Exploding Pressure Gauges!!!

chunter

It has been some time since this happened, but I figured I should post it to see if anyone has had the same problem. The night before a dive, I set up my unit, pressurized the hoses (turned the valves off), and left my unit alone. At about 3:00am, there was a "POP", so I got out of bed to realize that the plastic cover on my O2 gauge had shot across the room!! This would have been a catastrophic loss of O2 if it had happened underwater. Even turning the valve off and on would have been a tricky fix.

In all my years of diving, I have not had a gauge with this problem before, but there have been two other divers with the same experience in the relatively small CCR community here in Hawaii. Are there any others out there???

Aloha,
Charlie

jhaaja

Not nice In reality the leak from the HP hose is not so fast. The hose has really small inner bore and the flow is very restricted. LP-hose will bleed the tank a lot faster.

I am not saying it would have been nice and most likely you would have needed to go SCR or OC...

HMP

Wow, I've always heard rumers of them doing that but never a first hand account before. I had the o-ring disintegrate in the seat on an HP gauge on an OC setup. Of course no matter how diligently you get your regs serviced the HP gauge always gets ignored for some reason.

Philippe GERIN

Neither did I see anything like that in years of diving either on OC nor on RBs. Why would it be different on RBs? Anyway, I use button gauges.
Anything in common between these 3 incidents? Same unit? Same brand gauges? Close serial #s? It may just be QC issue @ the gauge manufacturer.
Just a side question: why do keep your reg pressurized the whole night? Any interest in doing so?
Best
Philippe

chunter

All of the incidents were on Inspirations. It's hard to use button gauges on the inspo.

I don't generally leave my reg pressurized, but there shouldn't be any harm in it (assuming the valve is turned off). I often leave my stage tanks pressurized (and off) for extended periods without problems. It's actually nice to know that there are absolutely no leaks in the system.

I have since switched my gauges over to brass & glass and have not had any problems.

Aloha,
Charlie

Crazyduck

I curious why the stems did not let go at the o-ring if there was a problem?

I am real picky about my gauges; I only use Scubapro minis and never had a problem. Not saying others are not acceptable, but I tend to like brass and glass.

When you have you regulators overhauled do you have your stem o-rings replaced in your gauges?

Does the gauge still work or did it spit the guts out with the lens? It would be interesting to find out why… it let go in this manner.

Hey- Alex... Where you at...

No comment on Inspiration products it just too easy!


Andrew

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viscya

Leaving the reg pressurized deepens the grove on the HP seat.

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Claudio

The gauges supplied from APD are of bad quality, to my opinion. delicate and very small, with a inner mechanical that vibrate even if subordinate to small blows. I have changed with sturdier and havy pieces and I have not had more problems. This is a job that I recommend to all
Claudio

Mark Chase

It hapened to me a couple of weeks ago. Plastic face on the 02 gauge just blew off and i had a massive 02 leak. As you say it would have been bad under water but its less likley to hapen there as the presure of the water forces it on.

Now swaped out both 02 and dill gauge for new DIR zone mini ones

ATB

Mark Chase

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Kevin Juergensen 16/11/08
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chunter

I am religious about keeping all of my gear in top condition. I service my own regulators annually, and I do replace the o-rings on the stem. I know it was not an o-ring failure as the blowout would have happened on the hose side of the gauge.

The gauge did not work. I'm guessing the O2 forced its way into the wrong area of the gauge (ie where the coil is).

I don't know where Alex is (at)

Generally I've been happy with Inspo products, and I put a lot of time on my gear. The gauges are clearly inferior to B&Gs, and after this, I recommend that everyone change them out.

Aloha,
Charlie