Regulator freeflow? How to deal with this?

[beaverdivers]

Herman's post is right on. My typing skills are slow but sure. He beat me to the punch.

It still could be a possible gear problem. Hard to say w/o being there.

We have divers come in our store every week with BAD rental gear story.

 

[FuzzyNutz]

Alright, another noob question... I know what a 2nd stage free flow looks like, but how do you know / what happens if your 1st stage is free-flowing?

And Devon, I don't recall ever doing anything regarding free flows in my OW course. It's for stuff like this (and countless other things) that I really appreciate ScubaBoard. ... the link should be printed on the cover of every OW manual, lol!

 

[beaverdivers]

You will know if it is the 1st stage causing the Free Flow if both your primary and secondary 2nd stages are Free Flowing.

 

[nimoh]

Thank you for the advice.

Actually, all of these problems have occurred while at the surface (either floating on the surface or on land). I recall now that at least once, this happened when I used the purge button to test the set-up.

So it appears that my own regulator is on the horizon if I'm to continue diving. Are there specific brands that have a reputation for these kinds of problems? From reading these forums, the general consensus seems to be that any mid-range regulator would be fine, but I've had other people tell me that certain brands tend to be flaky. And considering my luck, I should probably get the most reliable one for the price, hehe.

I would go with a regulator that has tension adjustment, or at least a pre-dive switch. You can then keep the tension up to prevent a free flow on the surface, and then back it off underwater.

 

[Garrobo]

Buy your own personal regulators, take them with you when you travel. Problem solved. If you do have a free-flow you should have been taught to breathe off of a reg while it is free-flowing. Depending on how deep you are you should be able to get to a three minute stop. Another good idea is to have an octo you could use in the meantime. Then bind the hose of the free-flowing reg to shut off the air to it and continue your dive or head to the surface. I've never heard of a first stage free-flowing.

 

[beaverdivers]

A high Intermediate Pressure ( IP ) coming from the 1st stage causes the 2nd stages to Free Flow.

 

[herman]

Herman's post is right on. My typing skills are slow but sure. He beat me to the punch.

It still could be a possible gear problem. Hard to say w/o being there.

We have divers come in our store every week with BAD rental gear story.

I just got started sooner.

Alright, another noob question... I know what a 2nd stage free flow looks like, but how do you know / what happens if your 1st stage is free-flowing?

And Devon, I don't recall ever doing anything regarding free flows in my OW course. It's for stuff like this (and countless other things) that I really appreciate ScubaBoard. ... the link should be printed on the cover of every OW manual, lol!

First off most likely both stages will be freeflowing, not just one but more importantly, you need to determine if the freeflow is operator error or an actual equipment issue. That is fairly easy, if you can stop it by holding your hand over it- operator error, it is refuses to stop- equipment problem.

If you took a PADI course, your instructor did not do his job, we cover that at least twice in every OW class we do.

 

[keyshunter]

You will know if it is the 1st stage causing the Free Flow if both your primary and secondary 2nd stages are Free Flowing.

Not quite. It could be both second stages, but usually it is one or the other. Except for a catastrophic failure of the high pressure seat (for example a piece breaking off), a free flow which is initiated by the first stage, will cause whichever second stage is adjusted for lighter resistance to freeflow first. Generally a first stage seat which is in need of replacement will allow intermediate pressure to rise until it overcomes the second stage seat adjustment causing one of the second stages to release the excess pressure. Actually many inexperienced divers do not notice a slight first stage caused freeflow, since by the time IP has increased enough to cause a release of gas, they have taken another breath which reduces the IP and so on... But even the most inexperienced diver will usually notice a second stage freeflow. As mentioned above, most full blown freeflows are caused by operator error with the second stage.

 

[DivemasterDennis]

On the question of what causes a free flow at depth, the only one I have seen, which occurred at about 90 feet down, was when a diver was literally "kicked in the regulator" by another inattentive diver. (Maybe they were both inattentive) Anyway, I think the kick damaged the purge valve or cause it to stick. The only non-traumatic induced free flow and depth cause that I can imagine in a very corroded regulator finally just hitting the breaking point. Hence my first point about proper care and maintenance. Anyway, an interesting thread, this.
DivemasterDennis

 

[RTee]

Some regulators are fairly sensitive and if you submerge them with the mouthpiece up, the second stage will free flow. I see that regularly at the local quarry when OW students do their OW certif dives. The quick remedy is, as Devon mentioned, to just turn them upside dowm or put it in your mouth and it will stop. Sticking your tongue into it...hopefully the darn thing is yours. Last thing I would want to do is to explore more of that rental reg than I really need to especially not knowing what else may have been there in the first place. I personally had, at one point an oversensitive octo that would be hissing slightly at the surface but self corrected itself as I went down. Needless to say, I used the warranty option that came with it and acquired another octo of a different brand.

First stage free flow...both second stages will let you know. If you think it may be cold related, one of the things you may elect to do, if you have a receptive buddy, is to use his alternate air, shut down your valve, let it rest for a short while, then re-open slowly and then ensure that you do only one thing at a time...breath (always good), inflate BC#Wg and add air in drysuit. In some conditions, attempting to do all three at the same time may just be enough to entice your first stage into free flow.

I also find interesting the comment made reference this aspect not being covered as part of OW curriculum...