Air quality on liveaboards

[peterbj7]

Anybody any experience/comments on this? I rented some tanks to a chartered yacht recently and they were refilled on the Belize Aggressor. When they were returned some were full and we tried to use them, but the air smelt distinctly oily. We had to clean all the tanks before we could use them again. Yet this is the air that all the punters on board the liveaboard were breathing.

A related topic - nitrox is said to be available on some liveaboards, but I often see reports that in the event it wasn't. Some mechanical breakdown is usually blamed, but the condition often persists for many weeks, suggesting nobody's straining themselves to fix it. Is this common?

 

[jakubson]

Anybody any experience/comments on this? I rented some tanks to a chartered yacht recently and they were refilled on the Belize Aggressor. When they were returned some were full and we tried to use them, but the air smelt distinctly oily. We had to clean all the tanks before we could use them again. Yet this is the air that all the punters on board the liveaboard were breathing.

A related topic - nitrox is said to be available on some liveaboards, but I often see reports that in the event it wasn't. Some mechanical breakdown is usually blamed, but the condition often persists for many weeks, suggesting nobody's straining themselves to fix it. Is this common?

FWIW, I was on the Belize Aggressor the last week in November. 26 Nitrox dives, no smells, no problems, tanks were refilled before I had a chance to dry off (really).

 

[mike_s]

Anybody any experience/comments on this? I rented some tanks to a chartered yacht recently and they were refilled on the Belize Aggressor. When they were returned some were full and we tried to use them, but the air smelt distinctly oily. We had to clean all the tanks before we could use them again. Yet this is the air that all the punters on board the liveaboard were breathing.

I might have not been the Agressor that "contaminated" the tanks but perhaps some "scuba shack" on land in some 3rd world location in Belize, etc that filled the tanks the day before the Agressor did. I don't think the Agressor would want to have 20 passengers a week diving "oily air" and come back and post it on message boards. (but it could have been them also, or might not have been is all I'm saying. In 3rd world countries, I doubt land based scuba shops are as up to par as the nicer ones in the US with their compressor maintenance).

A related topic - nitrox is said to be available on some liveaboards, but I often see reports that in the event it wasn't. Some mechanical breakdown is usually blamed, but the condition often persists for many weeks, suggesting nobody's straining themselves to fix it. Is this common?

I think the lack of fixing this is due to the fact the ship comes into port after being off for a week and then leaves again either the same day or the next day. Because of this there is not much time to bring a crew onboard to fix a compressor or nitrox system and it might take a few weeks to get parts in a tropical island location, or the owners/operators just might wait to do it on a scheduled maintenance period that's coming up in a few weeks. Now days though, I think divers would be pissed to go on a liveaboard though and not get nitrox.

 

[Doc]

I rented some tanks to a chartered yacht recently and they were refilled on the Belize Aggressor. When they were returned some were full and we tried to use them, but the air smelt distinctly oily. QUOTE]

What did the Belize Aggressor say when you did the professional thing and advised them of this?

 

[peterbj7]

I rented some tanks to a chartered yacht recently and they were refilled on the Belize Aggressor. When they were returned some were full and we tried to use them, but the air smelt distinctly oily. QUOTE]

What did the Belize Aggressor say when you did the professional thing and advised them of this?

I left that to the trimix instructor who had rented them from me.

 

[Doc]

I left that to the trimix instructor who had rented them from me.

Has he reported back yet?

 

[peterbj7]

Doc - you seem to be suggesting that I shouldn't make my post because it is in some way "unprofessional". Lets just say that I disagree. I was told and I believe that the tanks were filled as I said, with the results as I reported. That is fact, and as such is fair game. I was very surprised, but equally I was surprised that the divers on the charter, all of whom were Swiss advanced technical divers, were content to breath the air they undoubtedly had been breathing. I have no idea whether the group leader reported the issue to the liveaboard but I assume he didn't, as he obviously wasn't very bothered about air quality. I do know I won't be renting tanks in future for refilling at any liveaboards, nor indeed at most of the land-based compressors I know. Producing clean air in clean tanks costs me a fortune - a new set of Bauer Procon-ten filters about every six weeks.

 

[Dee]

Doc - you seem to be suggesting that I shouldn't make my post because it is in some way "unprofessional". Lets just say that I disagree. I was told and I believe that the tanks were filled as I said, with the results as I reported. That is fact, and as such is fair game. I was very surprised, but equally I was surprised that the divers on the charter, all of whom were Swiss advanced technical divers, were content to breath the air they undoubtedly had been breathing. I have no idea whether the group leader reported the issue to the liveaboard but I assume he didn't, as he obviously wasn't very bothered about air quality. I do know I won't be renting tanks in future for refilling at any liveaboards, nor indeed at most of the land-based compressors I know. Producing clean air in clean tanks costs me a fortune - a new set of Bauer Procon-ten filters about every six weeks.

Peter....it doesn't look to me like Doc was saying any such thing. Since you are a dive center operator, according to your title, and considered a professional in the business, it could be assumed that you contacted the Belize Aggressor in a professional capacity. You reported you did not mention the alleged bad air and left that to the instructor who rented the tanks. I see no accusations being made, just references to the statements you yourself made.