My reg freeflowed at 80 feet

Juls64 · Sep 7, 2003

Went on the Len-Der out of Milwaukee today. Was on the Prins Wilhelm at about 80 feet when I thought Darth Vader was in my reg. It was giving air when it shouldn't and made that DEEP BREATHING DARTH VADAR noise. Pulled it out of my mouth and it was gushing.

Good thing my buddy was CrazyDave. I went to my octo to get a better look at the thing. Couldn't get it to stop, So we went up. He shared air on the way and everything turned out ducky. Someone reported that it was about 41 degrees down there so I think that was the problem. It did finally stop flowing on the way up and I ended up with about 400psi in my tank.

Checked it on the boat and it seemed OK. Used it the next dive on the Gullen Tug, which was shallower, and all was fine. I'm thinking it was due to the cold.

Thanks again CrazyDave!:yea: :yea: :yea:

Julie

Rick Inman · Sep 7, 2003

Glad all is good!
Just curious, what kind of reg was it?

Juls64 · Sep 7, 2003

but Its a Scuba Pro MK-25/S550 with R180 Octo. I've had it since Feb. I've been to the Willy before plus other dives in similar temps and have never had any problems.

I baby the thing too, like carefully rinse after everydive. One thought crossed my mind, and that was that I had Rescue class last weekend and we did equipment removal and all and it could have been in sand. I used it for 3 dives the day after the class however, and the dive after the freeflow, and all was fine.

Julie

LUBOLD8431 · Sep 7, 2003

This is the reason I dont use Piston regs,

(1) not good in cold water,

(2) particles CAN get into ONE of the main working parts of the reg and can effect performance.

I would take it your LDS, and have a service tech take a look at it, and see if the piston chamber has any particles in there, and if the orings on the piston are Ok, and check the HP seat as well.

If all those things check out, then you can safely assume it was affected adversely by the cold water...

Laser · Sep 7, 2003

Juls64 once bubbled...
but Its a Scuba Pro MK-25/S550 with R180 Octo. I've had it since Feb. I've been to the Willy before plus other dives in similar temps and have never had any problems.

I baby the thing too, like carefully rinse after everydive. One thought crossed my mind, and that was that I had Rescue class last weekend and we did equipment removal and all and it could have been in sand. I used it for 3 dives the day after the class however, and the dive after the freeflow, and all was fine.

Julie

You might want to get away from the piston reg for cold water.
This is a recurring problem.

OkieDiver · Sep 7, 2003

I'm no ScubaPro expert but, wouldn't it more likely be something with the 2nd stage? If it was a high pressure seat gone south I believe it would freeflow all the time, not just in cold water.

LUBOLD8431 · Sep 7, 2003

Its hard to say without seeing it, but I would venture a guess that its a first stage issue...

Juls64 · Sep 7, 2003

I'll feel better if I have it looked at. I'm not at all experienced with these things, but just my gut instinct says its like cold related or something like that. For piece of mind, I am going to have someone at the shop take a look.

Thanks for the kind responses.

Julie

bm9 · Sep 7, 2003

Interesting, Since this is the time of year when the water temp at the Willie is usually at its best. Considering that you've had it since feb, and have been in those conditions before, and it was ok on your second dive, I would think something else was the cause than the temp. Quite possibly sand from your rescue class

Lead_carrier · Sep 7, 2003

If I'm not mistaken, ScubaPro had some problems with their MK25's freezing up. I'd give serious thoughts before I took it back to that water temp again.

My reg freeflowed at 80 feet

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