A bad duckbill moment.

[5thgrpben]

I want to share a glitch that happened to my reg while I was on a dive yesterday.I have already lost count of how many times I have dove with this reg,And I had a feeling that something was going to give me some kind of inconvenience.I've been wondering about the duckbill for some time,And it finally showed it's face .I jumped off a boat while 8 other divers were stacked up behind me.When we exit the boat in this fashion,We shoot straight down,No O.K. signals or equipt check on the surface before submerging.We need to egress asap to prevent injury from other divers,Anyway,On my first exhale after I cleared the other divers.I had no exhaust.I knew it had something to do with the duckbill.Since I was in 30 feet of water ,I just blew the air out and sucked on a purge until I got to the bottom ,Then removed my tank.I pulled out a stiff zip tie that I use to tickle scallops open with.I shoved it into a exhaust hole and sure enough,The duckbill folded in the can.I managed to eliminate the problem and continue to dive.Luckily none of the other divers noticed or I would not of heard the last of it .When I got home, I cracked open the can and after rinsing,I put a thin bead of silicon under the duckbill to make sure this does not happen again.I also shot some silicon under the folded -over portion of the duckbill to keep it from twisting on the can.I dove all day this afternoon with no problem.I still need to find out how long the silicon will hold.

[captain]

Had you had the cans apart prior to the dive. I find the silicone duckbill so limber that sometimes when assembling a regulator they will end up folded and I have to straighten them out as you did, just not underwater.

[5thgrpben]

When I first installed this duckbill,I noticed that it was a little soft ,So I didn't leave it hanging out too long,It is centered to the can.Before I start diving,I give my reg a visual (Nothing bugs me more than encountering problems I could have caught before the jump).While doing this ,I always look into the exhaust holes to see if the duckbill is flat and I press my ear against the reg to listen for an air leak.Last week I had to repair the diaphram by regluing a section of the rubber to the metal with silicon.When I reassembled the cans,I swepted the top can from right to left to make sure that the duckbill laid flat upon assemblly.I must of landed in the water in a way that ,It rushed water into the exhaust holes causing the duckbill to fold.I jumped off of a 120 foot long dive boat from the bow.This was a pretty high jump.After running into the duckbill problem, I made sure that I exhaled the instant before I hit the water to prevent this from happening again.I'm sure that siliconing the bottom of the duckbill to the can will solve the problem.

By the way Captain,Thanks for all your help.I have a lot to learn about D/H regs.Since I use them on a daily basis ,I have a better chance of running into FUBAR's.You have no idea how good it feel to have your support.Thanks !!

[bbain]

Sounds like a good advertisement for the "duckbill eliminator" that some folks have been working on.

[JES]

Sounds like a good advertisement for the "duckbill eliminator" that some folks have been working on.

Ditto.

[5thgrpben]

The duckbill killer would be way more dependable.But all it takes is a little glue thats compatable with the silicon duckbill to solve the problem. I'm sure I'll make a great FUBAR posterchild .

[usddude]

Silicone loves silicone..hint hint

usd

[5thgrpben]

I just ended my shift and i'll be checking on the adhesive I used.@#$%&*!! It didn't stick !!

[5thgrpben]

"Silicon loves silicon",I wish that was true in this case.silicon will not adhere to the duckbill.This is real oily material.Since I jump off of the bows of large boats,The drop is alittle high.This forces water thru the holes and the chances of folding the duckbill are high. I dive in the Outter Island areas where the water is rough and I don't want this to happen on those dives.I have bigger things to worry about ,So I'll need a strong bond.This problem only happened once out of over 300 jumps.Now I exhale hard at the moment of impact to keep the duckbill from folding.I came up with a good idea .I'll let you guy's know how it came out.

[usddude]

Silicone adhesive works for me and I clean the area with rubbing alcohol then let dry first. How about exhale hard as you hit the water.......if that works then goodie goodie. How about cutting a circle of mesh and placing that over the duckie and glue that to the can......just kidding folks. Hmmmm? Maybe not


usd

[5thgrpben]

I found a good silicon for the job.one of the maint. personal on the base tried to glue the duckbill to see what was going on,He used alcohol to clean the surface like I was doing,And the same thing happened.The hold was not very strong.He got ahold of an old man that works with silicon parts like duckbills for the heads (Toilets) on boats.He repairs them with GE premium silicon (It's hard to get a clean bead with this stuff.).He also had to prep the rubber before he applies the silicon.He got a small metal scrubber that comes in a bike innertube repair kit and started scrubbing the buckbill surface with light pressure.Then he cleaned both surfaces with alcohol,The metal was already scuffed with coarse sandpaper.He then applies silicon to both the surfaces and let it sit for 10 minutes,Then he mated to two surfaces.No clamps were used.And he also put a bead on the end of the duckbill.The folded over section was then wrapped with silicon electrical tape to keep it from twisting.Drying time was 24 hours,Way more than the products instruction called for.Just for the hell of it all three of us went to the docks to see if will take the high jumps,It's kind of cool to see that I can still climb up ladders with weight straped to my back .After climbing up those long ladders a few times,That tank starts to feel a little heavy.I just put the thought aside,But my body had another story to tell .After the 5th jump,I was satisfied.

Here is a photo of the result.I also repaired a diaphram that had the rubber seperated from the metal plate in the same fashion.This is pretty much a "Fear less" reg now.This will keep up with my diving lifestyle.I will put it thru hell.