inflator problem "almost accident"

[roseng]

I was diving to 26 meters with my Halcyon Eclipse BCD. At 26 meters I could not release the air from the BCD. I disconnected the inflator tube. Do you have other suggestions? what can cause such a problem? how can I avoid it before diving?

 

[flots am]

It is impossible to vent any BC unless the exhaust valve (butt dump), or inflator and hose is the high point.

If you had uncontrolled inflation (leaky inflater valve) then disconnecting it was the right choice. However if you had an inability to release air, then I would suggest some practice in the pool.

Your BC has at least two places for air to exit: the inflater hose and the rear dump. You'll need to practice until you can reliably activate both of these as well as move them into a position where they will actually work.

The dump valve is especially important in an emergency, since it has a greater capacity to exhaust than the inflator has to fill, and can be used to prevent runaway inflation until you get the inflator disconnected.

flots.

 

[Dr Wu]

I was diving to 26 meters with my Halcyon Eclipse BCD. At 26 meters I could not release the air from the BCD. I disconnected the inflator tube. Do you have other suggestions?

I would suggest not disconnecting the inflator because it has nothing to do with venting air from the BC.

 

[irishsquid]

Is it possible the BCD was empty?

 

[roseng]

I would suggest not disconnecting the inflator because it has nothing to do with venting air from the BC.

can you explain why?

 

[EastEndDiver]

What was the purpose of detaching the inflator hose,You didn't mention that it was malfunctioning and causing the problem.

If it was malfunctioning and filling the BC (Stuck on) you failed to mention that,if so then disconnecting it was the right thing to do.

 

[Jax]

Given that the post is from Israel, one might think that the second language thing is the problem.

Let's assume he knew what he was doing. How about, the exhaust button on the inflator hose wouldn't push down?

So, he thought quickly and disconnected the assembly.

What would cause the exhaust button to not push down?

Salt crystals dried in the mechanism, perhaps?

 

[BKP]

Is this, by any chance, an older stainless steel Halcyon inflator?

 

[rigdiver]

Some of those old H SS inflators were prone to leaking air into the BCD. Dosconnecting the thing if neutrally buoyant or positive is the right thing to do as you will not need to add gas on the way up. Be head down and use the Left dump on the bottom of the bcd. 26 m is no place to start an uncontrolled buoyant ascent. Do a thorough check of eberything before getting in.

 

[TSandM]

You've gotten a bunch of answers that are different, because nobody is quite sure what your problem was.

If you had reached depth, gotten neutral, and then could not let air out through your corrugated inflator hose, that's a very strange problem. Most of the time, when people can't get the air out that way, they are not getting the orifice of the hose to the highest point on their rig. Especially if you are not accustomed to the short inflator hose and are putting it in bungie under the left chest d-ring, as is usual, it can require some determination to get that orifice up. That is one of the reasons that a lot of people who dive wings use the butt dump for venting, because if you are horizontal, it should either vent when pulled, or will require only a very small change to a head-down position to get air to it to release.

If, on the other hand, you had an inflator that was adding gas without you pushing the button to make it do so, disconnecting the LP hose was precisely the right thing to do. That hose does not participate in the venting; it is perfectly possible to use an inflator to dump gas with the hose disconnected. But it DOES bring the gas to the valve, and if the valve is leaking, gas can enter the wing. Why does this happen? Because salt and debris accumulates in the inflator mechanism. Inflators need to be serviced, just like regulators do, and they also need to be soaked and rinsed after diving, to help prevent the accumulation of crud.