1st stage failure

[crispix]

Third dive of the day, buddy turns on his air on the boat and a few seconds later a hose blasts out, big noise, lots of air hissing out. Best guess is that the hose may have been overtightened and the threads were failing. (The reg was serviced a few months ago but not dived much since then.)

Anyway, was thinking about what could have been had the regulator exploded underwater. We were planning a 100ft dive, so at 100ft his tank would have emptied pretty quickly and likely well before we could have surfaced.

So I'm using this as an excuse to review safety procedures and to mentally go through the procedure had this happened to me or to my buddy at 100ft.

1. Remain calm.
2. Begin ascent with buddy, holding on to each other like we all learned in OW.
3. Share air. Buddy with air monitors gauges closely.
4. Control ascent.
5. Manually inflate BC at the surface. This is a big one and important to remember. I don't think it's practiced enough. No need to drop weights in most cases, barring some sort of simultaneous BC failure.

Frankly, I would skip the safety stop. Buddy's tank will be empty and we need to get up and buoyant slowly, safely, but without delay.

Anyway, just thought I'd share.

 

[emoreira]

Which hose did explode ? I mean, a HP hose or a LP hose. Depending on this is what you should do. If the HP hose explodes, the first stage has a very little passing hole, just to measure the tank pressure. If an HP hose breakes and you are near the start of your dive, you could still reach the surface breathing your tank.
One thing that you should do is to shut your tank, with the help of your buddy, to avoid the bubbles driving you both crazy.
You could ask to your buddy to open your tank near the surface to inflate your BCD and then shut it again.
In such an emergency you should skip the safety stop and prolong the surface interval a bit to be within the safe side.

 

[Fishpie]

I have never seen a hose strip its threads but I have seen several burst due to rot and poor swages (mostly HP hoses)
As has already been pointed out LP hose failure is more serious as they will loose gas faster.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I've had a low pressure (drysuit) hose start uncontrollably freeflowing at 90fsw. Obviously, I detached it from my drysuit immediately. I informed my buddy and we did a controlled ascent, with a minute safety stop, all while linked together and intensely monitoring my air. It was a calm, slow ascent. At the surface, I inflated my BCD and then had my buddy turn off the valve.

Luckily it had happened in the beginning of the dive, so no air sharing was necessary (though my air at the surface was around 600psi). I'd do the same thing if it was close to the end of dive, except with air sharing.

 

[crispix]

It was a low pressure hose that popped out, by the time he turned it off it was down almost 400psi in just a few seconds. You think turning it off underwater should be part of the plan? I know it would be super noisy and violently bubbly. I guess once we're sharing air turning it off would help calm the situation by reducing the violent gassing.

 

[Scuba_Noob]

I didn't turn mine off until we were at the surface because I could still breathe off of it, and I also wanted gas to pump up my BCD at the surface (rather than blowing in it). Still, you could turn it off if you're air sharing and if it's really making someone panic.

I don't think it matters either way, but more experienced divers can chime in with better answers.

 

[spectrum]

A buddy's second stage unscrewed from the hose and fell off. Fortunately it was during surface exercises. That could have been ugly at depth. Crap can happen.

Pete

 

[billt4sf]

That could have been ugly at depth. Crap can happen.

Pete

...and some people dive solo. Yikes!

- Bill

 

[rx7diver]

...and some people dive solo. Yikes!

- Bill

Bill,

Knowledgeable and prudent solo divers have a contingency plan for this type of event.

Safe Diving,

rx7diver

 

[TSandM]

I don't think the bubbles would be that annoying, since they would be coming out of the first stage. But turning the tank off can avoid getting water into the system, so if you are calm and competent in air-sharing, turning the tank off isn't unreasonable. It's not a priority. The priority is sharing gas and initiating an ascent, and controlling that ascent. It is a very good idea to begin sharing gas before the tank runs out, because at that point, nobody is frantic.