Airfills

[murphdivers286]

I was reading a post here last week talking about partial airfills. It desribed how the tanks only have about 2700-2800 psi after they cool.

Wellllll!!! If you think that is bad, check this out.

My wife and I were at Phil Fosters doing another dive. We were gearing up at the truck when we overheard another diver talking with someone about his buddy's tank. He stated they just came from a dive shop that supposely had filled his and his buddy's tanks. When they got to Phils Fosters his buddy's tank was almost empty. The shop never filled his buddy's tank. Luckily there was another diver who lended them a tank.

I would have been really MAD. Everyone knows you only have about one hour at Phil Fosters for slack tied.

 

[Scuba_Dad]

Since I have kids who used to put the caps back on my tanks... I got into the habit of checking my tanks before leaving. Plus, once I had a brand new tank that had a slow leak at the burst disk. I had just filled my tanks earlier in the week, and my tank was down to 2000 lbs on Friday. I would have been upset if I would have figured out I had a low tank as I was getting ready to dive on the Grove.

The bad thing... the LDS where I bought the tank didn't have Nitrox, yet... so I went to the dive shop I hate dealing with. It cost me another fill... but... they didn't charge me for the burst disk.

Al

 

[baitedstorm]

Not much makes me mad, but shorting me on air certainly will do it everytime... To me, it just shows how sloppy some shops can be. I don't want to be rushed out the door with my tank so hot I can barely handle it. I check my PSI now everytime I leave my "LDS" unless Brian fills it up... (he's never EVER shorted us) The worse thing is when you bring it to the owners attention and he says something like, "well, we're only talking about 5 or 10 minutes" urrrrgh!

 

[Orlando Eric]

I aggree. We wait all week for those five or ten minutes. That additional time might me the difference of a good dive and a great dive. I remember seeing a shark in the last minutes of a dive in jupiter, when the shark came over to check us out only after the other divers had left and there where only two of us left and the divemaster.

 

[JRScuba]

Yes, I agree that a short air fill can cause one to lose a few minutes, but from time time it happens. I'm sure that if it is a decent LDS and you address it to them, it will be taken care of one way or another.
The area the bothers me, where is the intake to their compressor located. Has anyone thought about that?? In one thread someone was concerned about feeling funny and a bad taste in their mouth after a dive. Have you checked your LDS's air intake lately???? Or when they changed the filter???
You can always deal with being short on a fill. But what kind of air are you breathing??
Reputable LDS's are not out to short you on air. It is better to be on the safe side and check your air when you hook up your reg. This way you won't get a surprise when your in the water.
Also, there a many things that can cause air leaks in a tank. One is the gasket between the valve and the tank, etc.

Dive Safely

Joe

 

[Scuba_Dad]

Also, there a many things that can cause air leaks in a tank. One is the gasket between the valve and the tank, etc.

Dive Safely

Joe

I got one of my tanks back from the LDS after a hydro that leaked around the neck. We found a ding on the inside of the neck. The LDS basically said "too bad, your tank is shot". The ding was probably caused by the either the LDS or the hydro folks. I was a little annoyed. But... Luxfer came through with their $50 rebate deal last year. The tank was a '79 model... so, I bought two new Nitrox tanks. In the long run, it paid off... but... I was disappointed that the LDS didn't care...

Al