SP 2nd stage serious water leak

[weaponeer]

I have a SP MK25 with G250HP second. I've owned it for 5 years and get it serviced annually. I have never had a negative experience diving it until recently.

I need some input on this situation. I was diving the wreck "Sea Emperor" yesterday at Ft Lauderdale. I will not mention the dive op because I do not feel that they did anything wrong. The DM went in and set the line to the wreck. Upon return he said the upper current was really ripping but it was calmer on the wreck, so we saw no problem with performing the dive. My wife and I went in, grabbed the line and proceeded hand over hand down the line. The upper current was as strong as I've ever seen it. The line was vibrating and extremely taunt and it was difficult to pull myself down the line.

The situation - at about 40 feet, I sucked water on a breath - a good bit of water. I expelled the water and took another breath - lots of water again. I immediately switched to my backup second and was able to get enough air to get my breathing under control again. Once the situation was recovered I turned to my wife, who as behind me on the line, and pointed up to end the dive.

I believe the problem was caused by the heavy current unseating the diaphragm enough to allow water into the reg during a breath. On the surface I rethought what happened and remember facing directly into the current when the leakage occured. After a period on the surface we decided to give a shallower reef dive a go. My SP reg worked perfectly at 50 feet so I know that there isn't a defect.

I realize this could lead to lots of speculation, but I'm looking for responses from anyone who has experienced this leakage in heavy current. Thanks.

 

[CaboJim]

When was the last time you had your reg serviced?

 

[weaponeer]

When was the last time you had your reg serviced?

It was serviced Sept 2009 and I have used it since then without problems.

 

[halocline]

The strong current probably folded or otherwise dislodged the exhaust valve in your reg. It happens occasionally. Glad you were able to switch to your alternate and continue the dive. About the only thing you could do about it would be to try a thicker, heavier exhaust valve which would add to exhalation effort. Modern regs have thinner exhaust valve specifically for this reason; they lower overall WOB.

 

[sphillips3]

It is difficult to say for sure what happened without inspecting the unit, but unseating the diaphragm is near the bottom of my list of possibilities. In fact, I'd consider it nearly impossible to unseat the diaphragm on a properly assembled regulator.

Here are my suggestions:

a) If you turn your head sideways to a strong current, water can flow through the exhaust tee and unseat the exhaust valve. The edge of the exhaust valve can flip under and essentially stick open. It may or may not resolve itself later in the dive.

b) You could have dislodged the reg in your mouth and sucked water in around the mouthpiece

c) You chewed thru the bite tabs or otherwise damaged the mouthpiece.

Others may have different ideas

 

[redacted]

Stick your finger into the opening on either side of the regulator and the rubber you feel is the exhaust valve. it will move (and fold fairly easily. The "wall" separating one side from the other is reduces the water flow through there which can disturd the seating of that valve. But there has to be some opening so a strong enough current will do the deed. It probably occurred when you were looking sideways. A strong purge should unfold the valve and correct the problem

 

[meesier42]

I have had this problem before, it was caused by the ripping current (OBX wrecks) getting into the exhaust tee and temporarily dislodging the exhaust valve. generally easily fixed by looking down vice into the current as it will change the way the water flows about the tee. if the exhaust valve get folded under (very unlikely) you'll have to reach your skinny fingers in there and reposition it, which can be very difficult with many tee designs with out removal, although sometimes a good hard purge with the mouth piece blocked can right it, specially if it full of water when you do it.

that doesn't rule out the possibility of a torn bite piece or other problems

btw- good on you for aborting the dive as soon as you knew something was amiss with your equipment

 

[Diver0001]

I believe the problem was caused by the heavy current unseating the diaphragm enough to allow water into the reg during a breath.

There are a number of more likely culprits than the diaphragm being dislodged by current. That particular theory seems unlikely to me.

First thing to do is a vacuum check. With the reg unattached and the dust cap on the first stage, just put the second stage in your mouth and suck it vacuum. If air still leaks in then you know it's because something is either dislodged or worn out.

Possible causes could be

- exhaust valve blocked and leaking, ripped or dislodged
- the main diaphragm ripped or dislodged
- the mouthpiece has a rip or hole in it or the tiewrap that holds it on has fallen off
- it's possible that the body of the regulator is cracked
- it's possible that an o-ring, for example, where the hose enters the side of the reg is old/cracked or has become dislodged.
- It's possible that something has come loose, such as the purge cover or the nut that holds the hose on to the reg.

The good news is that these things are all very easy to fix if you have the parts.

R..

 

[Interceptor121]

Check the regulator second stage on the surface to make sure it is sealing brething in from a closed tank. If it is sealing I would agree that the possibility is that the current temporarily disloged the exhaust valve which could have then gone back into place. As the valve is protected by another plastic piece it is possible that you looked sideways and the current flew inside the opening flipping the valve up and then it just lost the seal for the dive

 

[rcs9250]

I agree with roturners checks. The vacuum check is a good idea. I have old mouthpieces I use in class to show the holes in them when they are twisted a bit that show nice holes in them that cause wet breathing. Your situation sounded a bit more extreme than just a wet breather.
I had the hose at the second stage that was loose once that would cause my full face mask to massively flood with each breath. While I was exhaling the hose connection would bubble. While inhaling the loose connection would cause a vacuum at the connection and draw in water in amazing amounts. Be sure the connection is tight because at some point the O ring will extrude and you will have a pretty good leak.
Because of Murphy's law with a loose second stage fitting each time you move your head up and down the connection loosens rather than tightens. I know personally of a case where the hose came completely off the second stage. The hose was a 7 footer and when that happens it's like a scene out of the movie Anaconda. Low pressure hoses cause very fast loss of air.
Intermittent problems with mechanical devices are very unsettling. Intermittents on life support equipment turns it up a few thousand notches.
The exhaust diaphragm sounds like a pretty good cause if you pass all the vacuum tests.
If you want to try to duplicate what you experience in a safe way and environment go to a pool that has some filter discharges that you can get your regulator in front of and position your head in different angles to get the water to blow through it in a way similar to what you were experiencing on your dive. Maybe you will see that that is what happened. It may give you the piece of mind so that you understand what was going on.
A previous poster mentioned you did the right thing by thumbing the dive. Smart choice.

Randy