Broken Power Inflators

[NFLD Jim]

Can anyone give me a personal experience of an inflator that had a trickle leak or runaway inflation??

Is there a product out there that eliminates that.

Thanks

Jim

[DA Aquamaster]

Numerous inflators use a schraeder valve that can over time begin to leak. They hold air well and last a long time in applications like tire valve stems but they are not designed for a huge number of open/close cycles and are prone to contamination as any dirt or contaminants end up passing what is basically a flow by seat design.

It was common in the past of inflators to have an inflator button that screwed on to the stem and held the return spring in place. In the event the button unscrewed, the button would op off, the spring would go with it, and the next time you inflated, you would would push the bare stem in starting a runaway inflation that would not stop due to the missing action of the return spring pushing back up on the knob. In short, a really crappy design.

I have always liked the Scubapro balanced inflators as the design is balanced, making the addition of very small and precise amounts of air possible, is simple, is more or less idiot proof, and uses simple easy to replace o-rings for both the stem seal and the seat.

[John_B]

As a new diver, I had an Oceanic BC with the inaptly named "Reliant" inflator. On my 7th dive with this BC, the inflator stuck "on". What kept me from rocketing to the surface was my very alert and very experienced instabuddy, who figured out the problem before I did and solved it by detaching the quick release, then signaled me to manual inflate as necessary. As it turns out the inflator had been recalled but the shop that sold it didn't catch that on mine. OBTW, on the very next dive the replacement inflator separated at the shoulder "pull dump" (i.e. it wouldn't hold air) because it wasn't attached correctly by the shop monkey.

The product that can eliminate the problem is your brain and your fingers. Make sure that you can detach the inflator quick release with whatever exposure protection you normally dive with (i.e. thick gloves) with the regulator charged. If you can't, buy a hose hat from Tobin at Deep Sea Supply.

Its also a pretty good idea to make sure you can swim up your rig at the end of a dive.

HTH

John_B

[oly5050user]

Originally Posted by NFLD Jim

Can anyone give me a personal experience of an inflator that had a trickle leak or runaway inflation??

Is there a product out there that eliminates that.

Thanks

Jim

you are in search of a solution to a problem that does not exist..If you maintain gear properly the chance of a runaway inflation is remote..A trickle leak can happen at any time...just disconnect your lp infl hose and simply inflate bcd when needed orally as you had been taught in your ow course.