Hose Bouyancy Problem

[Diver Dude]

Does anyone else have a problem with breathing hose buoyancy?
I am guessing the breathing hose has at least six pounds of buoyancy in it. The hose came with four weights each weighing five ounces. When I am diving the mouthpiece is jammed up against my mask hard to the point where mask leakage is a severe problem. We all know what that leads to.
I have tried repositioning the weights but that didn’t fix the problem entirely. I have added eight more ounces, that helped but not nearly enough. It looks like I will have to add at least two more pounds to get this problem under control. I can’t believe that much weight is normal.
I have three masks that are in good shape so I know it is not a mask issue.
Any suggestions short of going back to OC?

 

[Scruffy Diver]

What kind ofRebreather do you have ?
And how many hours do you have on it ?

 

[Diver Dude]

Its a Drager with about 30 hours on it.

 

[caveseeker7]

I don't have that problem as Steam Machines has a pair of heavy brass rings on their DSV that make it neutral UW (no floating up when closed, just hovering in front of me). Then again, the front breathing hoses are shorter than the Dolphin's.

If you look at the enclosed picture you see clear lexan pieces on the breathing hose.
Divematics uses those to keep the hoses low by attaching them with a rubber band to the breathng hoses. They slide into position, are a simple solution, and you should be able to attach them somewhere on your harnes.

 

[Camerone]

Any suggestions short of going back to OC?

Dolphin hoses float; part of the problem, as I see it, is the attachment point - high and over the shoulder in the back, exacerbated if you're using an Oxy2 or some similar piece that extends the tube. That gives them some "spring" as well which further moves them up. I never realized quite how bad it was until I switched over to an Evolution, which seems really neutral in my mouth and much more balanced.

One thing that I did on my Dolphin was switch mouthpieces. I used one of the Sea Cure moldable mothpieces - the kind you drop in to hot water and then lightly bite down on to set. They make one that's perfect for the Dolphin, and it gives you a lot more leverage, as instead of just holding with the front of your mouth (as the stock mouthpiece does), you get more leverage from the longer pieces that go further back in your mouth and sit on your molars.

I always felt when I started diving the Dolphin that the mouthpiece wanted to yank itself out of my mouth, no matter what I did with the hose weights. Switching to the new mouthpiece fixed the problem for me and gave me a couple of very happy years of diving on that gear.

 

[scubanimal]

Dude,
My hoses float too, but I don't have the issue you do. One thought is, are the stiffer rings in the hose? There are 3 per side slots 2, 5 & 8 I think but check the manual. The better mouthpiece Camerone suggests sounds like a good idea. Camerone do you recall with # that Sea Cure is?

Other things to check are one, maybe you need a shorter hose, I'm a big guy so thay may account for it not being an issue. Looking at my picture in my profile the hoses definitely float on me. Maybe other users have suggestions.

 

[Diver Dude]

Thanks for the suggestions guys!!
I do have the Oxy2 setup and I do seem to have a lot of extra hose length. Does anyone know if shorter hoses are available?
I have tried using a mouthpiece made from a slightly stiffer compound and it did work a little better. I am going to check out the Sea Cure mouthpieces tonight. Camerone..do you remember which model you used for your Drager? I know I will have to order this sight unseen.

 

[caveseeker7]

Just looked at the W+S Water Safety website, the hoses only come in one length and worse, it looks like they have a connector area moulded into them. Which would mean you can't just trim them to size. :bluthinki

Again, on some units, that is not a problem as hose connectors are held in place by a simple hose clamp.

 

[scubanimal]

Stefan is correct you can not trim Draeger hoses. I did notice though on the TecMe site they have right angles for the Dreager setup, has anyone put the Oxy on one of those? Just thinking that starting at a better angle would make it less prone to pulling out of your mouth. Just a thought.

 

[Camerone]

Camerone..do you remember which model you used for your Drager? I know I will have to order this sight unseen.

I'm almost certain I used the larger "2" model. It was a royal PITA to get on there, as the Drager mouthpiece opening is huge. What I ended up doing was heating up the other end in hot water briefly, as well, after I'd formed it to my bite, and then using the increased flexibility of the warmed plastic to get it over the opening on the Drager mouthpiece.

WRT the TecMe parts, they also have a simple extension tube available that matches the length of an Oxy2. I haven't tried it, though, but it looks like a good alternative to the right angle fittings. My biggest Oxy2 complaint (other than about the unit's engineering itself, which forced me to swear off Uwatec's poor engineering forever...) was that it made the hoses uneven, and pulled them off to one side. I switched to using my VR3 with the Dolphin, wired through the p-port, and it got a lot better with the hoses both even length and lower down on the unit.

-C