Bad tasting air

[Mississippi]

Not sure where to post this- did a search & didn't come up with any previous discussions on the matter...
Has anyone ever had experience with bad tasting air? Like a strong rubber taste? What could cause that & is it bad for you to breathe it? Could "bad air" cause nausea/vomiting?

 

[cobaltbabe]

It could be the tank or the filling station. DON'T BREATH IT.

 

[pt40fathoms]

Air should have NO taste what so ever! If you crack the valve and sniff the air leaking from the tank, it may have a comparable smell to that of pencil shavings or no smell at all. That’s it; end of story, anything else is NOT acceptable. I once heard of a fill station located next to a bakery that delivered air that tasted like donuts if you got the air filled at a certain time of day, this turned out to be just rumor and wild imagination as no one had actually had a fill that fit this description. The LDS however, never managed to shake off this smelly label, and they eventually went out of business for other reasons.

If you have had an air fill that tastes like or smells like Oil, Rubber, Engine Exhaust, Diesel or Petroleum, Donuts, or any other possible smell and or taste. DO NOT USE THE AIR and DO NOT CONNECT YOU REGULATOR TO THE TANK FOR ANY REASON. Have the tank drained, have the tank and valve washed and inspected, redo the annual visual, and send the bill to the fill station. Above all, CALL the fill station and let them know as soon as possible. The life you save may be your buddies.

 

[Rick Inman]

A local LDS has had bad tasting air for about 4 months now. They admit the taste is there but say it won't hurt you. It tastes like hydraulic fluid and the taste lasts about a day and a half after the dive. Many people have complained, but they just pooh-pooh the comments. I refuse to fill there anymore. But, I will not publicly mention Spokane Scuba Center's name online.

 

[BigJetDriver]

Rick Inman once bubbled...
A local LDS has had bad tasting air for about 4 months now. They admit the taste is there but say it won't hurt you. It tastes like hydraulic fluid and the taste lasts about a day and a half after the dive. Many people have complained, but they just pooh-pooh the comments. I refuse to fill there anymore. But, I will not publicly mention Spokane Scuba Center's name online.

Hydraulic fluid is quite toxic in small concentrations, and especially in the lungs.

If they are refusing to do anything about it, a word to various government agencies is in order before someone gets hurt!

 

[pt40fathoms]

Rick Inman once bubbled...
A local LDS has had bad tasting air for about 4 months now. They admit the taste is there but say it won't hurt you. It tastes like hydraulic fluid and the taste lasts about a day and a half after the dive. Many people have complained, but they just pooh-pooh the comments. I refuse to fill there anymore. But, I will not publicly mention Spokane Scuba Center's name online.

They are being irresponsible and reckless; I would avoid them and tell everyone I know why. Are they lazy, or just plain stupid! They are messing with people’s lives here and from what you describe they have no plans of fixing the problem. The contaminant may not be harmful at 1 ATA, but at 4 or 5 ATA it may be lethal. The whole reason why your air is filtered to Grade E Breathing Air, is to remove any possible contaminant that may harm or kill you when under pressure.

This makes me very pissed off when I here of this type of irresponsibility.

 

[Genesis]

if you're selling gas you must post a quarterly certificate from a recognized and credentialed testing facility.

If that's not the case in Washington State, it needs to be.

 

[USMC Diver]

You should call the news paper or the local news, you know, the one with the crazy investigating reporter that goes undercover. Get them to do a story on the air quality of all the local LDS's. The ones with good air will get free advertising and the bad air guy will get publicly slammed.

:ninja: :ninja: :ninja: :ninja: :ninja:

 

[Mississippi]

Thank you for the responses. I hesitated to post or mention any further details on the subject, but we had a recent experience in Cozumel with a very good dive op but the air tasted like rubber... we did a deco dive to 132' and upon surfacing my husband vomited violently and again on the boat. We chalked it up to motion sickness or something he ate (although I ate the same things & he has never had motion sickness). It took a several hours for him to feel better although it seems like he hasn't been 100% since. We are now convinced it was the air.

 

[ReefGuy]

DO NOT USE THAT AIR! I have a friend who was diving in Cozumel, and had funny tasting air. He ended up passing out IN THE WATER, due to Carbon Monoxide poisoning and nearly died. There's simply too many good places to get air, don't go to someone questionable. If they really care, they'll fix the problem. If they don't care enough to do that, do you really want to trust your life with them?