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Things That Go Boom:
Over a decade ago, I was diving in a Florida cave at 300 feet of depth when a very loud “boom” erupted behind me. The sound was like someone was bashing large SCUBA cylinder against the wall of the cave. In rapid succession, my solenoid began firing erratically and injecting pure oxygen into a loop that was previously stable at 1.2. I quickly shut down the oxygen tank valve and tried to figure out what had occurred. My primary handset was flickering strange information that looked like it was communicating a language akin to Klingon. Luckily my secondary display was unaffected by whatever had just occurred. I use the secondary display to carry me out of the cave and through the many levels of decompression ahead, feathering my tank tank and injecting oxygen as I needed it. To be honest, the exit was relatively routine. I had practiced manual control often and even preferred a hybrid manual approach to conserve oxygen on ascent and deco in any case. After the dive, I stripped out of my rebreather to determine the cause of the loud noise and discovered a gaping hole in the back of my rebreather where a lithium battery had exploded out of the back of the black box. It was still sizzling and popping after all that time in the water. I was grateful for several features of my rebreather. The completely redundant oxygen display offered me an instrument panel with which to fly the rig in manual mode reliably. The batteries were NOT contained within the breathing loop and therefore did not cause an unrecoverable loop failure. Think about your own rebreather. Would it have coped with a leaking or explosive battery? Could you finish this dive on the loop? -- Jill Heinerth
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I just received a question from the "Ask Jill" link that is worth sharing.
A reader with a young family was eager to start rebreather diving but was somewhat financially strapped, wondering whether purchasing an older used unit was a good idea. Learning on any rebreather gives you an opportunity to build hours on CCR technology and that knowledge will transfer to other units in the future. However, the most important thing to secure is excellent training and to dedicate yourself to very diligent behavior using checklists at all times. It is a very big decision when you have a young family, because there is additional risk involved with rebreather diving.
Accidents generally result from how we use the equipment rather than equipment failure. So ultimately we have a reasonable ability to control our results. If you choose to buy a used rebreather, you should send it to the manufacturer for assessment and service. There may be small issues or developing problems that you are not trained to detect. The factory should be able to find those problems and fix them, giving you peace of mind to begin your journey.
I'm a tough person to ask about jumping into rebreather diving. I love it, but am very cautious. CCRs are tools, not toys. You need to have a purpose for a CCR, not simply a desire to use one. I don't like suggesting that anyone take on additional risk in life. If I had a young child, I would ask myself... "should I start rebreather diving with something less than I really want?" or "should I wait until I have saved enough money to buy the best unit and training I can afford?" Ultimately only you can answer that question adequately. It is a tough one, but make sure your whole family embraces it and understands why you do what you love! -- Jill Heinerth
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Jill Heinerth will be presenting at the BalticTech Conference 19-20 November, 2011 at Hotel Orbis Gdnyia, Poland. Information and reservations here: http://baltictech.com/home/
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On Wednesday, one of my students had a problem with their heads up display on their rebreather. “Should I dive?” he asked me. My response was that he was at a watershed moment in his diving career. Although he had traveled half way round the world to do this cave dive, this would be the moment that he would define himself as a conservative diver or a high-risk diver. When we jump in the water with a small glitch, we are opening the door for even more egregious bad choices in the future.
I once skipped a dive moments before jumping off a boat because of a similar failure. Colleagues around me teased and pushed, suggesting that I should “just run it in manual” and it was “not a big problem.” I didn’t get in the water that day. Instead I flew home and started a new life, getting married the following week to Robert. The last five years have been the best of my life and I am full of gratitude for every moment. Since that sunny day on a boat in the tropics, more than one of the people on the boat that day had their lives cut short in CCR accidents. They didn’t get to go home to their beloved.
Please help me change the social pressures and culture surrounding CCR diving. Encourage your buddy to abort a dive if things are not perfect. Never jump in the water with a unit that is not fully functional. Bail out is cool. -- Jill Heinerth
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