Stuck Inflator Valve

[mccabejc]

Moved this from a different forum, where we were discussing the likelihood of a stuck BC inflator valve, and how to resolve the problem. It wasn't covered in my PADI OW class, and thanks to some members of this board I realized that I needed to do some thinking and practicing since it is a relatively common occurrence.

After some time in the pool this afternoon, I think I've licked the "stuck inflator valve" problem. Bottom of the pool (about 6 feet), gloves on, held the inflator valve button down, BC inflates, keep holding button down. First thing I do is yank on the right shoulder BC dump valve and don't let up. It empties BC faster than inflator inflates, so I stop ascending. With my left hand I bring the inflator hose to my right hand (which is still yanking the right dump valve), and with free fingers in right hand, plus the left hand, I disconnect the inflator hose. Much easier than I thought it would be. Total time: between 5 and 10 seconds, and I never reached the surface. In other words, if you're on the ball, and can grab your right shoulder dump valve quick enough, you should be able to accomplish the whole thing without ascending more than about 5 feet. Loss of air was somwhere around 50 psi.

I also tried to yank on the BC inflator hose to use the left hand dump, but it seems to deflate slower than the inflator inflates.

Comments?

 

[Frogman48]

Glad to see that you are thinking ahead and trying some pool practice on this skill. I do teach this in my PADI OW classes but rather than trying to keep the BCD inflating while doing the skill, I work on quick reaction time. For starters, I have the students a bit overweighted when we do this skill in the pool. Then with some air in the BCD I have them, on my signal, quickly disconnect the inflator hose and then immediately pull on the inflator hose to activate the quick air dump feature. Their average reaction time on this drill gets to be between 3-5 seconds. And yes, I do have students wearing their gloves during this exercise, because in our waters, most divers will be wearing gloves so they need to be able to work all their equipment in the pool just as they would in the open water.

Sometimes, trying to find the dump pull on the right shoulder takes a few moments - especially if you are not completely familiar with your BCD -or perhaps in a current where water movement can move the cord around a bit. Once the inflator hose is disconnected and the initial air is dumped by pulling on the inflator hose, then if the ascent isn't arrested, the right shoulder dump cord can be located and pulled. Most of my students have become quite proficient at pulling on the inflator hose while simultaneously locating and using the right shoulder dump cord.

Try this little trick and see if you can shave off a few seconds on your time - and again, good thinking on your part to try working on this in the pool since it wasn't covered in your OW class.

 

[Sideband]

Comments?

Not really. You explained how it's done well enough for me anyway. On my first pool session with my BC I had the valve stick open and figured out on the fly just what you did.

Joe

 

[Kriterian]

I also tried to yank on the BC inflator hose to use the left hand dump, but it seems to deflate slower than the inflator inflates.

Comments?

What about holding down the deflate button on the inflator itself at the same time? Does that work, in addition to the shoulder dump, or is it more trouble than its worth?

Thanks for the heads up solving this problem, I'd like to see it included in OW or maybe Rescue.

 

[mccabejc]

Kriterian,
I think that since you need to hold the inflator hose above your head (away from you) for it to release air from the BC, then you can't get at the hose connector to disconnect it.

 

[lairdb]

[...]
First thing I do is yank on the right shoulder BC dump valve and don't let up. It empties BC faster than inflator inflates, so I stop ascending. [...]

This, incidentally, is precisely the logic behind the EC standard that sets a maximum flow rate for inflators.

 

[mccabejc]

Frogman, why not have them try to recover under normal conditions (ie, have them hold the inflator down the whole time, with normal weighting)? I found that you really have to get a feel for coordinating the motions of simultaneously dumping air and disconnecting the hose, or else you can ascend uncontrollably. And if you're not dumping while you're disconnecting, away you go. Especially if you fumble a bit with the disconnection.

 

[Rick Inman]

What about holding down the deflate button on the inflator itself at the same time? Does that work, in addition to the shoulder dump, or is it more trouble than its worth?

Thanks for the heads up solving this problem, I'd like to see it included in OW or maybe Rescue.

My wing does not have a shoulder dump (thank God) so holding open the deflate button above my head while disconnecting seems preferable to slashing open my wing bladder with my knife.

 

[wxyz]

Kriterian,
I think that since you need to hold the inflator hose above your head (away from you) for it to release air from the BC, then you can't get at the hose connector to disconnect it.

my understanding is that if the power inflator button were stuck, you wouldn't need to hold the deflate button above your head for air to escape the hose (through the oral inflator opening). holding it above your head would only be for passive air escape.

 

[Rick Inman]

my understanding is that if the power inflator button were stuck, you wouldn't need to hold the deflate button above your head for air to escape the hose (through the oral inflator opening). holding it above your head would only be for passive air escape.

Humm. Good point. Anyone know for sure? I'll experiment a little on tomorrow mornings dive.