LP Inflator on Oxycheq Wing

darylm74 · Oct 3, 2005

Has anyone had an issue with the inflator on the Oxycheq wings? I had an incident Saturday night that had already started out bad (but that is another story) but could have been worse. I inflated my wing and was swimming about 25 yards back to shore (luckily in the shallows) when the thimble, which connects the LP hose to the LP inflator, blew completely out of the inflator. Another group was exiting at that point and shut the air off before I lost too much air. I've only had the wing a little over a year with maybe 40 dives or so on it. I looked for warranty information on Oxycheq's website but didn't find any. Anyone have a similiar incident or have their warranty info?

Thanks

Daryl

SDAnderson · Oct 3, 2005

I don't know about the warranty coverage but my experience is that they will take care of you if you get in touch with them. On the other hand, over the past couple of years I've come to look upon LP inflators as pretty much disposable: it's a $15- $20 part and should be available at any scuba shop. Not that you shouldn't be covered under warranty, but it would seem that the faster/better/cheaper solution is to just replace the thing and buy a spare for the next time.

darylm74 · Oct 3, 2005

reefraff:
I don't know about the warranty coverage but my experience is that they will take care of you if you get in touch with them. On the other hand, over the past couple of years I've come to look upon LP inflators as pretty much disposable: it's a $15- $20 part and should be available at any scuba shop. Not that you shouldn't be covered under warranty, but it would seem that the faster/better/cheaper solution is to just replace the thing and buy a spare for the next time.

replace it as I had other dives to do this weekend (had to get my pumpkin carved underwater

). I wonder how often this kind of failure happens. My biggest concern was this kind of failure could have been a real issue, especially on a night dive where the problem might not have been realized by a buddy or had it been towards the end of my dive, and my air lower, I could have been in deep do-do. I at least had a drysuit on so I had a backup on buoyancy but I didn't have a redundant air source. I definitely think I may sling a pony bottle from now on when I'm diving singles just in case.

Tom Winters · Oct 3, 2005

Send Patrick an email at Oxycheq. After DEMA, he'll take care of your inflator problem.

pdoege · Oct 3, 2005

My Oxycheq wings have never had the problem, but I have seen loose spindles on DR and Halcyon inflators. I just screwed them back down.

Peter

Rick Inman · Oct 3, 2005

pdoege:
My Oxycheq wings have never had the problem, but I have seen loose spindles on DR and Halcyon inflators. I just screwed them back down.

Peter

'Swhat I was thinking.

I have the Oxy 45# and I have had to tighten back down the spindle on the inflator.

It's good to keep an eye on all that king of stuff... Hoses attached at the first stage, at the 2nd stage... anywhere a hose is attached, the hose itself, or the mechanism it is attached to can loosen up.

SDAnderson · Oct 3, 2005

darylm74:
replace it as I had other dives to do this weekend (had to get my pumpkin carved underwater ). I wonder how often this kind of failure happens. My biggest concern was this kind of failure could have been a real issue, especially on a night dive where the problem might not have been realized by a buddy or had it been towards the end of my dive, and my air lower, I could have been in deep do-do. I at least had a drysuit on so I had a backup on buoyancy but I didn't have a redundant air source. I definitely think I may sling a pony bottle from now on when I'm diving singles just in case.

Here's my accident analysis best guess: the spindle was somehow loosened and began to unscrew (shouldn't happen) and you didn't notice in time to fix the problem (should happen) before it went BOING! At least, that's what I figured the time it happened to me. :11:

You're right about the potential for this to be a serious problem: low pressure hose failures can blow out your gas in a hurry and not being able to use your BC can be a profound "oy vey" moment. Redundancy (and good maintenance) can help avoid testicular impingement.

darylm74 · Oct 3, 2005

reefraff:
Here's my accident analysis best guess: the spindle was somehow loosened and began to unscrew (shouldn't happen) and you didn't notice in time to fix the problem (should happen) before it went BOING! At least, that's what I figured the time it happened to me. :11:

You're right about the potential for this to be a serious problem: low pressure hose failures can blow out your gas in a hurry and not being able to use your BC can be a profound "oy vey" moment. Redundancy (and good maintenance) can help avoid testicular impingement.

I don't think it was beginning to unscrew as it stripped all but the bottom thread out. You can take the spindle and push it straight in and then just tighten it a tad bit. My first thought was somehow I got it hooked up to a HP port but it wasn't, but then again I think if that was the case it would have blown long before now, but hey who knows.

Anyway I will contact Oxycheq and send it in. I love my wing otherwise and will definitely consider buying another one if this one ever possibly wears out.

BuoyantC · Oct 4, 2005

Never had that happen! If I was to venture a guess, I'm betting someone cross-threaded the thing on assembly. A friend had a similar problem - on the surface thank goodness - on his inflator octo (AirII?). There was a shrader valve that was barely hanging on and blew out on a predive check.

I'm guessing Oxycheq will fix it no problem.

Dennis

humanphibian · Oct 6, 2005

Just pop the spindle out of the L/P hose (air leak problem solved) it may help to pinch the hose so the spindle is easier to hold onto. Rethread the spindle into the inftator, if the threads are there and reconnect. If the threads are shot, get a spare out of you save-a-dive kit and replace it.

LP Inflator on Oxycheq Wing

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