Inspiration quick connects and argon hose

[john j]

Wanted to get some ideas on how to avoid a potential problem...

Last weekend on the descent of a dive I ran out of argon. Went to add gas to my drysuit and got nothing. No major emergency but of course I aborted the dive. Since I was getting a bit of suit squeeze as I started to go back, I decided to add some gas to my drysuit. My drysuit valve uses a standard BC fitting. I added air from a stage bottle that had an Inspiration quick connect whip on it. While the Inspiration quick connect will not permanently stay in place on my drysuit valve, it will allow gas flow if I hold it in place while pressing the drysuit inflate button so I was able to add some gas to my drysuit and relieve the squeeze. The potential problem is that now my argon hose was just hanging there and the argon hose will connect (but not perfectly) to the diluent nipple on the counterlung if I'm dumb enough to put it there. If I ever got that argon hose mixed up with a diluent whip hose and did a diluent flush with argon thinking it was a breathable gas, it would be the start of a really bad day. While the argon hose doesn't mate perfectly with the counterlung nipple, I can get it to stay in place somewhat and flow gas if I try a few times. I'm looking for ideas on what can be done to prevent the argon hose from being accidentally connected to the counterlung nipple. A few things came to my mind already.

1. Install a drysuit valve/hose with a totally unique connection that will not mate with the Inspiration counterlung nipples. Disadvantage is that you can not inflate the drysuit using stage bottle whips in an emergency, but this totally prevents accidental argon connection to the counterlungs.

2. Mark the argon hose with something you can see and feel to help keep the hoses striaght. Doesn't prevent accidental connection though.

3. Adjust argon hose length or routing so it can't reach the counterlung nipple. Not sure that's really possible.

4. After connecting any hose to the counterlung nipples, pull smartly on the hose. If it is the argon hose, it should come off because the Inspiration nipples don't hold standard BC hoses very well.

Perhaps some combination of the above ideas.

Any other ideas?

[LKunze]

John, how deep were you when you realized you were out of argon? Just curious. I'm also wondering why you'd want to add gas to your suit on the way back up after deciding to abort the dive as the gas in the suit would be expanding on your way back up. ???

[DRE]

I'd stay away from using a unique nipple system, reason being is that you can't interchange between your drysuit and BCD inflation. Do you route the argon hose underneath your shoulder straps? In a Hogarthian setup, the argon hose is closest to the body so you cannot catch the long hose or light cord underneath it. It comes from underneath the left arm under the shoulder strap (if using backgas mounted argon), or from underneath the waist webbing (if using wreck style argon). This way, the hose stays in place and won't dangle when disconnected, thus eliminating the confusion problem. Also, do you use a custom length hose? Problems usually do arise when hoses are way too long for the intended purpose. Using the correct length does eliminate quite a few problems as well.

Hope this helps,
David.

[ccuda]

John,

What about 'balling up' and amount of electrical tape or neoprene or soem sort of material (even color coded) that so when you felt for the fitting, you always noticed the 'marker' on the end of the hose near the fitting? Nothing that would interfere with its function, but something that even in low vis or with thick gloves on you could easily notice the end of the hose being different?

[john j]

Thanks for all the suggestions.

I was at about 150ft when I ran out of argon and was having just a bit of suit squeeze so while I was signaling my buddy and writing him a note, I decided it would be nice to add a bit of gas to the suit to eliminate the squeeze and be more comfortable. Thus, the need to switch to a different hose. When we started ascending, I didn't need much more inflation gas after that.

I am already using the argon hose route that DRE suggested. When I disconneded the argon hose it didn't really flop around in the open. It was still kept mostly in place by the BC straps, but it concerned me becasuse if it ever got loose, it could find its way to the counterlung connection area. Probably not too likely to happen but the consequences of accidentally inflating the breathing loop with argon are very serious so I'd like to do whatever I can to make it more foolproof. My argon hose is the standard OMS hose used on their argon inflation system so it is already pretty short. If I trimmed too much more off, it may be too short.

I thought too that I could put a hose protector on the end of the hose neat the drysuit connection. I could easily feel that and it would feel different than the counterlung inflator hoses.

[farmboy]

John J,

I know of two drysuit companies which make hoses with unique ends which may help you identify the proper hose.

I have a whites suit that has a plastic clip shaped like a triangle over the end which makes it easier to remove with thick neoprene gloves, but could also eliminate a mistake.

I believe DUI also has a unique fitting on the end of their hose, it is a little wider and more mushroom shaped than a standard fitting.

Hope this helps

Jack

[DiverMole]

Is this an issue even?, If you run out of argon, you abandon the dive and begin to surface, hence you dent need any more suit gas and neither do you need any diluent in the Yellow box

Can always do what I and most UK divers do and thats to leave the argon in a shop and use air instead, cheaper just as warm and you can breath in

Big tests done in UK by Navy proved no difference in skin temperture on long dives using air or argon, its a placebo

[Inspirationdiver]

Divermole,
Do you have a link to that article?

[jasondbaker]

Here is a link to a study (scanned) by the Norwegian Underwater Institute and Royal Norwegian Navy. Their general recommendation was that air should be used instead of argon for drysuit inflation.

[john j]

Wow! That article was a real eye opener for me. Hard to argue with a scientific study like that. I usually felt warmer when using argon but I guess I was fooling myself. Never stuck a thermometer up my butt to test it but I'll take their word for it. I could save some money if I stopped using argon too.

I had never seen or heard about that article at all. I know I'm going to show it to my friends. Thanks very much for posting it. Maybe you should post it under "advanced discussions" too. I think there would be a lot of interest in it.

John J