenches that the yoke versions are put on with. It's a very common issue though and not something you should lose faith in that regulator for.

 

[Diver0001]

well you managed to rescue that one - well done
curious about the DIN wheel was it broken or did jt work itself loose after depressurising

They can work loose if it's tight into the valve and you turn on the whole first stage in an attempt to loosen it enough to get it off the tank. I've seen it happen before. It's a good habit to check that bit on a regular basis.

R..

 

[doctormike]

They can work loose if it's tight into the valve and you turn on the whole first stage in an attempt to loosen it enough to get it off the tank. I've seen it happen before. It's a good habit to check that bit on a regular basis.

R..

That's exactly how it happened to me! Lesson learned... Also, make sure that you have that correct size hex wrench with you.

 

[AJ]

How would this have changed the outcome?

• Valve drill begins with signaling "attention" to team mate(s).
• Team mate pays full attention to what you are ACTUALLY doing and will immediately notify you if that diverges from the intended drill/procedure.
• During entire drill, team mate(s) stand ready to donate gas immediately.

This should also be applied to gas switches. When it comes to our breathing supply, having backup gear AND backup brains is a wise move, IMO.

One thing I taught myself is to do a flow check before doing a valve drill. This way I'am sure not to put myself out of gas. Even when I have to abort a valve drill, this way I 'am always sure everything is open before starting the drill. Very simple, but very safe too.

 

[Carl_F]

I shut down my right tank, breathed the second stage down, and swapped to the left tank. I then turned the right tank back on and redirected my attention to the left tank...which is the point that I had a massive brain fart. I suddenly didn't remember if I'd reopened the right tank, so I reached for it, spun the right tank's valve, and purged the right-side second stage. ...

So, lessons learned:
* Pay a-friggin'-ttention.
* Lefty-loosey, righty-tighty.
* Consider getting new tanks that can support the color-coded, 1-1/4 turn Pro valves.

The real lesson, to me at least, is "Pay a-friggin'-ttention."

It sounds like you were going through the motions and not thinking how and what the motions are intended to accomplish. Thinking about how and what the action is intended to accomplish would have resulted in checking the right tank open not just spinning the valve. You had enough time to accomplish the original task, swap to the left tank and then think through checking that you had performed the correct action on the right tank then completing the drill.

I recall doing the valve drills on backmounted doubles and I always had sufficient time to specifically think through the how and what of each motion and still complete the drill within the time frame the standards required. When I went to SM it was easier because I could see everything vs having to visualize with the backmount.

To me thinking the how and what of the motions is even more important for when a true gas shutdown is needed.

 

[Lobzilla]

One thing I taught myself is to do a flow check before doing a valve drill. This way I'am sure not to put myself out of gas. Even when I have to abort a valve drill, this way I 'am always sure everything is open before starting the drill. Very simple, but very safe too.

And of course a flow check AFTER the valve drill to avoid any surprises later.

 

[Lobzilla]

The real lesson, to me at least, is "Pay a-friggin'-ttention."

It sounds like you were going through the motions and not thinking how and what the motions are intended to accomplish. Thinking about how and what the action is intended to accomplish would have resulted in checking the right tank open not just spinning the valve. You had enough time to accomplish the original task, swap to the left tank and then think through checking that you had performed the correct action on the right tank then completing the drill.

I recall doing the valve drills on backmounted doubles and I always had sufficient time to specifically think through the how and what of each motion and still complete the drill within the time frame the standards required. When I went to SM it was easier because I could see everything vs having to visualize with the backmount.

To me thinking the how and what of the motions is even more important for when a true gas shutdown is needed.

A good instructor will realize when a student just "goes through the motions" and s/he will simulate a failure during a drill to wake up the student's brain. Sooner or later the student will not just think about the purpose of every action but also about the consequences of every action.

My favorite brain teaser was bubbles behind my back during a blind, gas-sharing cave exit, me donating from BM doubles. It was hard to resist the temptation to go through the motions and just shut the right post down - which would have caused my buddy to freak out at the end of my long hose.

So what else can we try to stop the bubbles? Isolator? Or maybe left post shut-down and then breathing from my wing inflator? Either way, the bubbles stopped as soon as the instructor saw that I was weighing the consequences of any action and that my hand did not "automatically" go to the right post.

 

[divezonescuba]

I had a first stage free flow four days into a several day hypoxic trimix course during a predive equipment check. The gas was coming directly from the valve thru the first stage and onto the second stage. The first stage was new and had never been serviced. There were no prior indications that something was wrong. It was replaced with a spare first stage.

The second stage failed the next day and was also replaced.

An examination back home yielded an extra oring loose inside the first stage body that should not have been there. Apparently, it eventually interfered with the hp seat. How it got in there is a mystery. The second stage seat was also damaged from the first stage free flow.

A 3000 psi free flow is pretty violent. It could have happened underwater when turning off and on the gas during a valve drill, in which case the drill would have been for real.

There’s a reason for that kind of training.

 

[Lobzilla]

I had a first stage free flow four days into a several day hypoxic trimix course during a predive equipment check. The gas was coming directly from the valve thru the first stage and onto the second stage. The first stage was new and had never been serviced. There were no prior indications that something was wrong. It was replaced with a spare first stage.

The second stage failed the next day and was also replaced.

I guess an IP of 3000 PSI was a bit much for the poor thing.

An examination back home yielded an extra oring loose inside the first stage body that should not have been there. Apparently, it eventually interfered with the hp seat. How it got in there is a mystery. The second stage seat was also damaged from the first stage free flow.

A 3000 psi free flow is pretty violent. It could have happened underwater when turning off and on the gas during a valve drill, in which case the drill would have been for real.

There’s a reason for that kind of training.

+1 Every thing that can happen should happen in dive training if it can be simulated reasonably safely. Like it's done in aviation.

 

[KevinNM]

My first thought in reading this was : How did the instructor not notice that you turned off all the valves?!

Yeah I did something like that once in class and when I went to turn off the second valve I found Mer had her hand on my valve preventing me from going from a screwed up drill to an OOA emergency.