Split reg hose

[yarik83]

I have a question and I apologize if I am crossing this invisible boundary. Why is switch to octo in question in this situation?

Octo is there for buddy sharing and a backup for your primary rig so why would one not switch to an octo? I always thought that entire purpose of buddy sharing was when you have a critical failure with your own system. In my case, for example I actually had to buddy breathe when I blew 0 ring on 1 tank and then on another tank when I swapped to it last year. But if I casually swim about my business and my primary goes bananas... my hand would reach for octo, breathe off it, figure out what is wrong with primary, check how much air I am losing and if I am comfortable with rate of loss then proceed with my dive. Am I on the fringe here? I mean I do dive with a pony bottle so how would breathing off octo be any different?

 

[traveler218]

I have a question and I apologize if I am crossing this invisible boundary. Why is switch to octo in question in this situation?

Octo is there for buddy sharing and a backup for your primary rig so why would one not switch to an octo? I always thought that entire purpose of buddy sharing was when you have a critical failure with your own system. In my case, for example I actually had to buddy breathe when I blew 0 ring on 1 tank and then on another tank when I swapped to it last year. But if I casually swim about my business and my primary goes bananas... my hand would reach for octo, breathe off it, figure out what is wrong with primary, check how much air I am losing and if I am comfortable with rate of loss then proceed with my dive. Am I on the fringe here? I mean I do dive with a pony bottle so how would breathing off octo be any different?

I agree that switching to Octo is totally appropriate in this case. If the primary hose is leaking then obviously there is a problem. Without being able to examine the defect it is difficult to judge how bad it is. Any additional stress could conceivably cause it to totally fail, if the tank still contains adequate air and you have a working delivery system there is no need to consider buddy breathing, so putting it aside and using the AAS would be the right thing to do.



(Is that better)

 

[KeithG]

Job well done.

It takes a bit of time to empty thru the reg hose. My poseidon reg always seemed to free flow, full on every other dive, and it always had a fair amount of gas left, even as it continued to empty at the surface. It did it in cold water, deep or shallow, never gave me warning. Big noise and bubbles but never completely empty. The shop never could fix the problem so it is now in the bin. I've switched to those fancy titanium scuba pro regulators and can relax now.

Maybe someone can tell us when the hoses should be replaced? I know sun breaks down rubber, and wonder like my timing belt in the car, is there a recommend replacement time? Cheers and safe diving

The hose was 22 years old, only 750 dives. The regs are serviced yearly and have always passed "inspection". The hose had no external signs of wear and appeared to be in pristine shape. The split was small enough that the repair tech could not visually locate the split - it was up under the steel sleeve.

I have talked with multiple divers who have had 3 or 4 year old hoses that did not pass inspection (bulges, cracks, evidence of wear...). So this does not give me much confidence that a new hose is any better than my existing hoses. As indicated all our hoses "appear" to be in excellent shape.

I assume scuba hoses are UV rated, but could be wrong. It would make not make sense to use material that breaks down in the sun on something that may get long sun exposure.

I am not aware of any rule of thumb on hose replacement schedule, But maybe 22 years is a little too long.....

 

[oldschoolto]

Hoses most likely will show signs before failing... Most often under pressure you will be able to feel a small bump in the outer rubber cover... This is from a very small pin hole leak in the inner hose and the air working through the braided steel that holds the pressure.... If a hose ever gets bent in a way that it leaves a bump or crease in the hose .. Replace it... The most common place to have trouble is at the point of the swag were the hose meets the fitting...

Accidents like this really should not happen A good gear check BEFORE the dive should find things like bumps in a hose, O-rings that are WAY over do for replacement... Mouth pieces ready to fall apart... Missing zip ties... Buckles that don't open or close right... Loose tanks.... and the list goes on...

It's a GEAR CHECK.... Not to see if it looks like scuba gear....

O-rings and hoses should be replaced before they fail....

Jim...

 

[EastEndDiver]

Read through this and see why I think joking about that type of situation is innapropriate.Because it has been done with dire consequences.

http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/scuba-related-court-cases/413916-tina-watson-death-full-story.html

 

[KeithG]

Hoses most likely will show signs before failing... Most often under pressure you will be able to feel a small bump in the outer rubber cover... This is from a very small pin hole leak in the inner hose and the air working through the braided steel that holds the pressure.... If a hose ever gets bent in a way that it leaves a bump or crease in the hose .. Replace it... The most common place to have trouble is at the point of the swag were the hose meets the fitting...

Accidents like this really should not happen A good gear check BEFORE the dive should find things like bumps in a hose, O-rings that are WAY over do for replacement... Mouth pieces ready to fall apart... Missing zip ties... Buckles that don't open or close right... Loose tanks.... and the list goes on...

It's a GEAR CHECK.... Not to see if it looks like scuba gear....

O-rings and hoses should be replaced before they fail....

Jim...

Checking the hoses under pressure is not something I do as part of every predive check. I have never seen this done by other divers either. Is this considered common practice?

As vacation divers, our gear sits for long periods of time and then gets a large number of dives in a short period of time.

Maybe it makes sense to perform a much more thorough predive check at the start of each vacation week that would include this. Simple to do, so,it makes sense to add it. Checking it 5 times a day seems a little over kill for the simple conservative dives we do.

If I was doing more advanced dives like caves or wrecks or deep I am sure I would have a different attitude and would be much more anal and paranoid.

 

[dmoore19]

In other industries there is preventative replacement policies in place. Of course that is in commercial use but the knowledge could transfer. I am not saying that hose replacement should be mandatory, I am saying that if the data was available a reasonable time could be established for hose replacement. Is that number 4, 3, 5, 10 years? Who knows? Hose manufacturers may have the data but would they be the ones to ask? Even this would not absolve one from the need to inspect hoses prior to diving, even for shallow dives.

 

[oldschoolto]

Checking the hoses under pressure is not something I do as part of every predive check. I have never seen this done by other divers either. Is this considered common practice?

As vacation divers, our gear sits for long periods of time and then gets a large number of dives in a short period of time.

Maybe it makes sense to perform a much more thorough predive check at the start of each vacation week that would include this. Simple to do, so,it makes sense to add it. Checking it 5 times a day seems a little over kill for the simple conservative dives we do.

If I was doing more advanced dives like caves or wrecks or deep I am sure I would have a different attitude and would be much more anal and paranoid.

You can't tell to much about a hose if it's not under pressure... You'll see BIG stuff but will miss the small tell tail signs a failure is in the making... And your right about not having to do a super gear check after a morning dive if you have not left your gear unattended... But a pre-dive check is always in order... I have a hp hose around here that has a very small bump when under pressure that I replaced.. I'll try and find it and hook it back up to take pictures of it before and then after pressure... You'll see what I mean...

It is a false sense of security that because I'm only doing easy dives I'm ok.... this sport can kill you at anytime...

Jim...

 

[oldschoolto]

Here are the pictures....no pressure and with pressure... And there is no leaking air and if it was under a hose protector you'd never see it unless you pull them back as you are suppose to...



Jim..

 

[InTheDrink]

Your statement is totally INNAPROPRIATE !!

Btw, the word is 'inappropriate'. Caps optional but generally best avoided.