blizzard leaks (not the bleed)

Twice now I have had the same problem occur with my blizzard reg. On two different dive vacations I have used rented tanks and have had small air leaks where the reg seats onto the tank valve (no this is not the dry bleed). On one occasion I changed tanks and the problem went away. The second time I was unable to change tanks (continued the dive due to shallow depth and a trusted buddy) and the leak obviously continued. I didn't lose a considerable amount of air but the leak was noticed by my buddy who described it a constant stream of small bubbles (again not the bleed). He thinks it was coming from between the "neck" of the reg and the O ring on the tank. Question is have you any idea what may cause this? My first thought was, of course, bad o rings on the rental tanks.

freshwater:

My first thought was, of course, bad o rings on the rental tanks.

Click to expand...

If the leak coming from the interface between the tank valve and the yoke connector on the reg, the yoke o-ring is almost always the culprit. You can examine and carefully reseat the o-ring or carry a few spares in your save-a-dive kit in case this happens again.

It's not uncommon, and I have to admit I've done a couple of vacation dives with small champagne-bubble leaks, though the prudent thing to do is certainly to fix it first.

On the rare occasions that I rent tanks I usually ask the shop to change the yoke o-ring, most shops don't bat an eye.

While there is a 99% chance it's the tank Oring, there is also the possibility of a knick on the face of the reg sealing surface. A careless bump on a valve or similar incident can create small dings in the mating surface that will cause the kind of leak you describe. Even if you do have some defects in the mating surface it is possible to at times get a tank valve/ oring combination that will still seal. Carefully inspect the mating surface for dings. You will likely see some small scratches, never seen a reg without them but a scratch all the way across the face, esp if it's down to the brass will leak. It can be buffed out but it will involve removing some or possibly all of the chrome from the mating surface of the reg. I have had to do it on a few old abused regs to get them back in service.

Had the same problem with mine after resurecting after several years. Have always been careful in handling and the culprit was the "O" ring at the tank valve. New "O" ring and no more lost bubbles....