Rebreather failure

[Wookie]

So, the bad planning thread got me to thinking. I know Richard Mork died in a cave, and we all know that had he done the checklist that came with his Meg, he'd be crewing for me today. But thinking about the thread makes me ask: How many have had a rebreather fail on them or heard of a rebreather failing on someone else midway through a cave dive, and survived on bailout gas to get out alive? I've probably seen more rebreather failures than most operators, but rebreather failures tend to get caught on the surface, when proper pre-dive checks are performed. I have seen a Vision handset go Tango-Uniform in the middle of a dive, but by switching to manual operation (feathering the O2 valve) and deciding which O2 cell to believe the diver made it back with his 4 team-mates just fine. The team mates aren't the key, it was picking the correct cell to believe, and he didn't go eeny meeny miney moe, he figured that when his handset crapped out, he was probably pretty close to his correct setpoint, and since the one cell was responding properly to a dil flush, it was the one to pay attention to.

Anyway, I've seen scooters explode in the water, I've seen lights fail, I've seen folks run out of gas, but I've never seen a properly prepared and tested rebreather predived by an experienced and certified rebreather pilot fail on a dive.

Has anyone?

 

[Superlyte27]

Two or three years ago I was diving my rEvo that was setup and tested properly. All cells good, negative and positive checked out. It would hold a negative for a week, a positive for even longer.

At the back of a cave, in a line trap with zero vis, my rebreather flooded. The nut holding the hose bulkhead to the counterlung (like what's on a dive rite wing inflator inside the bag) came loose. The rebreather filled with water quickly. I exited on bailout.

There's no reason in the world that nut should have come loose, and my buddy who now owns that rebreather has never had it happen again. It's not something you service, and not something a fat guy like me can even reach, because it's on the far end of the inside of the counterlung. Just a fluke.

 

[LiteHedded]

i've heard of an rb80 failing mid-dive. apparently the tube wasslightly bent and didnt allow the counterlung to inflate or deflate.
damaged on the surface apparently and not very noticeable. wasn't a problem until way far back. guy exited on backgas.