Regulator free flow at 100 feet.

[Mikeguyver]

I had some key learnings last week when my reg started free flowing at 100 feet at Mermet Springs last weekend. My buddy and I were looking for some items that I had dropped (like a knucklehead) near the deep dock. Our plan was to descend to the nearest platform (85ft) and then follow a compass heading from the platform to the dock. He was on my left and we only had about a 30-40 foot swim to where we thought the items would be on the bottom. It was cold (46 degrees) but the visibility was 20+ feet. He spotted one item after about 25 feet and descended to the bottom to get it. I then noticed the other item about 10 feet further ahead and to my right. I grabbed it and secured it and then noticed that I was hearing bubbles when I was inhaling. It took me a second and I realized that my reg was free flowing. I had no trouble breathing but my first thought was the possibility of running out of air. I looked back towards where my buddy was and couldn't see anything. It turns out that when he went to grab the item, he stirred up a lot of bottom silt and then he had zero visibility. I stayed calm and then swapped out to my octo. I started slowly ascending but the reg wouldn't stop free flowing. At about 10 feet, the reg finally stopped free flowing and I was able to see that I had about 800lbs of air left in my tank. I needed to find a place for a safety stop and knew that the line to the nearby 85ft platform had grab bars at every 20 feet. I surfaced so I could locate the buoy that marked the line, and then slowly swam down at an angle to the 20 ft bar. I checked my computer and it wanted me to stay at 20 feet for 5 minutes. I noticed my buddies bubbles and he ascended to meet me for his 3 minute safety stop. I never had any pain or discomfort and after an hour+ surface interval, we enjoyed a shallower (45ft or less) 30 minute dive. I used my reg on this dive and had zero issues. So here is what I learned.

• Remaining calm is the key. I'm 53 and while I don't have over 50 dives, I'm always calm when I dive.
• It takes a longer time to drain a 80cf tank than I thought. In hindsight, if I had kept the free flowing reg in my mouth rather than swapping to my octo, I would have lost less air. I knew I was losing air and I had my bubble spewing reg in my right hand and was trying to keep an eye on my computer on my left arm. I couldn't check my SPG.
• I was able to remember to ascend slowly and keep breathing. When you go through training, you hear this over and over and it's what kept me safe.
• While I did check for my buddy, I didn't obsess over not finding him. My training took over.
• Note: I was using an Aqualung Titan primary reg (not a double hose on this dive) that will be going to my LDS to be checked. I'm curious why it free flowed in the first place.

Any other insights would be appreciated. Thanks, Mike

 

[dumpsterDiver]

That's great that you made it to the surface. However, I think you should be checking your SPG on ascent, especially if you have an air loss situation. To say that your were incapable of checking your pressure gage is hard to understand. Do you have it secured somewhere where it is difficult to read?

Also, I am curious why you did not stop at 20 feet? Did your training lead you to be reliant on a physical guide (a ascent line) in order to perform a safety stop?

 

[TSandM]

My only freeflow event was on a Titan, too. It was checked by the shop and they found nothing wrong with it.

Was your freeflow a slow burble? Mine was a violent spewing of gas. My biggest problem was that I couldn't see much at all, and the noise was HORRENDOUS!

 

[NAM001]

Why did you go back to 20 ft fromt he surface. Was your ascent rate large enough to warrent going back down. Alli saw was you slowly ascending and in my thiking you dont need teh safety stop especially with malfunctioning gear.

 

[Redshift]

I would probably have kept breathing through the free flowing reg, not to waste more gas breathing from the octo.

And were the 5 minutes asked from your computer a deco stop? If so, I wouldn't have gone to the surface. Your concern should be the depth, not having a grab bar to hold on to.

 

[Mikeguyver]

My SPG was close and attatched with a retractor. looking back, there should have been no reason for me to not have checked it. My reg was spewing and my first thought was to get to or near the surface. I thought I was slowly ascending but was concerned that it wasn't slow enough. I don't think I handled it perfectly which is why I'm looking for input on what I should have done. My reg didn't stop free flowing until about 10 feet or so which is why I didn't stop for a safety stop. I knew I was close to the line/bar which would make a safety stop easier. I was thinking that It would be hard to maintain depth if my reg hadn't quit free flowing. I knew that I needed some sort of stop at depth. Once I figured out that I wasn't going to run out of air and I wasn't experiencing any pain/discomfort so far, I did my stop. I don't need something to grab on for a stop but with so much going on in my brain, the line seemed to be my best option. I looked at my computer and saw the number five and had 700 lbs of air left so I relaxed and waited. That is when I noticed my buddies bubbles coming up near me. I appreciate the input. I know that a lot of divers of all skill levels read Scubaboard and if anyone can learn from my experience, It's good.

 

[Mike.D]

You can still breathe off a free flowing reg, so why waste even more air and swap to your occy?
FYI it takes 38 seconds for a AL80 to loose all its gas through a LP Hose and over half an hour with a HP hose.


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[TSandM]

The biggest reason to switch to the octo is so you can SEE. Having your head wreathed in bubbles doesn't make it easy to check your depth gauge OR keep track of your buddy, or an uplink or other visual reference.

To me, here's the critique of the event: A malfunction which could have been an annoyance was turned into much more when your buddy silted things out badly enough that you could not use him as a resource. So, consideration number one is to develop skills which allow doing things close to the bottom without destroying the viz.

At that point, you recognized correctly that a strong freeflow will empty a tank fairly quickly. You switched to the octo -- did you try any maneuvers to make the freeflow from the primary reg end? Sometimes banging on the reg, or cycling the purge button, or even exhaling sharply through it can solve the problem.

You ascended under control . . . but you had a bigger problem. You were under a deco obligation (because 5 minutes at 20 feet is not a "safety stop"). HERE is where the biggest learning in the event comes in. There is a very large divide between recreational diving, and staged decompression diving, and that divide is that the deco diver has lost the surface as an option. Therefore, he has to have a plan for every reasonably foreseeable problem, that allows solving that problem while remaining underwater. Freeflows happen, especially in cold water; the diver with a deco obligation has to have a way to cope with one that doesn't require going up. That's why technical divers use double tanks and redundant regulators. You didn't have that option -- you didn't even have a pony bottle to give you a little extra time. You learned the hard way that that's a bad situation in which to find yourself.

Surfacing with a deco obligation, to orient yourself, is a high risk action. You got away with it. And, with a five minute obligation, you might have been better off remaining on the surface, than going back down -- because if you were going to become symptomatic from DCS, you'd rather do it on the surface, where you are easily reached by help, than underwater, where you might not be found.

 

[Jim-SAR]

Glad you're here to post about it. :cool2: I agree with dumpsterDiver and his point about needing a line/handle to do a safety stop. You need to be able to hold your depth for a stop without holding on to anything, and preferably, be able to hold depth with no reference other than a depth guage. I know you said, "...with everything going on in my brain", but in your first post you also said that you always stay calm when diving.

I would recommend:

1. Taking some time to practice holding your depth for a stop, without any reference and with very minimal finning.
2. Don't forget that you can close down on your tank valve to control the free flow. If needed, lift the bottom of your tank with your left hand, then reach for the valve with your right hand.
3. Invest in a decent size pony bottle (mine is 30 CF), reg, and bracket. Use this on any dive where the risks are higher, or your at a depth where a CESA isn't an option, or just in case you or your buddy run into problems. A pony bottle is like buying insurance, because it seems expensive, until you need it. It can also give you the piece of mind that you're better prepared.
4. Practice orally inflating your BCD while underwater, because if you lose your normal air source, and switch to your pony, then you've also lost the LP inflator hose. This will be needed in order to perform #1.

 

[finnks]

...

You ascended under control . . . but you had a bigger problem. You were under a deco obligation (because 5 minutes at 20 feet is not a "safety stop"). HERE is where the biggest learning in the event comes in. There is a very large divide between recreational diving, and staged decompression diving, and that divide is that the deco diver has lost the surface as an option. Therefore, he has to have a plan for every reasonably foreseeable problem, that allows solving that problem while remaining underwater. Freeflows happen, especially in cold water; the diver with a deco obligation has to have a way to cope with one that doesn't require going up. That's why technical divers use double tanks and redundant regulators. You didn't have that option -- you didn't even have a pony bottle to give you a little extra time. You learned the hard way that that's a bad situation in which to find yourself.

...

5 minutes at 20' may still be a safety stop. Some computers allow you to set safety stop time and at least one of mine is set to 5 minutes. Since my typical dive is to less than 30', I typically ignore the computers safety stop timer. OTOH on my most recent deco dive I added a half hour padding by napping on a 15' platform and playing with fish...

Doesn't sound like OP had a strong free flow. Sounds like he noticed bubbles from primary second stage when he was inhaling - a strong free flow is unmistakable. When I read his post I interpret it as a relatively slow air loss - suggesting that he may not have been sufficiently monitoring air at depth. I say this because he surfaced relatively quickly after noticing the bubbles. How much longer would he have stayed down if he had not noticed the air loss? How quickly would the 800 psi he originally surfaced with have become an OOA event?

OP should ask himself how much air he had before noticing the problem. If he doesn't know, then he needs to monitor SPG better on all future dives.