Regulator malfunction or just a normal occurance at 130ft?

[chiara93]

I'm posting this question because I'm curious about the cause since I haven't been down at 130ft.

A co-worker and her friend, both AOW, came back from Belize 3 weeks ago. My co-worker couldn't wait to talk to me about what happened to her and her friend at the blue hole at 130ft.

According to her, the friend at 130 ft, in panic bolted for the surface. Good thing that the DM with them saw what happened and went after the panicked diver. The DM, finally caught up with the diver at 70 ft and calmed her down. It turned out that her mask kept on flooding and this made her anxious, which turned into a full blown panic attack. My co-worker was surprised at this incident because as far as she knows, this friend is a much better and experienced diver than her. For her friend to have an attack like this is disconcerting for her. Her friend is Ok after all this, thanks to the DM.

Now, for my co-worker, her incident happened at 130 ft also where everyone was hanging around. While her friend bolted for the surface, she was having problems with her regulator. According to her, no matter how much she inhaled she coudn't get enough air. She tried switching to her octopus for a better flow, but still the same. She did this several times and still the air coming out wasn't enough for her. Throughout this ordeal , she never thought of ascending at all.

She also admitted to me that this was the first time, since she was certified years ago, that she tried switching regulator for the octopus. On top of that, she forgot the signal for having a problem with your air supply. There was another couple near her, but not closed enough. By luck, when she looked up, the DM was signaling everyone to come up. As she got shallower, her air flow from the regulator got better.

On the surface, she mentioned her problem with the regulator and the couple that was near her at 130ft told her that they knew what was happening with her when they saw her switching back and forth, but they couldn't do anything because they were also having problems with getting enough air from their regulator at that depth.

Now, my question is-is this a normal occurance with regulators in general at 130ft or a equipment malfunction? My co-worker asked me, but I couldn't answer because I don't know enough about regulators or what occurs at that depth.

Let me know what you think, so I can relay the explanation to my co-worker.

I'm just glad that she came back fine. She also promised to do over some basic skills before her next dive trip.

 

[Doc]

She also promised to do over some basic skills before her next dive trip

All the reasons that I recommend against the Blue Hole.

130 deep, remembering "basic skills", out in the middle of no place, nowhere near a chamber, and not that much to see.

Perceptions of "gear malfunction" grow more dubious when panic (internal or absorbed from others surrounding) is also an issue.

Regulators from the 1980's may have a problem at that depth when upside down. How long was "a few years ago"?

Your story repeats likely once a day at the Blue Hole. Belize is a fabulous dive destination, the Blue Hole is an attractive nuisance.

 

[Web Monkey]

Without actually seeing the equipment and watching the dive, it's really hard to give you a specific answer, but here are some (not all) possibilities:

1. Hyperventilation, induced by anxiety, which causes symptoms that cause more anxiety as well as a feeling of "can't get enough air".
2. Overly-tight wetsuit or equipment that causes breathing problems.
3. Poorly performing regulator that actually does make it difficult to breathe at great depths.
4. Partially closed, damaged or clogged tank valve.
5. Panic induced by being tremendously deeper than she should have been.
6. (really) bad air.

Other divers with the same rental equipment also having problems could make #3 or #6 more likely, although it could also just be more divers that were in way beyond where they should have been.

It's also possible that it was a combination of things. For example, a reg that breathes poorly at depth can cause anxiety that increases the breathing rate, which makes the regulator perform worse causing more anxiety and hyperventilation, which also causes more anxiety and panic.

It's likely that you'll never actually know what happened, since the only way to find out would be if you were actually there.

Terry

 

[RonFrank]

At 125' my Zeagle 50D/ZX works just fine. I have not dove it deeper, but I think it would be good at 300' based on others experience.

I agree with RoatanMan. She was likely freaking out a bit and over breathing her reg. Shallow breaths = not enough O2 = more increased breathing = even less O2.

When divers find that they can not get enough O2 at depth the best thing to do is... Stop, Think, Act. In this case, relax the breathing (5 second breaths slowly in and out), remain calm, and start the ascent.

Her reg MIGHT have not breathed as well at 130', but most on the market today can go a lot deeper than that without issue. If it was a rental, it might have been improperly tuned. However I seriously doubt it was an equipment issue, and much more likely an anxiety issue.

One telling sign is that it did not *sound* like she was having issues until her friend bolted for the surface, and the DM left. Now you have divers at 130', no DM, and everyone is suddenly having breathing issues. I see a trend there!

 

[Gen San Chris]

I would suspect it was either the tank valve not fully opened, if so, when taking a breath the pressure gauge would fluctuate like a vehicle rev counter or maybe it was a piston type reg which does not give the same air flow at depth!
Which ever, there should never be so many people at 130ft anyway, thats asking for trouble!

 

[chiara93]

"How long was "a few years ago"?

At least 9 years ago when she first got certified.

Her equipment was mostly rental, including the regulator. That makes me want to buy my own regulator now before my dive trip in a couple of months.

"Regulators from the 1980's may have a problem at that depth when upside down."

She was vertical when the "can't get enough air" occured.

 

[firstdive2005]

Hmm, Bit of a martini dive going on for some inexperienced divers it seems. Some regs at that pressure breathe less efficient than others. Many regs have adjustment knobs on the seconds stage to adjust breathing rate(resistance). I have seen many people jump into the water without checking the pre-dive position on their primary reg. This may have been the situation here. Also the narcotic affect at that depth would enhance the anxiety with a harder to breath from reg. This affect also may have been a reason for the bolting up she did (confusion). By the time the dm got to her the affect would have lessened allowing her to realize the situation.

 

[herman]

More than likely this was a diver problem, not an equipment problem. Any modern... most vintage regs for that matter...will supply plenty of air at depths a good bit deeper than 130 ft. Narcosis and/or panic are more likely the cause. " As she got shallower, her air flow from the regulator got better.".....more than likely narcosis cleared up and/or panic/stress level declined. I would have the regs checked but my bet is still on the diver, not the equipment.

 

[traumadiver]

I am not an "experienced" diver by no means but...what if the regulator was unbalanced, would that created a hard to breathe reg at 130fsw? I took my Sherwood BRUT down to 110fsw once. My reg was recently serviced. I noticed it a bit harder to breathe from, could have been the strong current I was going against but I also knew I was diving an unbalanced reg so I didnt freak out...luckily.
My buddy was having some issues with his reg at 110 and ended up switching to his octo to no avail. He ended up switching to his primary and relaxed through it, completed the dive and felt good that he was able to manage the problem.
In regards to the original post, would an unbalanced reg breathe hard at 130 fsw?

 

[TSandM]

Air at 130 feet is noticeably denser than at the surface. Even with my excellent regulators, I can tell the increased work of breathing at depth. It's one of the first things I noticed when I started using helium mixes for dives in the 100 to 130 foot range -- how much easier it was to breathe.

Combine a moderate amount of narcosis with a bit of CO2 retention and you get this result. One of my narcosis episodes was becoming convinced that my regulator was not working properly at about 100 fsw. I felt as though I couldn't get enough air, and I had to talk myself through it because by that time, I knew it was narcosis-related.

Now I know it is both narcosis and increased work of breathing with CO2 retention. It's a nasty combination, which is why I spring for helium for deeper dives.