Solenoid stuck open, Has it ever happened?

[Millssy]

Hi all,

I started my Mod 1 yesterday and one of the subjects that we have covered is solenoid stuck open.

Has anyone ever experienced this as i am interested to hear what caused it, to me it seemed there is a lot going on that should stop it form happening.

[Nitnab Nhoj]

Yes. For me it was a low battery during an intensive week's diving. I still got the display but had to drive it manually, turning the O2 on and off as I went.

[BTS]

Other than power outage, see the bit numbered 7, this is an iron core if you get a drop of water in there, say through the bit on the head where the O2 hose connects when discounecting the hose from a wet post dive RB, it will rust over time, if it rusts or otherwise gets gunked it will jam.


http://www.solenoid-valve-info.com/images/valve_with_labels.jpg

[Mark Chase]

Common problem on Megs in the 2004 -2005 modle.

Hapened a few times to a couple of Meg divers on our boat They even put a QD on the solinoid feed to avoid the issue.

I had hand set failure on a Hammer Head which resulted in much the same thing. Solinoid just kept fireing in 02 which was a problem at 70 odd M

ATB

Mark

[DiverMike]

Yes. On my mod 1. It was a bit of crap in the solenoid. When I sent my head in for a service my solenoid was sticking - I was unaware of it but it failed checks and was replaced. It had started to corrode inside.
There is a lot you can do to prevent it happening (like blowing gas through your o2 hose before connecting it to the solenoid, and regular servicing but it can happen, it does happen and its worth being able to resolve it in water.

[bottle maker]

It happened to my mate on his JJ

Graham.

[David]

ccr are just waiting for an excuse to kill you. That said the driver still seems to be the bigest problem :-)

[Hot Totty]

Not yet, but I understand its generally crap or corrosion that's likely to stick it open.

[Mark Chase]

ccr are just waiting for an excuse to kill you. That said the driver still seems to be the bigest problem :-)


But to be fair a stuck open solinoid is hardly any drama. Just isolate and flush.

You could bailout to OC or just run the unit by cracking open the 02 feed every now and again to get the PP02 back up.

I had the equivelent of a half dozon solinoid failures on my HH on one dive to 70 odd m.

It spiked the PP02 big time every time it failed but i just flushed it isolated and swam back to the shot with the 02 switched off.

I did 2.5hours deco on that dive with the solinoid jamed and it wasent realy a problem just cracking the 02 open when the PP02 droped a bit. One of the big advantages of inverted CCR tanks.

[Bobanderson]

I had it on a Inspo.

TBF it was my fault. If you don't turn the O2 off before you disconnect the O2 feed to the head, the pressure can dislodge the gauze filter in the fitting. Fluff got it and stopped the valve shutting.

To stop it happening

Always shut and purge O2 before removing connector to head
Check you have a gauze inline
Blow through O2 line before connecting
Don't bit a muppet.

Having implemented all of the above, things are going just fine. The bit of fluff that held the solenoid open was tiny.

[Bobanderson]

I had it on a Inspo.

TBF it was my fault. If you don't turn the O2 off before you disconnect the O2 feed to the head, the pressure can dislodge the gauze filter in the fitting. Fluff got it and stopped the valve shutting.

To stop it happening

Always shut and purge O2 before removing connector to head
Check you have a gauze inline
Blow through O2 line before connecting
Don't bit a muppet.

Having implemented all of the above, things are going just fine. The bit of fluff that held the solenoid open was tiny.

[David]

But to be fair a stuck open solinoid is hardly any drama. Just isolate and flush.
a good driver makes a lot of the problems go away LOL

[Major Clanger]

Hapened a few times to a couple of Meg divers on our boat They even put a QD on the solinoid feed to avoid the issue.



Disconnecting the O2 feed with the solenoid stuck open's not a good idea. QD was a standard fit before CE. Mine has it but no drill I've done includes disconnecting, just turn off.

[Mark Chase]

Disconnecting the O2 feed with the solenoid stuck open's not a good idea. QD was a standard fit before CE. Mine has it but no drill I've done includes disconnecting, just turn off.


I bow to your version because i havent dived a meg in anger

John told me when his meg solinoid failed he would just disconect the feed to the solinoid and then run the unit manualy with the 02 add button. This was on a 2004-5 unit with a MK1 Shearwater controler. I know the head went into melt down and he replaced it with a standard Meg head, but I dont know if that also had a QD.

John and Liz were on YD but i dont know if they are on here. I dont see them anymore and i think they mainly dive with Whitey out of Limington.

ATB

Mark

[Major Clanger]

I bow to your version because i havent dived a meg in anger

John told me when his meg solinoid failed he would just disconect the feed to the solinoid and then run the unit manualy with the 02 add button. This was on a 2004-5 unit with a MK1 Shearwater controler. I know the head went into melt down and he replaced it with a standard Meg head, but I dont know if that also had a QD.

John and Liz were on YD but i dont know if they are on here. I dont see them anymore and i think they mainly dive with Whitey out of Limington.

ATB

Mark

It may have been a skill taught in the past for solenoid's stuck open but not now (on pre-ce units). My understanding is that it would allow sea water entry straight in to the head. Not possible to do a disconnect on ce units as the hose is screwed on, to prevent accidental disconnection.

[Gary]

Is any version of the solenoid more likely to be suspect than another?

[Timw]

It may have been a skill taught in the past for solenoid's stuck open but not now (on pre-ce units). My understanding is that it would allow sea water entry straight in to the head. Not possible to do a disconnect on ce units as the hose is screwed on, to prevent accidental disconnection.

The 2.06 & i think the 2.5 versions used a Swageloc QC6 quick disconnect. They're self sealing but I still wouldn't want to use it underwater - you'd need to be double jointed to reach it anyway. The Meg solenoid a are quite simple to strip if you did manage to get water in it - just needs a bit of care with the o rings and making sure its perfectly clean when you reassemble it. The main reason for it was to allow you to easily disconnect the O2 reg from the head.
The CE now uses a standard 9/16 reg hose. It's available as an upgrade for older heads - makes carrying spares cheaper!

[Major Clanger]

The 2.06 & i think the 2.5 versions used a Swageloc QC6 quick disconnect. They're self sealing but I still wouldn't want to use it underwater - you'd need to be double jointed to reach it anyway. The Meg solenoid a are quite simple to strip if you did manage to get water in it - just needs a bit of care with the o rings and making sure its perfectly clean when you reassemble it. The main reason for it was to allow you to easily disconnect the O2 reg from the head.
The CE now uses a standard 9/16 reg hose. It's available as an upgrade for older heads - makes carrying spares cheaper!

Thats right. Mine has the QC6. Convenient to use but I've no intention of wrestling with it underwater if solenoid gets stuck.

[Major Clanger]

Actually I think it's the 4 to be precise.

[Mark Chase]

Is any version of the solenoid more likely to be suspect than another?

I know the 2004-5 megs had an issue with several reports in the interweb. The very early / prototype JJs also had an issue. My one went rusty for no good reasion. It jamed shut once but I striped it and cleened what i could and it seems to be working OK since. I vagly remember a few other issues on the Inspo Classic, but i think that was more down to power consumption.

ATB

Mark

[BTS]

The new AP one, #3 I think, has a much reduced power consumption...

[Major Clanger]

The Meg now uses a Jaksa solenoid which is very reliable.

[Markymark75]

It happened to my mate on his JJ

Graham.

We reckon that was down to dodgy cylinders / gas in Singapore, our mutual friend (my buddy the day it went wrong), was at around 45m on the Salsette when his unit started flushing with oxygen. My inspo had a similar problem around the same time, as the first stage got crapped up and I then suffered IP creep (which bottlemaker kindly helped sort whilst on a trip diving wrecks in Normandy)

[ARJAYM]

Hi all,

I started my Mod 1 yesterday and one of the subjects that we have covered is solenoid stuck open.

Has anyone ever experienced this as i am interested to hear what caused it, to me it seemed there is a lot going on that should stop it form happening.

Had mine stuck closed once on Vision , just drove manually. Strip and claen sorted it and was replaced at AP service later. That was Ap mk1 type