New diver help--I can't stop floating to the surface!

[undrwater]

If you were head up during these issues, I would guess your were finning (subconsciously), and propelling yourself to the surface.

I'm a bit surprised your instructor has not ruled things out as spectrum mentioned.

 

[TMHeimer]

Wetsuit may have a very little to do with it. First I assume the 7 mil in question is for scuba (the instructor would notice otherwise). Once I got my proper weighting (35 lbs.w/steel 72, 39 with AL80, both w/ 7 mil farmer john- I'm just under 200 lbs.), the suit didn't cause problems. I could hover within 3 feet of the surface. Didn't notice anything much different between the first and second dives of the day.

 

[diver 85]

What did your instructor have to say 'bout the situation???...Certainly he/she noticed an 'object' out of the group floating toward the surface.... I'd have a talk with that person------not someone here in cyberspace that you'll never get to know, or meet in person......

 

[Redshift]

You went from a horizontal position, probably close to the bottom, to a vertical one. That moved your air up maybe 3 feet. At that shallow depth, it creates a large volume expansion and that pulled you up. You have to pay attention to what's happening to your depth to know when you need more or less air and try to act before things start to go bad (adding air on the way down before hitting the bottom, dumping air when going up before starting an uncontrolled ascent...) and have in mind that these effects are not instant so don't over do it.

 

[Npallasi]

I had the exact same problems when I was doing my open water course checkout dive #1.

Low water confidence -- this caused me to freeze up and not be able to do the giant stride into the water for a while. Upon hitting the water, I panicked a little. (I was great in the water when younger but giant-striding from a rocking boat wearing scuba equipment was new to me.) Once in the water, I kept finning unconsciously.

Panicky -- I could not sink because I was finning constantly and not breathing out to descend. Too much movement kept me above water. Not relaxing and breathing out to descend made it worse. Eventually the divemaster slipped me an extra weight.

Overweighted as a result of previous experience -- Being overweighted throughout my OW course meant that I could not achieve neutral buoyancy easily. The instructor took a photo of some of my group mates on the last checkout dive. They were in trim and I was somewhere in the background, hanging vertically in the water, hand on my inflator hose. Not something I would share on Facebook.

The good news is that it does get better. Practice weight-checking in a swimming pool, then just add an extra weight when you're in saltwater. Some dive shops have buoyancy clinics. Or take a buoyancy course offered by your preferred scuba course provider. With practice and more dives you'll get the hang of it.

 

[Agility]

As soon as you feel or see you are going up EXHALE and if that does not stop your ascent immediately dump some of the air in your BCD.
Like stepping on the brakes of a car does not stop the car immediately, it only slows it down. Under water the reaction to your action will be delayed. That is the reason why adding small amounts of air at a time to the BCD is so important. If you put in too much air to stop your descent this same amount of air will try to lift you as soon as the downward motion ceases.
You can fill and empty your lungs much faster than your BCD, so use this volume first and when you feel your lungs are too empty hovering dump some of the air in your BCD and vice versa.

 

[TSandM]

Someone has already observed that floating (or sinking for that matter) is not random, but always explainable. If you are rising in the water column, it means the forces which are pushing you up are greater than the gravity which is pulling you down. Those buoyant forces are anything attached to you that is less dense than water, including the air in your BC, the gas bubbles in your neoprene wetsuit, and the air in your lungs. But they may also be mechanical forces -- if your fins are below you, then if you are moving them, you are creating a force that pushes upward.

This can be a big part of the problem with descending for students. If you don't feel stable and balanced on the surface, you are likely to be kicking your feet. When you try to descend, all that kicking pushes you upward and you can't sink. The most common solution offered is more weight, but it's hard to put enough weight on someone to overcome their fins. A better solution is to immobilize the feet, which you can do by crossing your ankles. Simply doing that can really help make sinking easier.

Another problem with descending is nerves. We were all anxious to some degree during our classes, and anxious people tend to hold their breath. If you have your lungs full, it will take up to five pounds of lead to get you to sink, and then of course, when you begin to breathe more normally, you don't need all that lead and you are very negative. Even if you aren't really holding your breath, you can cause problems with descent if you hold your inflator up and depress the exhaust button and exhale at the same time. This is because it takes time for the air to leave the BC, and by the time it has and you begin to sink, you probably have to inhale again. It works much better to take a deep breath at the same time you hold up the inflator to empty the BC, and when your head gets close to or partially under the water, THEN exhale. You'll keep going down, which is what you want.

Weighting should be determined by a good formal weight check. The best way is to see if you can lie down in very shallow water, and breathe quietly without corking, with your BC completely empty. If you do this with a full tank, add about five pounds to the minimum weight that will keep you underwater, and your weighting should be very close to perfect. If you cannot descend when weighted like that, fix the technique problems rather than adding weight.

 

[oly5050user]

Hello all! I'm a newbie diver working on my OW cert.
I have some buoyancy issues for my OW dives. I weight 116 pounds, dive in the Pacifics, 7mm wetsuit, steel tank full, started the dive with 16 pounds weight.
First OW dive, I can't descent at all with 16 pounds weight and fully deflated BCD. So I was given 2 more pounds, but floats back to the surface right after I let go of the descent line. We added 2 more pounds, then I was able to descent. At the bottom, without inflating BCD at all, I can't swim around with out uncontrollable ascend.
Then I was added 2 more pounds and 2 pounds of ankle weight (22 pounds total). I was able to descend and stayed at the bottom. When I tried to stay neutrally buoyant, inflated my BCD over 10 times (according to my instructor it was >70% inflated) but I can't stop hitting myself back to the bottom of the ocean. Can't hover at all.
We removed the ankle weight on the next dive (20 pounds now). Descending ok, tried hovering by adding small amount of air to BCD, with the BCD ~50% full, I can successfully swim around with neutral buoyancy. Then we stopped to turn around. I stopped swimming, tried to wait for my team at a vertical standing position. Without touching my BCD or kicking, next thing I noticed was I started flying back to surface. Thankfully we were only 14' below, ears hurt, no injury.
20 pounds seem like the right amount of weight, but even my instructor can't figure out why I started shooting to the surface without swimming/kicking or inflating my BCD. Someone told me it's because I'm carrying too much weight that I have to inflate my BCD so much to compensate that, a slight movement messes up my buoyancy and takes me back to the surface. :depressed:
Any thoughts?
Thanks in advance!

Way too much lead ...at your body weight of 116 and with a steel tank in a 7mm suit you should start with as little as 12 or 14lbs..your saying that your need to fill you bcd as much as 50% at depth is a give away you are dangerously overweighted. Should have very little air in bcd at depth,so little that the amount is almost unnoticeable. stop using the bcd as an elevator. Check inflator for proper function. It may be slowly leaking air into bcd.
you say you used as much as 22lbs. That's what I use in a dry suit with an heavy thick undergarment and a little alum 63 tank or an 80 cu tank. Steel tank it is even less lead. I am 6' and 170 lbs.
stop using your hands and stop trying to kick as you descend . Try to also calm down and breath in a calm even relaxed manner.
Also get a more experienced instructor as this one seems to believe more lead is a good thing. From your post I would bet that you also go thru a lot of air fairly quickly as well

 

[DivemasterDennis]

I think there is a checklist of things you should review. First, it may be that you are in fact OVERWEIGHTED. That results in lots more fiddling with your bcd. So #1 is do a proper weight check with a saturated wet suit and a tank with about 500 psi. Second, you are likely not operating your BCD properly once submerged. Add and vent air in tiny bursts. It sounds like you are having big swings in buoyancy, which is likely due to a combination of overweighting and using too long of bursts of air in and out of the bcd. Next, you may have trapped air in your wet suit at the outset of a dive. Pull the neck away from your body and "vent" the trapped air. Number 4, you are possibly hyperventilating due to excitement or anxiety. Calm down. get your breathing under control, and you will need less weight. Finally, tune your buoyancy OFTEN, with short bursts of air in or out of the bcd as appropriate.. You "flyaway" ascent is due to the air in your bcd expanding as you move to shallower depths. As you ascend you will need to vent almost constantly, especially if you are ( as I suspect) overweighted. The problem is solvable. Check these areas and then let us all know how things are going.
DivemasterDennis

 

[victorzamora]

I think Redshift mentioned a big part of the problem. First of all, there's rarely a need to be vertical (or "standing") in the water.....try and stay flat at all times. If you were flat, near the bottom, and neutral....you were good. When you stood up, the air bubble expanded because you placed it at a shallower depth. This would start moving you upwards, expanding it farther, and forcing you into a rocket-ship scenario (unless corrected).

Another part is as TS&M mentioned, the delay. That's one thing your lungs are good for. When I find myself descending quickly, I take a big, huge, deep breath......this slows me down. If it doesn't stop me, I add some air. Once I stop my descent, I exhale. Sometimes I have to add a touch more air to compensate, but I'm normally close. The differences between forces, accelerations, and velocities come in to play. Positively buoyant doesn't mean you're ascending, just that you're accelerating upwards....even if you're still descending.

On top of all of that, a prope weight check is crucial. I like the surface-bob at eye level, followed by (especially if diving a thick wetsuit) the 15ft buoyancy check.