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On 15 Jan 99 at 16:05, Art Paltz wrote: > Can't agree with you on this one Art. I agree with Kevin that the > use of a pony is better than the use of a single with a Y-valve. > I've seen the first stage o-ring go and it's not necessarily a slow > leak. What about a low or high pressure hose blowing or emptying > the tank? I've never known anyone who dived a Y-valve so maybe I'm > missing something. Alright, now we're down to just how long it takes to empty a half-full cylinder. Neck O-ring blown? Gee, Art, how long did it take to empty the cylinder in that situation? I'll put money on AT LEAST enough time to make the anchor and ascend normally. Yes, a Y-valve WILL NOT help here. Shucks. HP hose blown? There's a TINY orifice in the regulator port. It will take on the order of 20+ minutes to blow 40cf this way. Plenty of time to make an ascent. LP hose blown? Faster. No flow restrictor there. Probably still long enough to make the surface, though. And don't forget, BOTH of these scenarios are well handled with a Y valve. Just reach back and shut off the one with the freeflow. On 15 Jan 99 at 16:13, Scaleworks (Kevin) wrote: > Being near the anchor line is not the issue, the issue is you are > out of gas and your Y valve is not going to save you. Why am I out of gas? A leak? A blown hose? No, those will not drain all my gas if I know how to use the Y valve. And after I've shut down the offending regulator, I still have access to ALL of the gas that's left, which should be enough to make a normal ascent. > You are right, these scenarios could be be contructed ad infinitem, > and you are also right that planning a dive with contigencies for > potential problems is first priority. However, OOA is OOA and a Y > valve is not a contingency plan for an OOA situation, a pony tank > is. We're not talking about OOA situations. We should never have an OOA situation. A Y valve, if used correctly, will PREVENT an OOA due to regulator failure. If we have a non-equipment related OOA situation, we have failed to follow our plan, or made a lousy plan in the first place. With either equipment configuration the dive and gas plans would be the same. One (the Y valve) requires a little more skill (being able to identify which reg has the leak and reaching back to shut down that valve). The other (the pony bottle) requires carrying more gear, and all that implies both in and out of the water. Art Greenberg artg@ec*.ne* -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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