Cosmographer
Contributor
- Messages
- 149
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After reading the Near Misses forum (great learning tool for noobs, imo), it occurred to me that I ought to post a question about what I guess is called regulator freeflow. As a noob myself, I've been on 9 dives with 4 different operators in 4 different countries. I mention this because despite having so few dives under my belt, I've had regulator freeflow issues with 3 out of the 4 operators (all rented equipment).
First, let me make sure I understand the term "freeflow" properly. This is when the 2nd stage gushes out air despite the user not inhaling, right? So I've had this happen twice when we were checking gear on shore and twice while floating in the water (either at the beginning or the end of the dive).
It was not cold, and I would think regulator maintenance wouldn't be the likely culprit since it happened with 3 different operators, all in different countries. But whatever the cause may be, if I have this happen again, what should I do? Our DM/Instructor seemed to slap the mouthpiece against their palm to get it to stop. On one occasion (maybe 2) this didn't work, and they turned the valve off and on to get thee regulator working again. One time, they swapped out the regulator.
Is this a problem that people have a "quick fix" for (ie. is tapping the mouthpiece a standard routine?), or is this a more serious problem? Since I don't want to rely on my DMs to fix these glitches for me, I'd like to know what the SOP should be under these circumstances. Also, have I just been unlucky in experiencing a serious problem so often (relatively speaking) or is this a common, minor problem that people deal with all the time and resolve in a few seconds?
First, let me make sure I understand the term "freeflow" properly. This is when the 2nd stage gushes out air despite the user not inhaling, right? So I've had this happen twice when we were checking gear on shore and twice while floating in the water (either at the beginning or the end of the dive).
It was not cold, and I would think regulator maintenance wouldn't be the likely culprit since it happened with 3 different operators, all in different countries. But whatever the cause may be, if I have this happen again, what should I do? Our DM/Instructor seemed to slap the mouthpiece against their palm to get it to stop. On one occasion (maybe 2) this didn't work, and they turned the valve off and on to get thee regulator working again. One time, they swapped out the regulator.
Is this a problem that people have a "quick fix" for (ie. is tapping the mouthpiece a standard routine?), or is this a more serious problem? Since I don't want to rely on my DMs to fix these glitches for me, I'd like to know what the SOP should be under these circumstances. Also, have I just been unlucky in experiencing a serious problem so often (relatively speaking) or is this a common, minor problem that people deal with all the time and resolve in a few seconds?