What is wrong with my reg.....

[Lou]

After a few days of using my reg on holiday it began to "flutter" when breathing from it on the surface and at depths of about 10m or less.  One I had gone deeper than this it settled down and was fine until the next dive when it would start again.

When I say "flutter" it was audible and you could feel it in the lp & hp hoses.  I was advised to always hold the purge button down whilst turning on the cylinder but this didn't seem to work.

For background info these same regs had were new in March, after a few shallow dives had to be returned to Oceanic because the pressure kept on building up in the octo which then began to increasingly hiss air until you purged it or breathed from it (this too was fine underwater - it only did it on the surface).  The diagnosis there was 1st stage over pressuring.

I don't know whether to live with it coz "it's one of those things", or send the regs back again, which means I will have to miss out on diving for a while, or fork out for rentals.

Can anyone offer any advice?

Cheers

Lou

[Jay]

Only advice I can offer is do NOT 'live with it' - lets face it, your regs are a literal lifeline. If they pack in at depth you are knackered. I'd get them serviced by Oceanic ASAP and go with rentals.

[Lou]

What I meant was that it was nothing to worry about.  I appreciate their importance, honest! ;) I can take them in to get sent back again, no probs (but a pain in the backside - I bought regs to save money on renting and they have spent more time with Oceanic than they have with me!)

I just wondered if anyone had some idea as to what it could be so that I don't appear to just get the same back from Oceanic that I got last time without being equipped to argue the toss.

[andy2tanx]

are they new, under guarantee?  if so, take them back and get your money back, get some apeks.

[Davey Willo]

Bugger that!!

I'd have nothing to do with them Lou, these are vital bits of life support kit and as such should also bring a HIGH level of confidence in their ability to work without problems.....

1st Stage overpressure.... hold down purge button when turning on air... already been back to manufacturers once....  nah!

Request nay demand replacements, if they are not fit for the purpose for which they were sold, you have the right to replace them.

On a calmer note.... Regs can need de-tuning after they've been run in and a slight flutter doesn't usually indicate anything serious as far as I know Lou, but having to send regs back to the manufacturers twice in such a short life span is not really acceptable and I personally would kick off and demand they be changed just so I had a renewed confidence level in my equipment.

[Lou]

Yes, under guarantee.  I bought them at LIDS, so very new!  Had done 4 dives with them before they went back to Oceanic.  They kept them for about 3-4 weeks.  Got them back in time to go on hols, just got an outing in the pool before that where they "honked" - something that they hadn't done before they went away.  They were ok for the first few dives in Egypt before the fluttering and octo hissing (only intermittent this time) started.  

The pain is that my other half got an identical set at the same time and they have been fine!

Decided against Apeks when we were choosing as the breath wasn't quite as nice, and the 2nd stage is bigger and heavier.  I know that counts as blasphemy in some circles, but there you go!

[Bantam]

Oohh. If it's honking it sounds like the valve's not quite right. I had that once with an Oceanic rental reg. Twas quite unnerving. Usually it's just Poseidons that flutter!
I'd send it back definitely - as Jay and Dave says - it's your life after all.

[Dominic]

Maybe the IP was set too high.. often the muppets who service regs set the IP as high as they can without causing a freeflow, and then when the settings all bed down, the IP is too high, and hey presto, freeflow!
Get the IP checked, if it's that simple it can be fixed in a matter of minutes - no loss of diving!

[divedog]

Lou... I have 2 of the same regualators and yes there is a problem with them sometimes...with the description you have given they sounds like they have been too finely tuned, this is very common .. if you hold the reg in your hand facing away from you .. place your thumb on the side opposite the purge and try to bend the whole thing .. you should hear a slight hiss and the lever takes up pressure on the Diaghpram (spellist I know) - you have to apply quite a bit of pressure.. and you should hear it .. this is a good indication that the IP lever has been set correctly...if it is restrictive then you will get the noise you described and the sound of a bagpipe when you suck it ...  as for the purge you can adjust that yourself .. take off the front of the exhaust ... carefully remove the spring and in the centre you will see a tiny screw... turn it clockwise to reduce the sensitivity and vice versa... personally I have shut down my purge to the very minimum and my secondary is closed completely.. (thats the one that hangs around my neck and the one I dont want to freeflow when I make an entry into the water)- another improvement that I value very much is to actually superglue the spring to the plastic plate where it seats... DIR crap and all that... the regulator is fully prepped then for stripping out underwater.. the only real danger of you losing anything is the spring but you just solved that by permanently fixing it - personally I would refer it also to an Oceanic service dude... because if you dont feel comfortable with it dont dive it.. Hope this helps

Divedog

[Ammers]

Hi Lou. Nice red sea pics. I don't have time to read all the responses to your query but I think it sounds like you need to get the first stage intermediate pressure checked, if it's too high it can cause freeflows and lets too much air flow through the valve on normal breathing. Don't accept this, it's all too easy to "live with it" but we're talking crucial life support equipment here. Too frightening. Take them back.