CuzzA
Wetwork for Hire
So, I'll start by saying I'm going to pick some lotto numbers for tonight's drawing.
In preparing for what has now become weekly diving I usually just stop by my LDS on Saturday's to fill tanks for Sunday dives, sometimes Monday. Today was no different than any other day, but I had my 3 year old with me. He's came with me before, but never to fill tanks as I usually just run out solo get what I need and come home to pack up.
Nothing out of the ordinary when I arrive. Chat with the employee in today about our lives, my wife is occupying my son as he touches every piece of dive gear in the shop and then we start filling my tanks. Of course this immediately peaked my son's curiosity and he wanted to get close just like any kid would. All of the sudden after about 30 seconds I got a gut feeling that he should not be anywhere near tanks when they're being filled. Against his will, I force him to get away from the tanks and sent him to the middle of the small strip plaza shop with his mother. During all of this I'm chatting with the employee about how often burst discs let loose as I was explaining why I didn't want him near the tanks and no sooner than he finished saying, "Ah, it's pretty rare. I've had four let go in five years of working here." BOOM!!! PHSSSSS!!! I run grab my wife and son and head toward the front door and then stop before exiting, now realizing if the tank exploded I'd probably be dead and I wouldn't hear gas escaping. Simultaneously the employee ran through a door toward the back of the shop. Neighbors in the strip plaza come over to make sure everything is alright. Of course my son is scared and says, "Let's get out of here!" But just like any three year old he was over it a minute later and continued on touching dive gear.
The tank amazingly left the ground by about a foot, blew out the ceiling tile and unfortunately landed right on my new Vindicator knob subsequently bending the valve stem and cracking the knob. What was going to be 10 bucks in topping off tanks with air turned into $25 in repairs plus another $14 for a full EAN fill on that tank. I'll come back to that in a moment.
So, how incredibly lucky that for some reason I had the intuition to get my son away from the tanks. He was literally right by them and had that happened when he was next to them who knows what kind of injury he could have sustained. High pressure gas to his eyes and face would have been horrific. I can't explain why that feeling came over me, perhaps that's just being a dad. We see danger. From now on I don't think I'm going to bring him to the shop when I fill tanks and I hope this story gives a little reminder about how powerful gas is at 3,000+ psi.
Now, back to the cost/repair issue. I left feeling a little disappointed. Not at all about the money for the new knob and valve stem, although I do wonder if I should have been responsible for that. Of course I expect to pay for the new burst disc, but this is where I question whether tanks should be secured in some way when filling. I know it's rare for a burst disc to let go, but I wonder if it would be prudent for shops to at least secure tanks when filling since that is when there is the highest probability of a failure. Securing a tank in some fashion would have saved my tank from the damage and added cost to repair.
Nevertheless, all is well and I'll be underwater tomorrow.
Stay safe!
In preparing for what has now become weekly diving I usually just stop by my LDS on Saturday's to fill tanks for Sunday dives, sometimes Monday. Today was no different than any other day, but I had my 3 year old with me. He's came with me before, but never to fill tanks as I usually just run out solo get what I need and come home to pack up.
Nothing out of the ordinary when I arrive. Chat with the employee in today about our lives, my wife is occupying my son as he touches every piece of dive gear in the shop and then we start filling my tanks. Of course this immediately peaked my son's curiosity and he wanted to get close just like any kid would. All of the sudden after about 30 seconds I got a gut feeling that he should not be anywhere near tanks when they're being filled. Against his will, I force him to get away from the tanks and sent him to the middle of the small strip plaza shop with his mother. During all of this I'm chatting with the employee about how often burst discs let loose as I was explaining why I didn't want him near the tanks and no sooner than he finished saying, "Ah, it's pretty rare. I've had four let go in five years of working here." BOOM!!! PHSSSSS!!! I run grab my wife and son and head toward the front door and then stop before exiting, now realizing if the tank exploded I'd probably be dead and I wouldn't hear gas escaping. Simultaneously the employee ran through a door toward the back of the shop. Neighbors in the strip plaza come over to make sure everything is alright. Of course my son is scared and says, "Let's get out of here!" But just like any three year old he was over it a minute later and continued on touching dive gear.
The tank amazingly left the ground by about a foot, blew out the ceiling tile and unfortunately landed right on my new Vindicator knob subsequently bending the valve stem and cracking the knob. What was going to be 10 bucks in topping off tanks with air turned into $25 in repairs plus another $14 for a full EAN fill on that tank. I'll come back to that in a moment.
So, how incredibly lucky that for some reason I had the intuition to get my son away from the tanks. He was literally right by them and had that happened when he was next to them who knows what kind of injury he could have sustained. High pressure gas to his eyes and face would have been horrific. I can't explain why that feeling came over me, perhaps that's just being a dad. We see danger. From now on I don't think I'm going to bring him to the shop when I fill tanks and I hope this story gives a little reminder about how powerful gas is at 3,000+ psi.
Now, back to the cost/repair issue. I left feeling a little disappointed. Not at all about the money for the new knob and valve stem, although I do wonder if I should have been responsible for that. Of course I expect to pay for the new burst disc, but this is where I question whether tanks should be secured in some way when filling. I know it's rare for a burst disc to let go, but I wonder if it would be prudent for shops to at least secure tanks when filling since that is when there is the highest probability of a failure. Securing a tank in some fashion would have saved my tank from the damage and added cost to repair.
Nevertheless, all is well and I'll be underwater tomorrow.
Stay safe!
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