Normally and out of air situation happens over the space of breath or two as the air drains out. But in this case, my partner had an instant stoppage in her air flow. We handled the issue with a text book air sharing. On shared air, we found that the regulator had started breathing again.
On the workbench we found the problem. Small bits of beach grit had entered the second stage and then the air barrel. One bit got stuck and this made it impossible to for the lever to push down and start the air flow.
Why:
My partner had a back problem. So we had been taking her gear into the water for her to don sans gravity. While the regulator was sitting in the water beach grit was free to enter. We are now being much more careful with the regs pre-dive.
On the workbench we found the problem. Small bits of beach grit had entered the second stage and then the air barrel. One bit got stuck and this made it impossible to for the lever to push down and start the air flow.
Why:
My partner had a back problem. So we had been taking her gear into the water for her to don sans gravity. While the regulator was sitting in the water beach grit was free to enter. We are now being much more careful with the regs pre-dive.