Bad Air?

[seabat]

Got up sunday, the sun was shining, the straight was flat, the tide was dead, the camera was charged, was looking forward to a beach dive. Drove to the site, hooked up the gear, did my pre-dive equipment check, took a breath off the regulator, and........ugh! The air tasted bad.

Ok, think. Did I have some residual water in my mouth piece after last weeks rinse? Maybe. Purged, took another breath...I wanted to lick the dirt to get rid of the taste. Tried the air2. Same result.

"Oh Honey (wife is my buddy), did you take a breath off your reg yet?" Honey does so and.......she's looking at the dirt.

Took off the reg, opened the valve and sniffed. Not normal smelling. I thought "oily", the wife thought "glue".

Aborted the dive.

My wife got them filled on Friday and told me that the shop banks were low that day and were not gonna be recharged until later that evening.

Question. What do you think I should do about the tanks?

I have emptied them down to 700 psi. I dont get any smell off the air now. Im thinking get the tanks vip'ed so any residual air is out of them and make sure no residue is present on the inner walls. I will talk to the dive shop and let them know about the taste of the air.

This is the first time in my 350 or so dives that I ever had a taste from a tank. It is also the first time I have ever had a questionable fill from the shop. It will also be the last time I dont check the air as soon as I get my tanks filled.

I cant describe how depressed we were not to have made a dive on such a wonderful day.

PS. We dive normal compressed air, no mixes. Steel tanks. 8 months since last vip.

 

[Scubaguy62]

IMO, it wouldn't hurt to get them vip'd, but perhaps a fill from a different LDS might just solve the problem. I would even argue that the LDS is responsible for the cost of your vips. On the other hand, if you have emptied out the tanks to where there is no more evidence of bad air, you have a case of "spoliation of evidence" and unless you have good raport with the LDS, they can refuse to do the vip's at their expense.

I'm sorry you missed the dive though. Don't feel bad, I also missed a weekend of diving, but due to a flaky babysitter.

Semper Safe,

Rick

 

[jeadiver]

I would definitely get them checked, oil in the air can cause several very serious conditions which can keep you out of diving for a long time. I know of a guy who had oil in the tank from a compressor that had not taken care to clean the filters appropriately. He got pneumonia and some other side infections in his lungs. Wasn't able to dive for 3 years.

You may be able to get the shop that did the fills to take care of this for you (I can't imagine you were the only ones with bad fills, but they may not admit it or try to blame your tanks). Even if you have to pay another shop to check them out, get the valves off and cleaned and have the tanks checked. Its worth saving your lungs

 

[The Chairman]

You might have sniffed a dead fish in the area or a motor boat near by... who knows?

PLAY IT SAFE... take the tanks to the shop who did the fills and ASK THEM about it. Don't worry about offending them, just do it. Have the tanks VIPed while you are there and see if they can have the air tested. Also ask if they get their air tested and to look at their set up. IT'S YOUR LIFE... if you can't do that then please find another place to fill your tanks.

 

[scubafool]

And I would say that if the shop won't VIP the tanks for free, do your best to find another shop. If they truly care about the quality of the service & the products (air) that they provide, they should JUMP at the chance to satisfy you. Like NetDoc said, IT'S YOUR LIFE, if the shop won't give you peace of mind for free, pay someone else to.

I've always breathed through both of my regs everytime I've hooked up to a tank. Never had even a hint of a problem, but your experience should remind us all of the importance of this little test.

 

[advtech]

Got up sunday, the sun was shining, the straight was flat, the tide was dead, the camera was charged, was looking forward to a beach dive. Drove to the site, hooked up the gear, did my pre-dive equipment check, took a breath off the regulator, and........ugh! The air tasted bad.

Ok, think. Did I have some residual water in my mouth piece after last weeks rinse? Maybe. Purged, took another breath...I wanted to lick the dirt to get rid of the taste. Tried the air2. Same result.

"Oh Honey (wife is my buddy), did you take a breath off your reg yet?" Honey does so and.......she's looking at the dirt.

Took off the reg, opened the valve and sniffed. Not normal smelling. I thought "oily", the wife thought "glue".

Aborted the dive.

My wife got them filled on Friday and told me that the shop banks were low that day and were not gonna be recharged until later that evening.

Question. What do you think I should do about the tanks?

I have emptied them down to 700 psi. I dont get any smell off the air now. Im thinking get the tanks vip'ed so any residual air is out of them and make sure no residue is present on the inner walls. I will talk to the dive shop and let them know about the taste of the air.

This is the first time in my 350 or so dives that I ever had a taste from a tank. It is also the first time I have ever had a questionable fill from the shop. It will also be the last time I dont check the air as soon as I get my tanks filled.

I cant describe how depressed we were not to have made a dive on such a wonderful day.

PS. We dive normal compressed air, no mixes. Steel tanks. 8 months since last vip.

Sweet smelling air or walnut taste is a good indication of oil vapour in the air and should be checked out. First thing I would have done is called the shop to warn them that something may be wrong. That way they could check and if nessescary shut the compressor done and start trying to track down other customers that may have had bad fills. Better safe than sorry, and as a former dive shop owner I would appreciate a heads up. It doesn't take a lot of oil
vapour to cause lipid phenmonia which can be extemely serious or deadly. All it takes is a bad ring on the compressor and it starts venting vapours so quickly that even machines with moisture staturation lights and co/co2 monitors may not catch it right away. Problem is not as serious (or as common) with machines using FDA synthectic lubes.

 

[Dwain]

I got some air while diving around Puget Sound in December that smelled like a SHARPIE marker.

we went to the closest LDS and had tank quickly viz'd and refilled and was fine after that..no residual smell/taste.

The LDS thought maybe someone had overdone the silicone application on the threads after the tanks very recent Viz at a dif LDS.

Who knows? only thing I know is it was RANK!!!

 

[seabat]

Tanks, er...Thanks for the replys. I will be taking in the tanks for vip's this week.

I also wanted to apoligize for not fully stating something. It is possible that the taste and the smell is due to a problem with my equipment. I have no reason to suspect that my equipment is the cause of the problem but it is one of possiblities I did not specifically mention. The regs are submerged in a dunk tank for a few hours after each dive (hooked to the tank and under pressure), purged, removed from the air tank, and hung up to dry with a cap over the 1st stage. Yearly maintenence is also performed. With the smell being present when I cracked the valve on the tanks without the regs attached, I am pretty sure the regs are not the problem. However, when I take the tanks in I will also ask them to look at the regs just in case. The tanks are usually at around 2000 psi after a dive and are also rinsed and stored inside our house. I will mention all this to the shop when I take the tanks in.

IF the problem with the air is a result of the fill, I still will not be planning for compensation from the LDS. I have a good relationship with the shop and just dont feel like charging them. I caught the problem in my pre-dive check, was happy that my training worked, happy that I was responsible enough not to try the dive anyways, and learned to add something else (checking the air after a fill) to my preparations for a dive. The satisfaction of knowing those things far out weighs any benefits I could forsee of a minor monetary savings.

As for the depression that day, I would have been a lot happier if the Red Wings had won the third game.

Again thanks for the replys and confirming I was on the right track for the remedy.

 

[Rick Murchison]

One of the "old ways" of checking for oil is to take a clean white handkerchief and place it over the valve; blow air from the tank through it for thirty seconds or so and look for any discoloration. The hanky must be held firmly against the valve face so that the air passes through a very small area, which will concentrate any oil vapor deposits and allow visual detection. This also eliminates any possibility of "it's just your imagination" when talking with the shop. (Though every shop I've ever dealt with would take immediate steps to correct the problem if their air isn't good.)
Rick

 

[seabat]

I took my tanks and reg in yesterday and talked to the dive shop. They had no reasons for the cause of the taste of the air. They acknowledged that the air did smell different. It was kinda funny watching them take sniffs from the tanks.

Together, we ran through a list of probablilties and we eliminated each one. The compressor was recently inspected and re-certified, other tanks had been filled and dove after mine with no indications. They had me hook up my reg to one of their tanks and no problems. The only thing left to do was the vip. They did this, found no problems, re-filled the tanks, all at no charge without a request for free service from me. I hooked up my reg to both of the tanks after the inspection and fills and the air was fine. As I expected they treated me fairly and we still have a good relationship.

I did not realize that they did not charge me until I got home, so I will be going back to them and offering to pay for both the vip and fills.

I guess its gonna remain a mystery as to the cause, but it will also be a learning experience for me. I will be adding another check to my pre-dive list and putting in a little more thought to "what ifs" now.

Again thanks for the replys.