Valve shutoff/leak potentially damaging equipment?

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

Hey all,
While diving the other day I experienced a minor equipment failure. Best I can tell, the o-ring in the valve of my tank came loose and pinched in the reg when I tightened the yoke. Luckily, it failed prior to submerging, right after I jumped in the water, and my cousin was able to shut the valve off before I lost too much air (ended up starting the diving at 2800 psi instead of 3300). However, when the valve was shut off, I was concerned that the leak would allow water to get inside my regset, which as I understand it is bad for the regulator. We addressed with easily enough, by having my cousin hold my gear such that the valve/reg was out of the water until I got in the boat and pulled the gear up behind me. Replaced the O-ring and problem solved. But if we'd been somewhere with bigger waves, or already released the boat when this happened, that wouldn't have been an option. So, my question is, would this have damaged my equipment, and if so, how do I handle it going forward (other than paying closer attention to my o-rings, which you can believe I've learned my lesson on)
Thanks

 

[Tracy]

Yes, water can get into the reg. In South Carolina, I would assume saltwater. In that case flush it out with clean water and take it to a shop. They can tear it apart and dry everything. Just using both of your regs for a dive will dry the inside and the hoses. The HP hose is the only one that would need taken apart to dry.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@Tracy It was freshwater in this particular instance, but good advice all the same. I'll definitely remember this if there's ever a next time. Thanks!

 

[halocline]

I think the most important thing you can do is to pressurize your tank and reg for a few minutes prior to jumping in the water, maybe doing a quick leak check by pressurizing, then turning the tank valve off, then looking to make sure the SPG stays steady at full.

Almost all blow outs with the tank valve o-ring are going to happen immediately (or very soon after) pressurizing, giving you a chance to fix things. In your case, if you did those things, you just got unlucky. If you’re at depth and it happens, and you’re concerned about the regulator, leave the valve open and bubbling while you surface and as long as there’s positive pressure the reg won’t flood. If you need to feather the valve to surface (unlikely since we’re presumably talking about OW diving) then you might flood it.

As far as splashing around the surface I wouldn’t think the 1st stage would get flooded; remember that leak is caused by 3000 lb/sq in positive pressure dislodging an o-ring, it’s not like there’s a gaping hole allowing water to rush in. If it happened to me I’d take a look at the filter after the dive. If it’s soaked, you could take it out if that’s possible, check behind it, if you still see any moisture then a rebuild is in order.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@halocline This raises some points I had not considered. Good advice. I did not think about the fact that even a failed O-ring would probably keep the water out at the service. As for the steps you suggested to prevent failures in the future, I definitely was not as rigorous as what you've suggested (something which will change going forward), but neither was I terrifically hasty either. My pressure was turned on for probably about ten minutes prior to splashing, and then failure occurred almost immediately upon hitting the water. I almost wonder if the temperature change had something to do with it, though it wouldn't have been much of a shift. Air temp was probably the same as water temp, give or take a few degrees.