Buddies Tank Leaking, what should i have done?

[Codyjp]

I was on a dive with a new buddy last week. (we were both on about dive 6ish in our logbooks fresh out of OW class). We descended to about 35' when we went to signal that we were OK after our ascent i noticed that the valve on his tank was leaking profusely. (well, how the hell would i know how much air was really coming out, it seemed like a lot though). I had him check his pressure... only a few hundred pounds low ...ok. i tried to signal to him that his tank was not looking so good, I couldn't get that communicated across to him (we later worked that out). I signaled for him to return to the surface. I led the ascent and opted for a slow ascent, but skipped the safety stop. (thinking our total dive time was only about 3 minutes at that time of the ascent) All worked out fine, it was a bad tank O ring, we replaced the tank and went down for another dive.

Now, looking back. should i have stuck with the deco stop and if need be perform an OOA procedure?

Considering i didn't know how long his air would last?

Or was the logic of only being down a few minutes at 35' exempt a safety stop in the given situation? (that is what i though)

what would you have done?
let me hear your opinions.

 

[TSandM]

If you think about it, the nitrogen loading you have at 35 feet for 3 minutes is almost negligible. Omitting the safety stop in that circumstance is almost certainly fine. Making a slow, steady ascent to the surface (a sure air source) is preferable in this particular instance to doing any kind of air-sharing procedure underwater.

BTW, I don't know how bad this leak was, but a full freeflow (which is an impressive and noisy volume of bubbles) takes a couple of minutes to drain a tank -- at 30 fpm, which is an acceptable ascent rate (especially in this case!) you only needed one to get to the surface, and it doesn't sound like you had the equivalent of a free flow going on.

Lots of options -- it's good to think through what's the most practical solution given the parameters.

 

[S. starfish]

Sounds just like what I would have done. A three minute dive to 35' doesn't really warrant a safety stop, which is never really manadatory, just a good idea for deeper and longer dives. From what I can tell an OOA proceedure wouldn't have been the way to go, it really would have just made things more complicated. A leaky o-ring isn't going to empty a tank in any hurry. A completely blown one might, but chances are he'd notice something like that.
In your shoes I probably would have done the exact same thing, leaky tanks suck.

 

[Codyjp]

I would have only done the OOA procedure if his tank ran empty, which i didn't think was very likly but I was still not sure.

The tank was leaking around where the valve screws into the tank. it was bubbling all around the neck area. I also didn't want to alarm him and make him think things were really bad!

Is there any chance of a tank leaking like this later on in the dive? like near the end when the air is low anyway? i would assume not, but?

 

[utnapistim]

Is there any chance of a tank leaking like this later on in the dive? like near the end when the air is low anyway? i would assume not, but?

Yes. I'm not exactly sure why it happened, but we (my buddy) had this situation during the second dive on Sunday, while ascending on the line.

I asked him his air level and signaled that he had bubbles comming out and asked if he wanted to share air.

It was not leaking much (just a continuous stream of bubbles) so he declined and we ended the dive normally.

 

[wreckchick]

No need to do a full-on air sharing thing while both people still have air in their tanks.

One thing you could incorporate into your diving is a bubble check on the surface prior to descending. That would have caught this and you could have fixed it a little faster. Pretty much all it is is one buddy puts on his/her mask and looks the other diver all over to make sure nothing's leaking, then reverse the process.

Rachel

 

[Rick Inman]

BTW, I was taught the signal for bubbles is the thumb and index finger starting in the position that means "little" and open and closing rapidly (hope that explains it).

 

[wreckchick]

Rick,

Same for me, the "I'm crushing your head!" move, but littler

Rachel

 

[Ber Rabbit]

Prevention is the best medicine. When you assemble your gear listen for leaks; after you enter the water you should do a buddy check and make sure all gear is still in place (nothing dislodged during entry) and nothing is leaking. You also want to make sure the tank is secured, if you don't have your tank strap level (straight) your tank can slip free once you are in the water so double check that after entry as well. If the surface is choppy you can do the check after descending a few feet.
Ber :lilbunny:

 

[Codyjp]

we checked each other out prior to getting in the water, but nothing in the water before the descent. That would be a wise thing to do next time.

Rick, that is what i did with him, but he wasn't clear on what i ment.

the share air would have only came into play if he DID run out of air, not prior.