Regulator Free Flow

[halocline]

For the OP, if you are concerned about an uncontrolled free flow from you main reg. or its octo and you can't stop this free flow as in the case of these two Octo's I have when diving at the depth that is too deep for you to be able to make it to the surface due to running out of air (unstoppable free flow is a cause to terminate the dive and ascend immediately to the surface), you should use a pony bottle with enough capacity to give you enough air to do a safety stop and get back up to the surface considering your dive profile and depth.

This is a new diver. Recommending that he use a pony bottle to address his anxiety about a free flow is a bad idea. Using the buddy system, diving within safe limits, more familiarity and comfort with gear malfunctions, etc are much better and safer solutions than throwing a bail out bottle in the mix.

With good dive habits, no free flow or reg failure should present any real danger. A pony bottle is not a good substitute, especially for someone recently certified.

 

[BoltSnap]

Burhan.... This is one reason why I dislike "Octos". Which I assume is a lesser quality 2nd stage designed to hang around dormant unless there is an emergency. Right? It sounds like you have either a demand valve issue, or you have a high pressure seat issue pushing your IP up past what your 2nd stages can hold.

Having two matching 2nd stages allows you the ability to compare to units that should be functionally similar. With a mismatched set, its harder to figure out what's going on here.

I believe that it is a demand valve or a lp seat issue and nothing to do with the first stage since the other octos don't exhibit this issue when connected to this first stage. In fact, I replaced these malfunctioning octos with different ones and all is working fine. The malfunctioning octo's continue to have their issues with other good first stages.

I am in Libya now and I don't have access to any scuba tools to check the IP or to adjust the octo's unfortunately.

 

[BoltSnap]

This is a new diver. Recommending that he use a pony bottle to address his anxiety about a free flow is a bad idea. Using the buddy system, diving within safe limits, more familiarity and comfort with gear malfunctions, etc are much better and safer solutions than throwing a bail out bottle in the mix.

With good dive habits, no free flow or reg failure should present any real danger. A pony bottle is not a good substitute, especially for someone recently certified.

You are giving general mundane ideas that have no practical value to what is being discussed and you take words out of context deep into the discussion. You are simply arguing for argument's sake as always. No one is suggesting that they forgo proper training, safety procedures and the rest of the "politically correct" stuff you mention. Using your logic, you can also argue that we shouldn't use Octo's or second regulators on doubles, backup anything, etc.

Suggesting to the OP that he should use a pony bottle when his profile requires its use (check the whole post), doesn't mean in anyway to ignore proper training in its use or to get more training.

 

[halocline]

Glad to see you still enjoy insulting me! So sorry that I seem to hurt your feelings.

To be clear, you think it's a good idea for a new diver who "has a few dives since being certified" (his description of himself) to use a pony 'when his profile requires it' to address his anxiety about regulator free flows? Because that's what this thread is about. Personally, I don't think that was good advice, and I certainly would stand by that opinion.

 

[BoltSnap]

Glad to see you still enjoy insulting me!

I truly don't nor do I like to be in this position and I don't think that I insulted you at all and it wasn't my intention at all. My sincerest apologies to you if I did, I didn't intend to insult you and I don't think that I did.

sorry that I seem to hurt your feelings.

You didn't and I didn't think of it that way.

To be clear, you think it's a good idea for a new diver who "has a few dives since being certified" (his description of himself) to use a pony 'when his profile requires it' to address his anxiety about regulator free flows? Because that's what this thread is about. Personally, I don't think that was good advice, and I certainly would stand by that opinion.

You are missing the point and neglecting the fact that there was many posts that came after his OP and my comments need to be taken into context of the whole conversation. You also neglect the rest of advice and facts concerning uncontrolled regulator free flows.

I don't see why he shouldn't be able to use a pony bottle if he receives proper training in its use at all and if his dive profile warrants it and he has the experience and training to do this dive profile that warrants the use of a pony bottle.

At the end, you free to have your opinion and defend it for sure just like in the same way I do and I will.

 

[FinnMom]

Others have said the mains points (1) use regs that have been properly maintained & (2) use cold-water regs in water that is at all cool (or just use them always, that's fine too).

Also, always make a simple cautious dive with a reg that is brand new or *** just returned from being serviced ****.
Just-serviced regs have caused many people many surprises.

If you ever dive where it is truely cold, near freezing, do everything to keep the reg dry until it is underwater. Your breath is very wet. Do not test breath a reg in darn cold/freezing air, wait and do that while you are at the surface and do it while keeping the reg 2nd stage submerged the entire time. Also keep the gear warm as long as possible - don't leave it in a cold car overnight, or in a snow drift waiting for your dive when it could have been left in the car.

Once your skills are fairly good, have a 3rd friend give you and your buddy sudden, unexpected "OOA-drill, you, NOW!" signals now & again. You will get better, and as you do you will be far less worried.

 

[Storker]

Also, always make a simple cautious dive with a reg that is brand new or *** just returned from being serviced ****.
Just-serviced regs have caused many people many surprises.

This is very good advice. Whenever there's a change to my gear - be it new gear, a seriously tweaked configuration, or gear just out of service - I head to our regular training site for a checkout dive. The site isn't very exiting (to say it lightly), but it's very benign, and I know it like the back of my hand. If there's something not quite right with my gear, I want to notice that on an uneventful dive in a place where very little can go seriously sideways.

When my LDS get regs for service he usually tunes them to be very light to breathe. That's well and good, but some times he tunes them a little too light. So the reg is reluctant to stop freeflowing if it's turned upside down, or it'll freeflow just a little, hissing slightly all the time. No big deal, I just take the set back to him and ask him to tune it just a tad tighter. It's happened a few times already, but since he's a pretty good tech I can live with that little quirk

 

[george_austin]

Learn how to "detune" your regulator if you're concerned about that - or purchase a second stage that is diver / dive adjustable without opening up your second stage. Yes, always validate your intermediate pressure every 10 dives or so or every 20 dives. I validate my Intermediate Pressure before every use, especially if the regulator I've chosen for a particular dive or trip hadn't been in use for a while.

Learn how to inspect your cracking pressure with a manometer or even a bucket of water.

Different regulators act differently when it comes to free flows but in my experience, regs never freeflow except when they're not where they should be - in your mouth and obviously never during a dive.

Treat your regs like the very expensive tools they are.

 

[dberry]

On a recent dive my buddy had a free-flow while we were coming up the anchor line with jon-lines. It was his secondary reg (not the one in his mouth). There was a reasonable current and he said the current moving over the reg pulled enough vacuum (venturi effect) to crack the second stage. I hadn't heard of that before.

He got it under control in 2-3 seconds, but he was a few feet below me on the line and the huge mass of bubbles coming up at me was quite a surprise.

The key was he kept his cool and simply dealt with the situation calmly but swiftly. (He just had to adjust the knob on the side of the 2nd stage and turn his body away from the current.)

 

[redacted]

The venturi effect does not cause the valve to open bt it does enhance the flow rate once the valve is opened. The water pressure on the front cover in high current situations may open the valve. Or the reg could have been bumped causing the valve to open.