Kirby 77 - page 11

Kirby Morgan 77

Some divers, keep the EGS gas cylinder

valve shut during the dive. Their rationale

being; in the event of an emergency, they

will simply open the EGS cylinder valve

thus eli min ati ng a ny EG S a ir/ ga s unk now -

ingly being lost due to either a 1st stage

failure or EGS hose failure.

KMDSI strongly recommends n ever div-

ing with the EG S cyli nder valve sh ut.

The reasoning behind this is twofold.

First, with the EGS cylinder valve open,

gas is immediately available in the event

of topside gas interruption via the EGS

valve on the side block simply by open-

ing it. Secondly, and most importantly,

if t he EGS regulator (1st stage) is not

pressurized, during descent it is possible

that sea water will leak through the ﬁrst

stage intermediate circuit and r egulator,

causing failure of the EGS regulator if not

frequently serviced and resulting in pos-

sible injury or death.

WARNING

You can use a quick-disconnect whip to connect the

EGS valve to the bail-out bottle. This makes dressing

the diver much easier.