Regulator Flooding

[2DiveCrew]

I am writing about an accident that my wife recently had with rental equipment. She is a beginner diver with just 16 dives.

We did a buddy check on the boat before jumping in and starting our descent all seemed alright. As we were descending my wife noticed that when she inhaled she was getting mostly air but also some water. She thought maybe some water was getting in from the mouthpiece and continued the descent. At 16 meters the regulators started flooding completely and as she inhaled she got no air - just water. She signalled to me that she was having problems but I could not understand that it was an air related problem. She decided to ascend. Her dive lasted a total of about 5 minutes all descent time.

I have asked different divers what can cause this kind of technical problem with no definitive answers. Some have said that it is a second stage problem, others a first stage (which could possibly mean that also the octopus would malfunction??). Almost certainly I suppose that it is a maintenance related problem which exacerbates itself with increased pressure as the problem was not evident at the surface.

I would appreciate hearing from anyone who can tell me what can cause this and how it can be prevented.

As a footnote, the dive shop denied that the accident occured and that there were any problems with the regulator (while the divemaster on the boat admitted that rented equipment is often crap). The dive shop simply blamed her for ascending.

Fortunately, considering that she had no air in her lungs the possibility of a lung injury from rapid ascent would be very small and I would think that the chances of getting bent would be relatively low from the first dive of the day, at that depth for that short a time.

What I am most interested in is knowing what can cause a regulator to malfunction in this way. Is it a first or second stage failure?? Is the proper maintenance of the reg. a factor?

 

[Rick Inman]

II would appreciate hearing from anyone who can tell me what can cause this and how it can be prevented.

As a footnote, the dive shop denied that the accident occured and that there were any problems with the regulator (while the divemaster on the boat admitted that rented equipment is often crap).

As soon as you can, buy you own gear and have it maintained. With rental gear, you take you chances. This may not completly answer your question, but it is a solution.

 

[Bretagne]

She signalled to me that she was having problems but I could not understand that it was an air related problem.

She didn't signalled you with the "out of air" sign?
I think that the biggest problem of your dive is that she was not able to ask you to give her air. You seriously have to work on that together, get automatisms together to share air.

Whatever the reason, you must both be prepared to the eventuality of a regulator failure. Obviously you (as a team) were not.

 

[2DiveCrew]

Point well taken Rick if I can back into the water it will be with her own gear.

Bretagne, your point is obvious and unhelpful.

What I'd like to know (to be better informed) is the technical reason for the equipment failure.

 

[Lane Zimmer]

A few things can cause a reg to fill with water.

1) The exhaust diaphragm could have been torn, folded or had junk stuck in it. That's a common problem with rental gear.

2) The mouthpiece could have been torn or not secured properly. This usually causes a little moisture, but it is possible it flooded the reg.

3) The main diaphragm could have folded in or torn if it wasn't properly maintained.

I highly doubt it was a 1st stage problem. Just about all regulators freeflow when the 1st stage fails. Even if you had one of these odd-ball regs that shut down if it failed, the 2nd stages wouldn't flood. It just wouldn't deliver any air. It is definitely a 2nd stage problem.

A simple way to test for this is to put the reg on the tank as you would normally, but don't turn the air on. Now go ahead and try to breathe off of both 2nd stages. If they both produce a vacuum, then the reg is OK. If you can get a small amount of airout of either one, take it back and get another.

Hope this helps.

 

[2DiveCrew]

Very helpful Zimmer. We checked the mouthpiece and it was ok. Howevever, when I tested the reg on the surface immediately after the dive (with the air still on) I could tell that there was something wrong with it - some water was coming in and it just didn't sound right. I suppose that could be a folded or torn diaphram that produced that sound.

Interesting about the 1st stage because it was an instructor that actually told me it could be the first stage but I couldn't figure out how that would cause it.

 

[pipedope]

Far and away the most common cause of a wet breathing reg is the exhaust valve.

You can press the purge valve and hold it in and just breath. Then you switch to a backup reg and head to the surface.

It is good practice to test all second stages at the surface before descending to be sure they all deliver dry air. Better to find problems at the surface before the dive than at depth.

Owning your own gear lets YOU control the quality of maintenance.

 

[stefo2]

Well, I don't think Bretagne's point was "unhelpful" or unnecessary, considering that this is not the equipment forum, but a forum about incidents and accidents from which to learn lessons. If you think it was "obvious" then I take that you have both learnt your lesson and will practise OOA situations.

Another lesson that may be learnt from this:
If you have equipment problems on descend, don't just continue your dive and ignore it (have recently learnt this one myself in a different context)

 

[Groundhog246]

What kind of entry did she make off the boat? Giant stride? How high above the water?
I've had one similar case myself with a giant stride entry off my sailboat. I looked down as I stepped of and hit the water that way. The force of the reg hitting the water turned an edge of the exhaust valve under. As soon as I took a breath or two I knew I had a problem and the equipment course I've taken gave me the knowledge to know where to look and how to fix. I've also had the purge valve on my Impluse II snorkel do this.

As to Bretagne's comments. I would have to consider them right on. You really NEED to work on your underwater communications. You mention she has 16 dives, how many do you have?
In my opinion, with the incident as you describe, she should have:
1) stopped the ascent earlier.
2) Immediately switched to her octo (at which point you would have realised an "air" problem).
3) If the octo didn't deliver air, given a clear out of ari signal and reached for your octo.

It's fortunate that she suffered no injuries, but it sounds like you both need to work on "buddy" skills.

 

[QuoVadis]

What kind of entry did she make off the boat? Giant stride? How high above the water?
I've had one similar case myself with a giant stride entry off my sailboat. I looked down as I stepped of and hit the water that way. The force of the reg hitting the water turned an edge of the exhaust valve under. As soon as I took a breath or two I knew I had a problem and the equipment course I've taken gave me the knowledge to know where to look and how to fix. I've also had the purge valve on my Impluse II snorkel do this.

As to Bretagne's comments. I would have to consider them right on. You really NEED to work on your underwater communications. You mention she has 16 dives, how many do you have?
In my opinion, with the incident as you describe, she should have:
1) stopped the ascent earlier.
2) Immediately switched to her octo (at which point you would have realised an "air" problem).
3) If the octo didn't deliver air, given a clear out of ari signal and reached for your octo.

It's fortunate that she suffered no injuries, but it sounds like you both need to work on "buddy" skills.

The problem with your answer and others is HE ASKED ABOUT WHAT CAUSED THE PROBLEM..nothing more, nothing less. I think he realizes the mistakes that happened but THAT WAS NOT HIS QUESTION......Can't people just answer the question at hand??????