Nitrox Tank Marking

[gcarter]

Well, if you are filling at a reputable fill station and are getting air or basic 32 or 36 nitrox and if there is a tape on the tank telling the fill analysis, date, fillers initials, etc, like it's supposed to then no, it's probably not necessary to re-analyze. At some point you have to trust the dive shop. But if you have the ability to test, then why not? I re-analyze everything. Also did you realize that the word "analyze" comes from the word "anal eyes"!

Why? I trust my own analysis, thank you very much.

 

[PfcAJ]

Well, if you are filling at a reputable fill station and are getting air or basic 32 or 36 nitrox and if there is a tape on the tank telling the fill analysis, date, fillers initials, etc, like it's supposed to then no, it's probably not necessary to re-analyze. At some point you have to trust the dive shop. But if you have the ability to test, then why not? I re-analyze everything. Also did you realize that the word "analyze" comes from the word "anal eyes"!

No, at no point do I have to trust the dive shop. No one should trust a dive shop when it comes to this stuff.

A mistake can equal dcs, oxygen toxicity, or worse.

Analyze your gas, guys. Get it together.

 

[kelemvor]

Apologies if this has been asked already, but I didn't see it when searching.

I just purchased two new Faber Steel 100 tanks from a local dive shop. They are filling them with Nitrox for me and when I asked if they had the standard Nitrox label bands, they said that they don't recommend them because of saltwater getting between the label and the tank potentially causing issues and ultimately decreasing the life of the tank.

This goes against everything we are taught in the PADI Nitrox course. Is this a valid point? I'm thinking that it shouldn't be an issue and the band should be applied for safety.

TIA!

IMO it's a common opinion and a valid concern. I use them anyway because I like them. After all, your tank's going to have a VIP sticker on it anyway so what's one more? All the stickers get cleaned off my tank once a year during VIP.

I like the stickers because they quickly get beat up and enhance a tank's rustic "well used" look in short order.

I think the huge "NITROX" sticker is only very important for tanks owned by boats/shops where divers might not bother to analyze a tank before breathing it because they think it's "just air". I only own ten tanks and every one is cleaned for blending. Sometimes my tanks have 21% nitrox, sometimes they have something else in them.

 

[Glen Stone]

No, at no point do I have to trust the dive shop. No one should trust a dive shop when it comes to this stuff.

A mistake can equal dcs, oxygen toxicity, or worse.

Analyze your gas, guys. Get it together.

Yes, of course, and I do. But I am referring to the millions of new or otherwise recreational divers who rent tanks or dive resort boats? they are not analyzing. They do not own an analyzer and they are not going to ask the dive shop to borrow one, they wouldn't even know how to use it. I don't believe it is necessary for them to analyze.

 

[flyboy08]

Every Dive boat I’ve been on has an analyzer on board...now whether it’s working properly or not I have no clue.

 

[gcarter]

Yes, of course, and I do. But I am referring to the millions of new or otherwise recreational divers who rent tanks or dive resort boats? they are not analyzing. They do not own an analyzer and they are not going to ask the dive shop to borrow one, they wouldn't even know how to use it. I don't believe it is necessary for them to analyze.

Wow.

How do they do an EAN course and not learn how to use an analyzer?

Why do you believe that it is not necessary for them to analyze? But yet, of course YOU do?

Seriously.

 

[tbone1004]

Yes, of course, and I do. But I am referring to the millions of new or otherwise recreational divers who rent tanks or dive resort boats? they are not analyzing. They do not own an analyzer and they are not going to ask the dive shop to borrow one, they wouldn't even know how to use it. I don't believe it is necessary for them to analyze.

why don't you believe that they should analyze something that could cause them to have DCS or even oxtox? I've seen "nitrox" tanks that were all labeled as EAN32, but filled with pure O2, I've seen them filled with air, and just about every mix in between. One of those things will kill someone, the other two will cause some serious DCS issues *and yes, I have seen someone go take a chamber ride because they put EAN32 into their computer and the gas was analyzed at EAN24.

Those are only what I have seen, and I do not frequent dive shops that often. Why on earth would you argue that you shouldn't analyze gas when those are the consequences and what basis do you have for making that judgement?

 

[tbone1004]

I didn't indicate that anything made me nervous. I'm sure you carry more than one flashlight, correct? Not because you are nervous about the first one failing, it's about planning ahead

just wait until you get fills up there and see what some of those tanks have been through. All perfectly safe of course, just makes a lot of people cringe when they have the attention to detail and follow the "rules" from the industry that you outlined.

 

[PfcAJ]

Yes, of course, and I do. But I am referring to the millions of new or otherwise recreational divers who rent tanks or dive resort boats? they are not analyzing. They do not own an analyzer and they are not going to ask the dive shop to borrow one, they wouldn't even know how to use it. I don't believe it is necessary for them to analyze.

...

The fact that they aren’t doing it has no bearing whatsoever on if they should do it.

 

[Storker]

I am not sure I understand this post, so if I misunderstood, please forgive me.

You should always analyze your own tanks. Don't accept the analysis of someone else who did it out of your sight. The writing on that tape should pretty much always be yours. (The exceptions are close enough, as in a dive team working together on it.)

But do you have to re-analyze? It depends.

In South Florida, when I analyze tanks at the fill station, I take them directly to the boat. I get on the boat and set up my gear. We get to the dive site. It would take a major miracle to change the blend, so, no, there is no new analysis.

In Colorado, I mix most of my gas at home. I analyze and mark the tanks. Sometime later, sometimes several days, I drive to New Mexico and use them. At that point, I lose all trust in my memory. I get out my analyzer and do it all over again. I simply don't want to make a mistake, and that extra time is worth it.

Just as a human can make errors, analyzers can give wrong values. I like to analyze at the fill station with the analyzer that's there, and re-analyzing at the site with my personal analyzer. That way I have a decent chance of catching both human errors (incl. my own) and analyzer errors. And I'd never trust a tank that I hadn't analyzed myself.

Yes, it happens sometimes that I'm wearing both suspenders and a belt. Why do you ask?