Bad Air Experience

[DandyDon]

Just found this thread the other day after doing a Google search for NADCO. It was one of the top results. It is also the top result of a search on Scubaboard. I also found a later post by the OP suggesting that it was indeed his new hose causing the bad taste and NOT due to any fault by NADCO.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/397551-bad-taste-coming-hose.html#post6062036
I dive out of this shop and can assure you that NADCO is a top notch LDS and I have never heard of anyone getting a bad fill or less than excellent service. I'm sure there are many other divers that will back me up on this.
I think this thread could unfairly influence anyone doing a search for NADCO and wanted to stand up for them. Randy at NADCO also asked that I reply. It's the least I could do after the years of fine service they have given me and other divers.

I don't know why you and Randy are finding this thread after searching google for NADCO as I don't. Maybe your searches are influenced by the computer's history? I tried google searches on Firefox, Google Chrome, and Chrome in Incognito - and it just doesn't come up.

As far as Joe's experiences, he says here that both hoses tasted bad, but on the other thread you linked he does say that he cleaned his hose with SimpleGreen without stating how the hose got tainted. There is certainly no apparent proof to anything, anywhere that I can see.

I hope that NADCO is running Clear inline CO or similar monitors with auto shutoff set low on his compressor, and if so - you could post pics. When I searched here for NADCO by the way, I found a few threads - the rest seemingly with positive comments.

Does NADCO keep a personal CO analyzer available for divers to test their tanks? That is a service I'd like to see common and such says a lot about their confidence in their air.

If he does not have any CO monitoring or testing equipment on hand, then that would put him in a large group of fill stations that don't - and that would suck, but maybe he does?

 

[101recon]

I don’t know why you’re NOT finding the thread on Google. All I know is that it shows up for me. And a Scubaboard search returns it as the first result for me.
As to the thread I linked, no it does not PROVE anything. That’s why I used the word “suggesting”.
My point is that the OP made the “assumption” that NADCO is to blame and I disagree with that. I also know a lot of other divers who have got fills from NADCO for many years without complaint.
CO testing seems to be one of your pet peeves that you love to argue about. You also seem to be asking for proof of innocence. And after reading some of your posts it seems to me that you are just one of those people here who love to argue. Well sorry, I’m not going to do that. I've made my point and you're free to disagree just as I am free to disagree with the OP.

 

[DandyDon]

Like I said, I think it comes up because of your computer history. I searched on Explorer too: not in the top 10 anyway. Even if I search nadco dive center to avoid all the others NADCOs, I still don't see this thread. Yes, a SB search does bring it up, at the top. No, nothing was ever proven.

Yes, CO testing is one of interests. Why shouldn't it be? Safety costs pennies a tank but most air suppliers are still dragging ass in the 20th century and I find that insulting. Are you suggesting that they don't bother, or do you know...??

 

[joe8mofo]

Just found this thread the other day after doing a Google search for NADCO. It was one of the top results. It is also the top result of a search on Scubaboard. I also found a later post by the OP suggesting that it was indeed his new hose causing the bad taste and NOT due to any fault by NADCO.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/regulators/397551-bad-taste-coming-hose.html#post6062036
I dive out of this shop and can assure you that NADCO is a top notch LDS and I have never heard of anyone getting a bad fill or less than excellent service. I'm sure there are many other divers that will back me up on this.
I think this thread could unfairly influence anyone doing a search for NADCO and wanted to stand up for them. Randy at NADCO also asked that I reply. It's the least I could do after the years of fine service they have given me and other divers.

I can say with 100% certainty that the oil smell was not from the new hose; it was definitely within the air/tank/manifold of the double LP 95 set. The only smell evident from the hose was a rubber smell, much more mild than that which came from the tanks. I also tested the 2nd stage/house on another air tank and the result was not oil smelling air but rather slightly rubbery smelling air. The oil taste/smell was evident from both first stages (a second stage was attached to each first stage). The tank was Hydro'd and VIS'd recently (back in 2011 that is) and the VIS sticker said "NADCO." Upon emptying there was no residue evident on the inside of the tanks. If someone else is doing Hydro and VIS and utilizing NADCO's stickers then that could be a possibility as well. It is also possible that someone other than Nadco filled the tanks before they were acquired.

I cannot say with 100% certainty that the fill came from NADCO, I only stated that the VIS sticker says NADCO. Furthermore, if noone else has had an issue with NADCO then it seems UNLIKELY THAT NADCO FILLED THE TANK or that there wasn't some other residue within the manifold/tank.

I can say that simple green purged the hose of its rubbery smell and that an O2 Clean of the tanks and manifold resolved the oily smell/taste issue.

 

[davetowz]

Where else might the tanks have gotten a fill from? NADCO might have done the vis and the first fill after, but from there...... And adding all the automated CO monitoring gadgets and all, how many divers are willing to pay more for fills to offset the cost of the additions? Domestically, we tend to see air tests quarterly and have indicator discs.

 

[DandyDon]

And adding all the automated CO monitoring gadgets and all, how many divers are willing to pay more for fills to offset the cost of the additions? Domestically, we tend to see air tests quarterly and have indicator discs.

Sorry, that fails. An Analox Clear inline unit can be installed for about $1,000 with 2 year warranty, much longer life expectancy. Just over the initial 2 years, that's $1.37/day to guarantee quality, protect customers and the business both. Average 5 tanks/day = 27c a tank.

Oh, attitudes like yours are a common problem, which makes tank testing more important. The fill station should at least keep an Analox portable CO analyzer on hand for the customers to use. Reckond they can afford $300 to protect the divers...?

 

[Capt Jim Wyatt]

The fill station should at least keep an Analox portable CO analyzer on hand for the customers to use.?

Why not an Oxycheq CO analyzer? We have been using an Oxycheq analyzer for at least 18 months and it is solid...

 

[The Chairman]

Why not an Oxycheq CO analyzer? We have been using an Oxycheq analyzer for at least 18 months and it is solid...

Or CO Pro, or Nuvair. There are lots of products out there to test CO.

That the tank had a smell rules out simple CO contamination. When it comes to bad gas: it rarely if ever happens to only one tank if the compressor or filter bank is at fault. Moreover, unless it is isolated quickly and cleaned, it will cause problems for many people. That doesn't seem to be the case here, so I would tend to believe that somehow the twinset got contaminated before it was filled. How it got contaminated is anybody's guess. Shop error, human error: who knows? There were probably two shops involved, the LDS and the Hydro station as well as the valves/manifold that were used. That's why I like to rebuild my valves just before I get back a tank from hydro, to make sure they are clean. Jim's shop did that for me this last time, and everything has been working great.

The only "bad air" I have had was from a shop doing a partial pressure fill on a tank that had been O2 cleaned, marked as such, but had been contaminated by fills at a non-02 clean fill station. I had loaned the tanks out and my buddy had no clue what "O2 clean" meant or where to get modified e grade air. My initial feeling was to blame the last shop to fill my tanks, but tracking down the problem led me to a different conclusion.

 

[DandyDon]

Why not an Oxycheq CO analyzer? We have been using an Oxycheq analyzer for at least 18 months and it is solid...

Ok, sure. I like my Analox, but yeah there are other good units - and I'm glad we have choices.

 

[JTH2711]

Ive been monitoring this post for awhile and I have to say that I can't believe that NADCO would give somebody bad air. I've been using them since I started diving and have never had a bad experience. They are a very professional dive shop. Just because the inspection label says NADCO doesnt mean thats where they got the fill. I'm not trying to stir the pot. I just wanted to put in my two cents.