Bad air fill

[Nudibranch Diver]

Hi,

I just got 8 tanks filled, I checked the air and pressure when they came back and the air smells bad, I cannot use them.

I will of course be talking to the filling station; this is the first bad fill I have had in a few years and the owner is normally fastidious with filters etc.

But I want to know what to do with the tanks with bad air. Is it possible that I can just run them to empty and refill with clean air? I have a horrid feeling that it's not going to be that simple and I may have to clean and service each of them?

Any advice appreciated - of course if the owner of the compressor offers to compensate me then all good although a bad experience like this does erase some of the trust I have.

Thank you all, dive safe.

 

[GDHLEWIS]

At the very least open them up and give them a good inspection see if any residue has been left over from the bad fill. Depends on how bad a fill it is really

 

[Searcaigh]

Definitely get the tanks tested and work with the person who filled them as they could have a problem with their compressor.

 

[Johnoly]

It's just a tiny helper in a full line of checks, but shining a UV black light is part of my checks inside. If there is oil, it should glow. There's a long list of checks. This is just a quick simple easy tiny step.

 

[rhwestfall]

Aluminum tanks? A flush with Simple Green Crystal (not the normal stinky stuff) and really hot water would be a god way to remove possible contaminants.

 

[halocline]

If they were my tanks, I would start by bringing them back to the shop full and asking them to smell the air, see what they say. Then I would drain them, remove the valves, and look inside. (Hopefully the shop will do this). If there's nothing visually wrong inside the tank, I would just use compressed air to flush out any residual bad air, then if the tanks smell ok, refill them and try again. If there's a bad smell coming from the empty tank, then you have to wash them, maybe a light tumble and wash, but my guess if that you would have seen something if there is a bad smell. You could rebuild the valves if you're ultra-paranoid, or if you just think it's time to do that anyway.

Another option that's a good idea but kind of a pain if you don't have the equipment would be to test the air that's in there now, at least for O2 and CO. It'll probably test fine, but it is an option if you are very concerned.

 

[landshark_IPA]

We had a "bad fill" from a local rock quarry dive site in TX this summer. Being new divers, we got one of our Dive Shop instructors who was there for his opinion. He said, "It doesn't smell like it's dangerous or toxic, but more like burned air".

We brought our tanks to the air station and had the staff smell. They were initially puzzled but didn't make any excuses. Instead, the lead staffer darted off and started giving every piece of their compressor an inspection. They found that the food grade lubricating oil had gone sufficiently low for the friction to start to burn the oil. They drained their entire air bank system (including our cylinders), switched to their secondary compressor, bled the whole system and refilled out tanks. They even replaced the primary and second stage filters (though they had already been replaced recently and it really wasn't necessary).

Our refilled tanks smelled and tasted perfectly fine (no smells or tastes whatsoever).
You want to be careful about any gas you put into your lungs at atmosphere; when compressed, it's even more important! I wouldn't trust any "do it at home" cleaning other than a visual inspection, such as with the black light, to try and detect contaminants. I would only trust a dive shop certified to service/fill tanks (which should be most and may include your shop). I have no experience here to say that any of the provided "cleaning" suggestions are valid or otherwise; I'm only saying when it comes to my air, I rely on my shop or local Fire Department to service my tanks.

 

[tursiops]

We brought our tanks to the air station and had the staff smell. They were initially puzzled but didn't make any excuses. Instead, the lead staffer darted off and started giving every piece of their compressor an inspection. They found that the food grade lubricating oil had gone sufficiently low for the friction to start to burn the oil. They drained their entire air bank system (including our cylinders), switched to their secondary compressor, bled the whole system and refilled out tanks. They even replaced the primary and second stage filters (though they had already been replaced recently and it really wasn't necessary).

Good shop.

 

[rhwestfall]

I wouldn't trust any "do it at home" cleaning other than a visual inspection, such as with the black light, to try and detect contaminants. I would only trust a dive shop certified to service/fill tanks (which should be most and may include your shop).

me:

okay then... (and I am not affiliated with a shop...) carry on, and you be you...

 

[Cthippo]

me:

View attachment 739379

okay then... (and I am not affiliated with a shop...) carry on, and you be you...

Just out of curiosity, what goes into an "Air fill station operator" cert?

As firefighters that is something you learn in 10 minutes somewhere in Academy and then get lots and lots of practice at as the new probie.