Freeflow, what would you do?

[tstormdiver]

I had a bad free flow during my AN/DP course at 95 ft at the local quarry.. It was in the middle of a valve shutdown drill. Rt. post was off & Lt. post I was breathing on (manifolded double 95's). At that time, I had much trouble reaching the valve handles,... especially on the left side. My instructor was right there & tried to give me his regulator, but it was so violent that I could not see it. I continued breathing off the regulator & started making my way to the surface. My instructor rode it to the surface with me. Once there I got things shut down & corrected. After asking if I was OK (I was), we dropped back down to simulate decompression stops. I was a little shook up, but finished out the dive.

 

[PfcAJ]

I had a bad free flow during my AN/DP course at 95 ft at the local quarry.. It was in the middle of a valve shutdown drill. Rt. post was off & Lt. post I was breathing on (manifolded double 95's). At that time, I had much trouble reaching the valve handles,... especially on the left side. My instructor was right there & tried to give me his regulator, but it was so violent that I could not see it. I continued breathing off the regulator & started making my way to the surface. My instructor rode it to the surface with me. Once there I got things shut down & corrected. After asking if I was OK (I was), we dropped back down to simulate decompression stops. I was a little shook up, but finished out the dive.

Call me old fashioned, but isn't the entire point of that class to emphasis that the surface isn't a viable option?

 

[rhwestfall]

Call me old fashioned, but isn't the entire point of that class to emphasis that the surface isn't a viable option?

curriculum/scenario changed to: In Water Recompression Strategies....

 

[KD8NPB]

I dive double LP72s primarily so I would just shut down that post, check my gas pressure to see how much I lost, and signal that I have a problem. If I have a lot of gas left, I may try to de-ice the frozen 2nd stage by flooding it with the warmer ambient water for a minute.

 

[DCBC]

100ft down, 12 mins into your dive, 2400psi left in your tank.
Your reg goes into freeflow and you cant stop it. Your in back and nobody is looking back. Do you try to reach your partner or assend. How would you handle it?

This is similar to the question "How long is a piece of string?" I dive with redundant gas and maintain good Buddy contact. In OW, if my Buddy didn't notice me within 10 seconds I'd be concerned about diving with him.

In this hypothetical case (assuming I didn't have redundant gas), I'd breathe off the free-flow, shut down the cylinder, restart, if no joy signal my Buddy and ascend. If the situation persisted, I'd continue to breathe off the free-flow (saving as much gas as possible) and get to my Buddy.

Alternatives (situational dependent especially if you were deeper) could include taking-off the reg and breathing directly off the valve (not to be attempted if it's something you haven't mastered), or ascend and prepare to do a free ascent when OOA (if you had lost Buddy contact).

 

[scubadada]

You may not have much time, best be prepared
Life Ending Seconds • ADVANCED DIVER MAGAZINE • By Curt Bowen
Free flowing 2nd stage will empty an AL80 at 99 feet from full in 2:35, you get a little more time as you ascend

 

[Subcooled]

2400psi is almost a full tank. Or perhaps half a tank if you have a high pressure steel tank. That's a lot of gas though. 12 minutes at 100ft down you have no decompression obligation and you could ascend 60ft/minute as has been done for decades. One and a half minutes. Anyone can breath hold for two minutes if ones life depends on it. You could do an ascent without any air. If I were in that situation I would try to reach my buddy, share air, close my tank and start a slow ascent. If I could not reach my buddy quickly, I would start a calm ascent knowing that running out of air is really not a problem. That freeflowing air may cool your teeth, which may cause intense pain, which may cause you to hold your breath while ascending, which may kill you (yes, I've experienced this but I noticed the pressure in my chest and so I live). Get double tanks. That makes life A LOT easier. If the reg freeflows, just close it. Even better, get sidemounted tanks and feather the valve. Easy. No gas lost. I used to icedive with a single tank but I was immortal.

100ft down, 12 mins into your dive, 2400psi left in your tank.
Your reg goes into freeflow and you cant stop it. Your in back and nobody is looking back. Do you try to reach your partner or assend.

How would you handle it?

I just want to see how you would handle the same situation if it happened to you
I dont want to hear I would never get myself into that situation. LOL Just how you handle it if you did.
It may help someone here who hasnt experienced it yet.

 

[AfterDark]

My second year of diving I was at 70' for about 10 minutes when my borrowed regulator stopped delivering air. Looked around no buddy. No redundant air. Up I went doing my 1st real life do or die CESA. I made it. These days I'd switch to my other regulator, I don't dive w/o redundant gas and neither should anyone else, I to was immortal until I almost got killed!

 

[Ricky B]

Here's a thread that addresses the subject:

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/ba...-failure-response-free-flowing-regulator.html

Take a look and perhaps put your two cents' worth in based on your experience. Like you say, it may help someone here who hasn't experienced it yet.

 

[Stoo]

Over the past 40 years, I've logged about 300 - 400 dives on the Arabia, I'd guess. Way back when, I had a few free-flows on her, and I still see lots of them...
-
(For those that aren't familiar with Tobermory, it's often said that it's the place where cold water was invented... Even in the height of summer, the water temp below 70' tends to hover in the 39F - 41F mark, and I have been on dives even in August where the temperature was only 34F...)

Anyway, this is what I can offer as advice...

1) Have the IP of your reg tuned down a couple of notches. Perry @ G+S in Tobermory is the best guy I know for a quick tweak... If you don't have a cold-water specific reg., get one.
2) Carry a redundant air supply... a pony bottle, isolated doubles, sidemount... Some system where you can shut down the free-flowing reg for a few minutes while it thaws out.
3) Over the years, there has been at least two DOUBLE fatalities on that wreck that were the direct result of freeze-ups leading to botched air sharing. If you like your buddy, equip yourself (and he should too) to dive independently, and learn how to deal with your problems yourself.

For what it's worth, I think you dealt with your situation appropriately, given the gear you had on, and your profile. Even if you were close to or over your NDL, your solution was still appropriate. With a chamber in town, a bend is generally easily "straightened". To quote Dr. Harpur, "We can fix "bent". We can't fix "dead""...

But if you intend to dive these somewhat deeper dives, then get yourself properly equipped.

And be happy it wasn't your BC inflator that froze up (too). Now that's an adventure!

---------- Post added April 25th, 2014 at 07:24 PM ----------

I dive double LP72s primarily so I would just shut down that post, check my gas pressure to see how much I lost, and signal that I have a problem. If I have a lot of gas left, I may try to de-ice the frozen 2nd stage by flooding it with the warmer ambient water for a minute.

I think it's important to note that the primary reason that a reg free-flows (assuming it's properly de-tuned etc.) is the breathing gas isn't as dry as it should be. As a result, when one reg free-flows, there's a reasonable chance that the second one will as well, once it's put to work. (as well as suit and wing inflators)

At this time of year, I tend to dive with my isolator closed, and I alternate regs every few minutes, much like I would if diving SM. As mentioned, the surrounding water is above freezing... it's the breathing that causes the extra cooling, which can lead to freeze-up. Giving your regs a "breather" works wonders.

As for the comment above about the surface not being an option... that might be the case in many situations, but the OP referred to a profile where simply surfacing was a completely viable (and sensible) option.


Incidentally, these pictures were taken yesterday by a friend of mine at the Lighthouse... Global Warming my arse...