Another reason not to overweight

I went to Cozumel and Grand Cayman this past January, and the water was beautiful!

It was everything I had hoped for, until around 70 ft on a wall, I gave my inflator a tug to let a little air out of my BC, and the hose tore off in my hand.

I really didn't want to ditch my weights because a controlled ascent with a wetsuit and half-empty aluminum tank would have been really difficult.

Then I noticed that even with no air in the BC, nothing much was happening, except that I needed to keep a little more air in my lungs than normal to maintain my depth.

Anyway, I was very happy that I didn't go plunging down the wall, and equally happy that I didn't go rocketing towards the surface.

I guess that's another reason to watch those weights. Since I wasn't overweighted, there was very little effect when I lost the little remaining air in the BC. If I was 10 pounds too heavy and had an extra quart or two of air to compensate, it would have been A Bad Thing when the extra air went it's own way after the hose broke.

In this case all it meant was that the dive ended early and I couldn't go out again that day.

In any event, I needed to get to get it fixed. I assumed that because I was on vacation, getting it fixed would cost a fortune, but I was wrong! A friend recommend Diver's World on Grand Cayman, and they were phenominal!

Not only did they replace the inflator hose in less than two hours, they put on a hose that was light-years better than the original, and only charged me $25!

I can't tell you how impressed I was, since I would have paid almost anything to not ruin my only vacation this winter, and they did a great job for a great price!

..."Another reason not to use pulldumps"

Web Monkey once bubbled...

It was everything I had hoped for, until around 70 ft on a wall, I gave my inflator a tug to let a little air out of my BC, and the hose tore off in my hand.

Click to expand...

I have only needed to use this method one time only.. I was the DM on the boat one day the girl that I was leading fogged her mask.

No big deal. I reminded her to flood/clear her mask. She flooded it, then instead of blowing through her nose she inhaled.... BIG mistake...

She flipped out and grabbed the power inflater to use as an elavator. Me being within arms reach grabber her and stopped her from 70fsw. I grabbed the hose and dumped the air, and held on to it as she contuined to hold the inflate button down, venting everything she was adding. All the way to the surface. Then I began our direct controlled accent to the surface. Once there she thanked me and told me that she didn't even remember anything that happend. We spent the rest of that dive on the surface practicing basic skills all over again and again. Then we got in on the second dive.

Scubaroo once bubbled...
..."Another reason not to use pulldumps"

Click to expand...

Or "another reason to have your gear checked before a dive trip"

Hallmac

I think the original had finally had enough. I didn't notice until I was back onboard. With proper weighting, it made little difference.

And it was Chris at Diver's World on Grand Cayman who did my repair. He's probably the best technician on the island and is known for doing the small repairs quickly so tourists can get on with their diving.

Hallmac once bubbled...


Or "another reason to have your gear checked before a dive trip"

Hallmac

Click to expand...

It had been checked out a month before, and had hardly had any use, but I can see how it would have been easy to miss (or maybe had nothing wrong with it at all at the time).

The original hose had circular grooves every 1/4 inch or so. Each groove goes completely around the hose and cuts the hose thickness about in half.

If you went to an engineer and said, "I'd like a hose where the end-user can easily tear it", that would be the hose they would design. I can't beleive anybody would put one on a BC. It looks like it was built specifically to tear.

Diver's World put on a hose that I don't think would tear if I used it for towing.

Drew Sailbum once bubbled...
I think the original had finally had enough. I didn't notice until I was back onboard. With proper weighting, it made little difference.

And it was Chris at Diver's World on Grand Cayman who did my repair. He's probably the best technician on the island and is known for doing the small repairs quickly so tourists can get on with their diving.

Click to expand...

I'll be back there this winter, and I'm going to buy something.

They deserve the business.

dsgobie once bubbled...


She flipped out and grabbed the power inflater to use as an elavator. Me being within arms reach grabber her and stopped her from 70fsw. I grabbed the hose and dumped the air, and held on to it as she contuined to hold the inflate button down, venting everything she was adding.

Click to expand...

Aren't you glad that the dump valve is faster than the inlet?

I wonder how long it took before engineers figured that one out?

Web Monkey once bubbled...


Aren't you glad that the dump valve is faster than the inlet?

I wonder how long it took before engineers figured that one out?

Click to expand...

I think she was more than me.. She was asking me questions the whole boat ride back about how much danger was she in from DCS, and an AGE, and what not.... I think she really scared her self because I haven't seen her back since.

But yeah... I'm glad...

It took a while working on B/Cs to figure out how to identify which hoses were shot and which were in good condition. I was originally trained that if it didn't leak it was ok!

Web Monkey once bubbled...
If you went to an engineer and said, "I'd like a hose where the end-user can easily tear it", that would be the hose they would design. I can't beleive anybody would put one on a BC. It looks like it was built specifically to tear.

Click to expand...

Used by many manufactures a few years ago until they woke up.

Web Monkey once bubbled...
Diver's World put on a hose that I don't think would tear if I used it for towing.

Click to expand...

The proper materials make all the difference in the world. This is why so many including myself don't use the pull dump. I like the option just can't trust it or the average yearly inspection on many of the B/Cs made.

Hallmac