PSA: My Kirby Morgan headset quit mid-decompression last Thursday

I was on a 90-foot dive in the Port of Houston, sitting on deco, and all of a sudden my comms went dead. Turned out the cable connector had corroded right where it meets the helmet shell, something I never thought to check. Anyone else ever had comms fail on a critical dive, and what did you do to fix it fast?

3 comments

3 Comments

the_susan9d ago

Bro that wire brush trick saved my comms once.

the_eva9d ago

Wait, you had it quit on deco? That's rough. For a quick fix on the surface, I've had luck using a small wire brush and some electrical contact cleaner on the pins inside the connector. But for a permanent fix, the real trick is to pull the connector boot back and completely dry it out after every dive, even if you think it's sealed. I also started putting a thin coating of dielectric grease on the connector pins before every dive trip. That keeps the saltwater from actually making a circuit. Idk about your exact setup, but on mine, the problem was always a tiny crack in the boot that let water creep in. If yours is cracked, a little bit of self-fusing silicone tape around the boot can buy you a few more dives before you have to replace the whole cable.

finleym439d ago

So the boot is the weak point on yours too? @the_susan probably learned that the hard way same as me.