5 Air Leaks That Don't Have to Ruin a Dive

We’ve all been there. Standing on the boat or at the shore next to our gear and then you hear it… Hisssssssssssssss….
Oh no! What do I do? 
Help!  
Is it safe to still go diving? 

The sound of an air leak on your equipment can easily trigger fears and anxiety, particularity about the unknown. This is especially exaggerated if the leak was not heard but instead discovered after entering the water. A small leak becomes a frothing and bubbling nightmare. The chaos of the bubbles can easily lead to fear about the dive and whether or not it is safe to enter the water. 

With a little knowledge and understanding, you can easily determine the usability of your scuba equipment. What might have seemed like an immediate dive-ender can often be fixed right there on the dive boat. 

Here are five leaks that you may have experienced before that don’t have to end your day of diving. 

1 BCD QD
The leak-
A common leak is at the o-ring connection under the quick disconnect fitting on your BCD inflator. Every time you put your equipment together and take it apart, that connection is subject to a lot of pulling and pushing and twisting. The connector fitting on most inflators is screwed into the inflator body with just little bit of torque past hand tight and sealed by an o-ring. 
This fitting can come loose and the o-ring can slip out of its groove and cause a loud and intimidating leak when the low-pressure inflator hose is connected and the gas is turned on.

The fix-
If your inflator has air spitting out around the connection, disconnect the low-pressure inflator hose and see if the leak stops. If it does, look at the base of the connector fitting and see if the o-ring has pushed its way out, or see if the fitting has loosened up and is spinning out. If so, back it off and make sure the o-ring is ok and not torn or badly worn and then either replace the o-ring or if it’s still ok just re-tighten the connector back into the inflator and reconnect the hose. No more leak? Then you are good to go. You just saved your dive. 

2 First-Stage Yoke/DIN Connector
The leak- 
You put your regulator on you cylinder and turn the valve knob open, only to hear a rush of hissing air coming from your regulator first-stage. Oh no! You turn the air off and it slowly stops. Open the valve again and the air starts shooting out again. Help! What do I do?

The fix-
Don’t be intimidated by the air leak and instead investigate the source. Slowly open the valve just a small amount, enough to hear and feel where the gas is escaping from. 
Many regulators have an o-ring at the base of the yoke or din connection going into the first stage body of the regulator. Sometimes when you are disassembling your equipment, if you haven’t completely purged all of the gas out of the regulator before unscrewing it from your tank,  the leverage needed to take it off can break the seal at the first stage body o-ring before it breaks the seal at the tank valve o-ring. 
So, try to loosen that yoke or din away from the regulator. Inspect the o-ring. If it is ok, put it back in and re-tighten it. If it is worn or torn replace it and re-tighten the connector. Reconnect the regulator to the tank valve and slowly pressurize the system and listen for any leaks. None? Presto! You’re back in the water. 

3 LPi Hose End
The leak- 
Returning to the BCD inflator. Sometimes divers pressurize their regulators before connecting the inflator hose to the inflator. When they grab the pressurized hose they hear a soft leak escaping the quick disconnect end. Oh no! What do I do? 

The fix-
Inside the quick disconnect end of your low pressure inflator hose, is a spring loaded valve the screws down into the hose. When connected to the inflator on the BCD, this spring is engaged to allow air to flow to it when the inflator button is pressed. Normally the valve is sealed inside the hose but over time it too can loosen up. If this happens it will leak out of the end of the hose when pressurized but not connected to a fitting.
There is a specialty screwdriver that someone on the boat might have or you can fuss with it a bit and get it screwed in enough to stop leaking. Lastly, this leak is only going to be a problem if the hose isn’t connected. 

4 Hose End at 1st Stage
The leak- 
This could happen as soon as you pressurize the regulator or it could happen in a sudden and frightening “pop” of air shooting out of the top of your regulator. As long as their is gas in the cylinder, this leak will not stop and it can be unnerving. 
Oh shoot! Is my dive day ruined?

The fix-
Turn the air off and purge the system. There should be no air leaking and then slowly turn the air back on and listen for the leak. You can rub your hand around the first stage where the hoses come out and see if you can feel the escaping air. Aha! It’s coming out right at the hose port of your alternate air source. 
Turn off the air once again and purge the system clean. Grab the hose and try to turn it off, counterclockwise and see if it starts spinning off. Sometimes from carrying them around and knocking and bumping into things these hoses can work themselves loose. Once again inspect the o-ring, replace if necessary and screw the hose back in all the way. Slowly pressurize the regulator by turning on the tank valve and listen for the leak. Hey, it’s gone. You fixed it! Let’s go diving! 

5 Leak at Pressure Gauge
The leak- 
This one can be tricky because a lot of divers have their submersible pressure gauge contained inside of a rubber or plastic boot that also houses their computer, depth gauge and maybe even a compass. If your gauge is leaking air, right at the bottom of that boot or it is coming out of the swiveling end of the hose underneath the pressure gauge, your leak is easily fixable. 

The fix- 
The spg has a brass tube with two small o-rings on it that seal one inside the gauge and one inside the hose which allows the gauge to spin around on the end of the hose. These o-rings can collect salt and sand and corrosion and can easily start to leak. By turning the air off and purging all the gas out of the system, you can then disconnect the spg from the hose, pull out the air spool and check the o-rings. They might just need a little clean up, a dab of grease or possibly new o-rings but once they are back in place, reconnect the hose, slowly pressurize the regulator and listen for leaks. You can also drop the pressurized gauge into a rinse bucket to see if there are any bubbles escaping. If not, you are good to go! 

Air leaking out of your scuba equipment can be scary but it doesn’t necessarily mean you’re done diving for the day or that you need to buy new gear. 

A little bit of patience, awareness and investigation might show you the problem isn’t so bad after all. Of course if you’re still pretty new, asking a Divemaster or maybe another seasoned diver to assist you in your discovery is a good idea. 

You’ll find that the more diving you do, eventually you will have to deal with a leak from time to time. Don’t panic. Stop, look and listen. You just might find yourself finding the leak and making the fix yourself. 

Have you experienced any of these before? Any others you’ve dealt with yourself and you saved a dive? Let me know. Send me a message and tell me the story.