bad air?

[redacted]

One oxygen molecule.

Perhaps 1/2 of a molecule of oxygen (O2). aka an atom of oxygen.

I believe carbon monoxide (CO) is oderless, tasteless, and more toxic than carbon dioxide.

 

[Chebby]

One oxygen molecule.

Lol. I meant what produces them, Patrick

 

[wolf eel]

[As far as doctors are concerned, it’ll be a cold day in hell when I willingly go to one.]

I take it you do not like doctors ? Sometimes they can help sometimes.

[One other thing could have contributed is me hanging almost upside down a lot looking for lobsters, I don’t know about water physics but doing it on the surface might give me a headache (although I do it on every dive).]

Diving head down and then turning up right can cause a headache it can also cause a air embolism in the brain

Cheers
Derek

 

[jbd]

Diving head down and then turning up right can cause a headache it can also cause a air embolism in the brain

Cheers
Derek

Can you explain this a little more thoroughly :06:

 

[SquattingRadishDM]

CO or CO2 (what is the difference anyway?)

CO2 - Carbon DIoxide (1 Carbon atom, 2 oxygen atoms)

CO - Carbon MONoxide (1 carbon atom, 1 oxygen atom) Hemoglobin is the molecule in red blood cells that "carries" Oxygen. 4 CO molecules bind to the hemoglobin molecule preventing the hemoglobin from accepting oxygen. CO is one of the many gases given off by cars, which is why ppl die from running a car in a confined space like a garage. The blood basically become less efficient at carrying O2 as time goes on.

 

[mustfajohnson]

You mention migrane and/or stress headaches. A few years ago I had those type of headaches a lot. I've actually cut short dives because of them. I lost 105 LBS. in divorce court and haven't had one since!

 

[divenut2001]

Diving head down and then turning up right can cause a headache it can also cause a air embolism in the brain

Cheers
Derek

Derek,

Can't see how this is possible unless you have an air bubble in the bloodstream that passes thru the heart first. If that happens you're already in trouble, upside down or not. Could you please explain a little further and tell us how and where you got the info. Thanks!

 

[ScubaNorth]

Lol. I meant what produces them, Patrick

Oh sorry. Can't help you in that area I was a finance student, just passed chemistry & Biology. ;-) LOL.

 

[Chebby]

Hey Puffer,

what do you think of this one?

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?product_id=CoCop

I kinda like it because it fits on the tank (or BC inflator) unlike others where I have to blow air into. And it's half the price.

 

[pufferfish]

Hey Puffer,

what do you think of this one?

http://www.scubatoys.com/store/detail.asp?product_id=CoCop

I kinda like it because it fits on the tank (or BC inflator) unlike others where I have to blow air into. And it's half the price.

The CO-Cop device has been around for some time and while not the most up to date product out there, it is certainly better than your nose which we know doesn't work for CO detection.

It is a qualitative device with a replaceable capsule that changes color from beige to more beige to black in the presence of various concentrations of CO. You can see the capsule's five color bands here and why it could be hard to interpret if color blind or in dim lighting.
http://lawrence-factor.com/lp604053oo.htm

I would just think of it as an inexpensive 'go no-go' device where if any color change is seen you cancel the dive. It apparently starts to change colors at about 10 ppm and goes black around 50 ppm. More info and video on the unit here: www.co-cop.com

The CO-Cop BCD inflator hose model at $50 plus capsules ($6 each) is a decent price and as long as you don't reuse the capsule longer than the manufacturer specifies it should keep you out of trouble. It is probably a device that one in a buddy pair should own especially when at unknown fill stations, and at $50 it is pretty cheap insurance.

Far more accurate, but yes more expensive would be one of the quantitative handheld CO detectors which start about $100. These devices if calibrated properly give you the exact amount of CO in the surrounding air.

Here is a decent one that the pilots use, but has been used by divers with success. You can either put the unit in a plastic bag and squeeze out the ambient air followed by purging your regulator into the bag, or you can buy a BCD hose flow restrictor from Oxycheq and just bleed the tank air into the unit's vent holes for a minute or two. Both methods will work fine allowing you to field test your tank for CO before diving.
CO Experts Low Level Detector

Oxycheq www.oxycheq.com and a few others http://www.nuvair.com/brochures/pro_co_promo.pdf sell this same scuba dedicated unit for about $300 which also just reads off the low pressure BCD hose. Remember though these units will need to be calibrated from time to time which will involve additional expense. The CO sensor will also have to be replaced after some time which is more $$.