SCUBA loss

SCUBA loss

by SouthernFriedInfidel | Published on May 23rd, 2008, 11:05 am | Sports

Well, I suppose it was inevitable. Back in 1998, when my son and I were getting started in diving, we bought our full equipment set, including a pair of 92 cu ft used Dacor tanks. Got 'em for $100 each. We used them pretty extensively for several years, while he was in college, and had ready access to the coast. The last few years, while he was in grad school, our dives using out own equipment became far less frequent... but we still had to have the equipment inspected.

I was sort of dreading this year, though. Every 5 years, a tank has to go through a hydro-static test that really checks out its safety as thoroughly as possible. These tanks are getting quite old, so it was bound to happen. I just got off the phone with the dive shop... they told me that one of the two tanks was condemned. So I guess it's now set to become a garden ornament or something. Bummer.

Now I need to consider whether to start saving for a new tank. Might not be so bad. A 100 ft tank sells new for around $250. If it lasts 15 years, that might not be bad at all... :lol:

Not quite so much of a bummer as having one burst on you

Most people find it difficult to visualise the energy content in a full tank of compressed gas. I was wearing a scuba tank once when I slipped on some seaweed - when the tank hit the rock I'm sure my heart stopped for ten beats. But it survived and so I did too. it was a 1970's Luxfer aluminum tank which have a bad record so I scrapped it after that.

A Person wrote:Not quite so much of a bummer as having one burst on you

Most people find it difficult to visualise the energy content in a full tank of compressed gas. I was wearing a scuba tank once when I slipped on some seaweed - when the tank hit the rock I'm sure my heart stopped for ten beats. But it survived and so I did too. it was a 1970's Luxfer aluminum tank which have a bad record so I scrapped it after that.

I've never heard a tank's seal break, but I have heard that it is an awesome thing to go through. Which is why I have no problem with keeping up with my inspections and stress tests. I've been down to depths around 100 ft, and looking up, my first thought was "I'd hate to have to buddy-breathe with my son all the way back up..."

:mrgreen:

Well IF a pressure disc did rupture, under pressure in cold water is not the most likely place. If the tank blew underwater you'd probably surface like a Polaris missile.

i know someone who's regulator failed and he panicked and shot up. He remembered to exhale and didn't get an embolism, but a tooth exploded. Apparently air had slowly seeped under a filling and the drop in pressure blew up his tooth. Another reason not to panic

A Person wrote:Well IF a pressure disc did rupture, under pressure in cold water is not the most likely place. If the tank blew underwater you'd probably surface like a Polaris missile.

I don't think so. When a tank is empty, it often becomes positively buoyant by about 3 lbs or so. That's happened to me a few times. If a tank blows underwater, it would fill with water and there would be no positive buoyancy. It would then be like an extra weight on your belt. A rather big weight at that.

I know someone who's regulator failed and he panicked and shot up.

Interesting ... we were told in our training that regulators are built so that the only failure possible is to fail in "open" mode, so that you'd get an uncontrollable stream of rushing air. This didn't happen with the person you are talking about?

He remembered to exhale and didn't get an embolism, but a tooth exploded. Apparently air had slowly seeped under a filling and the drop in pressure blew up his tooth. Another reason not to panic

Yeah, I've heard of people having trouble equalizing going up, particularly with tooth problems. Happily, I've never encountered that. Yikes.

SouthernFriedInfidel wrote:Interesting ... we were told in our training that regulators are built so that the only failure possible is to fail in "open" mode, so that you'd get an uncontrollable stream of rushing air.

They lied. There are all sorts of failures you can postulate that could cause the regulator to fail close. Some older designs have an upstream 2nd stage so that several failure modes could case a shut down. Your instructors were probably correct in that the regulators you were using all had downstream valves and would fail safe, but in the days before balanced valves downstream valves became harder to breathe from as the tank became empty. Upstream valves could be made with a more sensitive trigger point and hence a lower breathing resistance.

In this case his valve 'failed' when the clip holding the regulator to the rubber mouthpiece broke and the regulator just fell of. He was left with the mouthpiece in his mouth but was breathing water. If he had had the presence of mind not to panic he could have found his regulator and breathed from it without the mouthpiece.

A Person wrote:In this case his valve 'failed' when the clip holding the regulator to the rubber mouthpiece broke and the regulator just fell of. He was left with the mouthpiece in his mouth but was breathing water. If he had had the presence of mind not to panic he could have found his regulator and breathed from it without the mouthpiece.

In recreational diving, there are several options in case of an air emergency... breathing from a free-flowing reg (or cut hose, for that matter), pulling up a secondary regulator, or getting access to your buddy's second regulator.

Some folks even carry a complete second air system (small "pony" bottle attached to a single regulator) or a can of "Spare Air."

Knowing all these options and having practiced them at least once a year, I always feel that I'm ready for most anything that is likely to happen under water... short of a very rare animal attack.

I want to go Scuba.... but I never could get those breathing tubes to work when I was a kid, so I'm guessing I'd drown with a respirator on my back.

Liv wrote:I want to go Scuba.... but I never could get those breathing tubes to work when I was a kid, so I'm guessing I'd drown with a respirator on my back.

Well, Liv, the regs that cost $400 a pop are a LITTLE more reliable than the kids' snorkels from your youth. :roll:

If you're really interested, you should tru a short intro to scuba out atBlue Dolphin. Doesn't cost much, gets you a chance to see what scuba is like and perhaps meet a few of the very friendly fishies at the quarry.

Liv wrote: I'd drown with a respirator on my back

There's your problem - the regulator goes in your mouth.