NickDanger
New
I had my regulators serviced about two weeks prior to my dive at a local quarry. The service tech, so far as I know, is trained on my brand of regulator, and has serviced dozens and dozens if not hundreds every year. The dive shop is also reputable and popular. I had a friend's mom pick up the reg set as she was coming to where I live to visit my friend and that way I did not have to make a special trip. A few days after service and my buddy handed me my regs. I did notice a slight oily/greasy feel on the first stage but thought nothing of it because I knew a light coating of grease was used on some of the internals. Two weeks later and I go diving at the quarry. The plan was to go to the bottom, around 90ft, and work our way back up. My primary regulator, a Cressi Master Chromo, was breathing VERY wet. I debated on switching to my Guardian full face but to save time I opted to breath off my octo regulator, a Cressi Ellipse. It breathed fine. My buddy and I made it to the bottom with no issues. I kept hearing him cough. I later learned it was some nasal drainage. It was dark but we both had flashlights. I looked up to find him and check on him because of the cough. When I looked upward, the octo began breathing wet. I scanned around for my buddy for a few seconds but I did not see him. I assumed he headed up due to the coughing. A bit of panic set in because I was planning on grabbing his octo and then both of us head up. I did not see him or his light so I headed up. The wet breathing became worse. I was only able to take very shallow breaths. I knew I couldn't sprint to the surface, but I couldnt ascend as slowly as I should under normal circumstances. I had to force my mind to "stay in the fight." I have always heard of the stories about panicking divers peeling off their masks and other equipment. Those thoughts ran through my mind. I could feel myself picking up speed so I dumped some air from my BC and kept swimming upward. I uncontrollably peed on myself. Every breath was risky. I made it to the surface and caught my breath. It probably took about 30 seconds to ascend. Not good. I started banging my flashlight on my air cylinder hoping my buddy would think it was me. My buddy came up after a few minutes. He said he looked for me for about one minute at the bottom and then came up. He also made a safety stop. When he surfaced I told him about what happened. We got out and I had about an hour and a half surface interval after the 12 minute dive. I felt none of the symptoms I would associate with deco sickness. We made another dive, this time I breathed off my Guardian. We stayed under 20ft and looked at fish. I contacted the dive shop that did the service and they were concerned, as they should be. I boxed up the reg set and shipped it to them. A few days later the guy called me and said both second stages had a film of some type of oil or grease which cause the rubber bits to not seal/open as they should, which caused the flooding. He said a very miniscule amount of lube is used for some o-rings but nothing even close to the amount that coated the insides of my regulators. They cleaned the regs and were going to ship them back at no charge but the guy was firm that there was no negligence or faulty parts used in the servicing. My friend asked his mother if the reg set every came into contact with anything greasy while in her possession and she said the regs sat in her backseat for a couple of days but she put nothing at all near the regs. I know her to be a very neat and clean lady, and more importantly honest. She did not notice a greasy feel when she picked up the regs. So…it is a mystery. Did the grease get on there at the dive shop? With my friend’s mom? My friend? The only thing that even seems plausible is that there was some lube in whatever air cylinder the dive shop used to test the regs. I have heard of cylinders getting lube in them when they are filled or VIPd or hydroed. I did not taste anything unusual. The greasy feel that I noticed was on the first stage. That is where my friend said he felt it when he got the regs from him mom. I had no trouble with my Guardian but I have not checked the second stage of it to see if it is also greasy. Any ideas?
I have two take aways from this incident. One, make sure my primary air source is working as it should before I dive and ONLY use the octo as a back up. The octo also needs to be in working order before a dive begins. The second take away is that I need to be VERY close to my dive buddy in dark water. That way if I cant see them well, I can still grab them. We all have to learn some lessons the hard way. I’m glad I can live to tell this tale.
I have two take aways from this incident. One, make sure my primary air source is working as it should before I dive and ONLY use the octo as a back up. The octo also needs to be in working order before a dive begins. The second take away is that I need to be VERY close to my dive buddy in dark water. That way if I cant see them well, I can still grab them. We all have to learn some lessons the hard way. I’m glad I can live to tell this tale.