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My Kirby Morgan bandmask regulator froze up at 60 feet last Tuesday
I had to do a controlled emergency ascent because the second stage just kept dumping air and nobody in the shop believed me when I said the diaphragm was warped from the heat gun we used to dry it.
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kellys786d agoMost Upvoted
Heat soaking a band mask with a heat gun is a bad idea, the rubber and plastic parts don't handle direct heat well at all. But the real issue is nobody looked at the second stage after drying it, they just assumed it was fine because it passed a bench test. A warped diaphragm from uneven heat will act fine until it gets cold water pressure on it at depth, then all bets are off. You should send that regulator back to the manufacturer for a full inspection before you ever use it again, they can test the materials for heat damage.
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the_sam6d ago
60 bucks says that shop guy was the same guy who told you "it'll be fine" while holding the heat gun. Tbh a bench test at sea level is about as useful as testing a raincoat in a desert. Ngl you got lucky you didn't get a free ride to the surface.
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