Free flow bodge good or not?

[soggybadger]

Hi folks. Just recently on a shallow dive (20 feet) i had a free flowing second stage but didn't want to end the dive. I chose to double over the hose and whip bungee around it till the second stopped flowing. I had switched to my pony whilst carrying out my bodge. I then carried on the dive using my octo as primary and still had the redundancy of the pony. Seemed reasonable to me at the time but a couple of other divers have pointed out that I should have ended the dive. What do you folks think about my bodge. Thanks. Iain.

 

[Steveed]

I want to hear what more experienced divers will say, but I would:

Try to stop the free flow by making sure the reg is mouthpiece down, maybe try purging (I'm assuming no adjust screws or levers on this reg)

If that didn't work, the dive is over, go to the pony, close the valve on the main tank, surface, then orally inflate the buoyancy device.

Your LP hose was bent in a way that it wasn't designed for, and I would never use it again, as I would be afraid of it bursting.

 

[soggybadger]

Old hose that was getting replaced anyway at a cost of a few pounds. I did try the usual cures with no results and thought I had nothing to lose so I gave it a go. I have binned the old hose as I would any item that I had abused in such a manner. I just treated the situation as one that could be dealt with rather than a dive ender. Thanks for your views.

 

[soggybadger]

Also I have a low pressure hose on my pony so no need to orally inflate but I didn't mention that. Cheers.

 

[Steveed]

That's fair enough, but in hindsight, I'd be asking, "was that the most safe option, equally as safe an option, or less safe option?" My personal answer would be, in my judgement, less safe option, and therefore maybe fall into the do not repeat category, and maybe learn a better option from (not me) but other divers. I would feel that it is less than safe to continue my dive, because my life support system is not functioning at 100%. Live to dive another day.

 

[soggybadger]

Thanks Steve. A fair comment.

 

[speedhound]

Hi folks. Just recently on a shallow dive (20 feet) i had a free flowing second stage but didn't want to end the dive. I chose to double over the hose and whip bungee around it till the second stopped flowing. I had switched to my pony whilst carrying out my bodge. I then carried on the dive using my octo as primary and still had the redundancy of the pony. Seemed reasonable to me at the time but a couple of other divers have pointed out that I should have ended the dive. What do you folks think about my bodge. Thanks. Iain.

I'd have called the dive. You're using your back-up so have lost redundancy and ponies don't last long. A problem with your main reg's first stage could have caused your octopus to free flow...with reduced capacity in your pony to fall back on. The "incident pit" gets steeper and deeper...

 

[soggybadger]

Thanks for the reply. My pony is more of a horse being a steel seven and with a twenty foot bottom I didn't feel concerned about running low on gas.

 

[northernone]

Sounds like you has plenty of redundant gas and options, especially given the dive profile. No issues here with how you handled it provided your buddy was updated and ok with it.

If I wasn't able to diagnose the cause, I'd be concerned it might be a first stage failure and be prepared for my second reg to start freeflowing as the IP continued to increase. In that case, you'd be left with sipping air from a freeflow, or switch to your pony (single tank, single reg) but no redundancy for your buddy. Both ok options but not plan A. I wouldn't likely call a dive if my 3rd reg became inoperable.

Cheers,
Cameron

 

[soggybadger]

Sounds like you has plenty of redundant gas and options, especially given the dive profile. No issues here with how you handled it provided your buddy was updated and ok with it. If I wasn't able to diagnose the cause, I'd be concerned it might be a first stage failure and be prepared for my second reg to start freeflowing as the IP continued to increase. In that case, you'd be left with sipping air from a freeflow, or switch to your your pony (single tank) but no redundancy for your buddy. Both ok options but not plan A.

Cheers,
Cameron

I was solo.