Caught an LP wing inflator hose bubbling

[Marie13]

I was diving at the local quarry Saturday. Kept hearing bubbles from behind my head throughout the dive, but after having buddy check, she couldn't see any. After I got out of my doubles and was turning off my tanks, I noticed the LP wing inflator hose had some small bubbles coming out of it along a length of the hose from the first stage (it was on the fifth port). I wiped them off and they formed again.

Got home, put the first stage on a tank to look at it more closely, and the bubbles were forming again. Switched the faulty hose out for a spare. Would not have been nice to have that give me trouble on my first Lake Michigan dive of the season yesterday!

I can't say exactly how old the bad hose was, but no more than 4 years (I got certified in October 2016). The Halcyon branding on it (can't see in the photo) makes me think it might have come with the Halcyon BP/W I won at an event a few weeks after I was certified.

You can see the bubble(s) in the photo.

 

[tursiops]

Good catch, good solution.

 

[grantctobin]

I was diving at the local quarry Saturday. Kept hearing bubbles from behind my head throughout the dive, but after having buddy check, she couldn't see any. After I got out of my doubles and was turning off my tanks, I noticed the LP wing inflator hose had some small bubbles coming out of it along a length of the hose from the first stage (it was on the fifth port). I wiped them off and they formed again.

Got home, put the first stage on a tank to look at it more closely, and the bubbles were forming again. Switched the faulty hose out for a spare. Would not have been nice to have that give me trouble on my first Lake Michigan dive of the season yesterday!

I can't say exactly how old the bad hose was, but no more than 4 years (I got certified in October 2016). The Halcyon branding on it (can't see in the photo) makes me think it might have come with the Halcyon BP/W I won at an event a few weeks after I was certified.

You can see the bubble(s) in the photo.

View attachment 590933

Impressive you can hear those with your 7mm+ hood and on open circuit.

 

[Zef]

Would not have been nice to have that give me trouble on my first Lake Michigan dive of the season yesterday!

Would not have been catastrophic...you would just shut off that valve of your doubles, and then orally inflate....not a big deal. Your choice whether to continue the dive or end it, if you have an isolator valve in the middle you can keep breathing the one cylinder down and then open the isolator when and as needed. Would not recommend penetrating a wreck or cave like that but for non-penetration dives within the scope of one's training it should not cause be too big of an issue.

-Z

 

[Diving Dubai]

As other have said, good catch, although it wasn't a significant issue.

Things I do to mitigate such things.

Pay attention when assembling kits especially when pressuring the gear, - yes you'll most likely of hear big leaks, but there's always a chance that you'll hear small ones. All too often people go through the motions without really paying attention.

Always brief and carry out a bubble check at 5m/15' with your buddy. The fact that you could hear the leak but buddy didn't see it should be a lesson to them

Take a look at your gear post dive before you shut it down when its still wet, just in case.

Finally if you can, pressurise your gear at home in a tub its a good way to give everything a good check. This generally highlights the small leaks before they get worse things like inflator buttons too, that leak when you push then give an indication that it's time to replace/rebuild

Gernerally I replace all hoses after 2 years anyway, but that's a personal decision based on the frequency I dive and the fact I live in an extreme climate that is hard on petro chemical products.

Carry spares. Old functioing hoses go into my save a dive box, since missing a dive through a faulty hose of O ring when it's no problem to change and carry would suck

 

[Searcaigh]

I've had a similar issue with a rubber LP hose in the past, almost all of my LP hoses I think are now Miflex or similar, and have had no issues since.