Strategies if an o-ring pops at depth

[burna]

Would it be fair to say that the majority of o-ring failure is due to over tightening the reg to the valve?

Sometimes you hear the o-ring snap into place. In my view, a totally incompetent view I might add, that is wrong. The o-ring is too small.

Richard, are you sure that the 'snap' is the the o-ring moving and not the first stage piston or diaphragm? Mine does this, but it's the piston moving.

Edit. Sorry, re-read your post. You were talking retrospectively.

 

[Zung]

No big deal, it happened to my buddies a couple of times at depth, 30-40 meters, too much work to go up. Swim over - hand off octo - turn off valve - remove yoke - remove o-ring - flip it over - put it back - replace yoke - turn air back on - take a few breaths - carry on. Yeah, there was some water in the 1st stage, but I guess it got breathed out, never noticed any consequence.

 

[InTheDrink]

Thanks for all the input and shared experiences. This has been very valuable to me. Through your shared experience and knowledge I feel like I now know what and how to deal with this situation, and to a degree what to do in the event of most serious gas loss problems. It's quite re-assuring.

I think TSandM made an important point about thinking before acting. Of course it helps if you are thinking about something you've already considered as a possibility and are simply fulfilling something that you had previously contemplated as a possibility and had one or more ideas how to address the situation.

Thanks again for all your input - many of you may never know what positive impact your sharing of your experience and/or expertise has on those who read here. At worst there'll be more comfortable divers out there. At best you may save someone's life (and quite probably never know about it).

J

 

[rstofer]

Richard, are you sure that the 'snap' is the the o-ring moving and not the first stage piston or diaphragm? Mine does this, but it's the piston moving.

Edit. Sorry, re-read your post. You were talking retrospectively.

On some valves, with some o-rings, when I turn on the valve I hear a hiss, like a leak, and then the o-ring snaps into place and fills the gap.

I do not understand all I know about the problem. It's my view that the o-ring thickness is too small. I remember the old valves with the thick o-ring that physically filled the groove and extended beyond the outer edge of the groove. I like that configuration.

I haven't really analyzed the failures. I think I know that the old double hose regulators don't like the new valves. I need to work on this some more.

Richard

 

[TSandM]

Thanks again for all your input - many of you may never know what positive impact your sharing of your experience and/or expertise has on those who read here.

I've had the experience of handling a very stressful situation underwater, and hearing Walter's "voice" in my head as things were proceeding . . . I think the things we write here can sometimes be critical in helping someone keep something an inconvenience, rather than an accident, which is why I continue to write them.

 

[Scott L]

Some resort locations will have a small supply of DIN tanks, but you'll likely need to call ahead. There are "convertible" or "pro" valves that have a yoke insert that can be removed with an allen wrench to become a DIN valve, but you're not likely to find these on typical aluminum tanks at resort locations. You can also convert many DIN regulators to yoke with a few simple tools, or get a DIN-to-yoke adapter for no-hassle conversion on the spot. In short, you have have many options, but when I travel, I always assume that DIN is not available, and will carry an adapter with me (or convert my reg before leaving).

How about the posibilty of bringing valves to install during trip then swap-out before leaving...

 

[Zung]

It's the other way around in the European area. All my gears (minus 1) are INT (yoke), and the idea is to get hold of those little round thingies that screw into a DIN valve and turn it into an INT, and the Allen key that does the screwing. But they get lost easily...

 

[Gombessa]

How about the posibilty of bringing valves to install during trip then swap-out before leaving...

I suppose anything is possible, but this sounds like a huge hassle for the typical resort op, right? They'd need to have DIN converter plugs to fill the tank, ensure that you and only you get the same tanks every time, have a tech on-hand to swap the valves out when you leave...they also may not want to use your valves (who knows where you stuck those things into?)...IMO it'd be much less trouble and give you more flexibility to adapt your equipment to match what is offered in the region, than the other way around.

 

[dumpsterDiver]

On some valves, with some o-rings, when I turn on the valve I hear a hiss, like a leak, and then the o-ring snaps into place and fills the gap.

I do not understand all I know about the problem. It's my view that the o-ring thickness is too small. I remember the old valves with the thick o-ring that physically filled the groove and extended beyond the outer edge of the groove. I like that configuration.

I haven't really analyzed the failures. I think I know that the old double hose regulators don't like the new valves. I need to work on this some more.

Richard

Totally agree. I remember when the new thinner orings came out and we saw many extrusions, until we learned to really tighten down the yoke

 

[Tigerman]

It's the other way around in the European area. All my gears (minus 1) are INT (yoke), and the idea is to get hold of those little round thingies that screw into a DIN valve and turn it into an INT, and the Allen key that does the screwing. But they get lost easily...

Both in Mexico and egypt the ops ive used actually have a nice ammount of din tanks with yoke insert and the inserts or the key getting lost really wasnt much of a problem. They belong in a little box on the wall and 98% of the people needing to use the inserts or the allen key actually put it back where it belongs..