carbon monoxide in tanks - cozumel

[DandyDon]

Wow!!! Seems steep to me! Surely there is a more "palatable" approach to this problem! Much as I am in favor of testing my tanks, I know I would have a hard time dropping that sort of money on a single gas analyzer!

Not a viable solution in a sport where most want to ignore the risk and view us few who are concerned as chicken-littles.

The Pocket CO monitor I use has weaknesses, but for $149 delivered - it works, and can be calibrated 3 times for $50 delivered. Get the scuba model if you wish, which they developed after working closely with me in my beginning, but I like the simple model ok...

I keep it in a slider ziplock in a Pelican box just to test tanks on trips as it is sensitive to humidity, town pollution, smokers;

I fill the bag from the tank and slide it shut quickly - which is why I use the bags with slider handles, not wasting 5-10 cf on a flow;

I put the bag in my dry bag while I start my SS timer on my watch and go on to assemble my reg, etc;

I check after 3-5 minutes;

Then put it away until the next dive.​

I hope to see better kits soon, but with the general apathy of the dive community - the potential sales are not there. The highest reading I have found yet is 5 ppm and while that means nothing has changed for me yet, it is reassuring.

I'd like to be able to trust tank fills, but until I see inline monitors at cheap-bid destinations, nope!

Oh, and let me add that nothing changes until we the customers insist.

 

[FastEddy]

The tech at Enmet told me that if I want sensitivity in the lower range of 0-10ppm CO, I should be calibrating with a 10ppm concentration of gas, not 100 ppm.

It makes sense that if there is a 3-5% chance of getting poisoned by CO at depth, then it does not make sense to be cheap when it comes to assuring quality gas. Based on all these recent events (Maldives, Roatan, Cozumel), it is obvious that none of the agencies such as PADI are going to assure safety in this regard so it is up to us as divers to take care of ourselves.

I probably would not have even taken up diving if the PADI materials had specified that I had a 3-5% chance of being poisoned by CO on each dive and there are currently no effective measures to reduce this risk except by buying an expensive monitor; but now that I have the equipment, it makes sense to test each and every tank, despite the on-going expense of doing so.

 

[DandyDon]

I just had a nice chat with Dan Orr, DAN's CEO. It's nice that he is available to such as this common member and he was very pleasant to talk with, but my part of the conversation was not well organized. About all I could think to suggest is that no one seems to be doing much of anything about the risk, including DAN, but we need more protection.

He had not heard about this accident and like the rest of us, when he did fast search on the net - about all he saw was this thread and the one on TripAdvisor. Any info their medical department must have is protected by patient confidentiality.


He did point out that no matter what DAN might attempt with Operators, there is no way to monitor their actions. I suggested the only viable solution must be with the individual diver, but it would be beneficial as well as a strong statement if DAN added a CO analyzer to their member product line. He seem interested anyway...

 

[diver 86]

I probably would not have even taken up diving if the PADI materials had specified that I had a 3-5% chance of being poisoned by CO on each dive.[/QUOTE]

If there is a 5% of being poisoned on each dive, shouldn't we be hearing of people dying on roughly every twentieth trip?

 

[DandyDon]

I probably would not have even taken up diving if the PADI materials had specified that I had a 3-5% chance of being poisoned by CO on each dive.

If there is a 5% of being poisoned on each dive, shouldn't we be hearing of people dying on roughly every twentieth trip?

I don't know where that came from? Maybe there is some logic behind it, but I dunno? The 5ppm tanks I dived last week were not clean, but not deadly. At least I knew tho...

 

[FastEddy]

The 3-5% stat comes from the following article.

Carbon Monoxide tester for scuba and firefighting

What the author is saying is that of all samples tested, 3-5% fail the Grade E standard (MAX of 10 ppm of CO). It does not necessarily follow that one will experience symptoms 3-5% of the time. Symptoms will depend on the length and depth of the dive with the contaminated air, as well as the weight of the diver, breathing rate, whether they are a smoker, etc.

But it does not inspire a lot of confidence in the dive industry when 3-5% of the samples sent in for testing are "failing" the Grade E standard for Scuba air.

 

[suprane]

.

The Pocket CO monitor I use has weaknesses, but for $149 delivered - it works, and can be calibrated 3 times for $50 delivered. Get the scuba model if you wish, which they developed after working closely with me in my beginning, but I like the simple model ok...

After looking at the Pocket CO unit, I think that is exactly what I am going to order!... The thing is tiny! And, even if it doesn't have a replaceable sensor, I think I can accept the $199 they charge (for the SCUBA version) for 2 years (that's the warranty period) of less worrisome diving!.... Thanks!

 

[Couv]

I sometimes use Nitrox, but do not own an O2 analyzer. I depend on the fill station to have one available for my use. I consider this part of the bargain, and so do they. Why couldn't this same agreement be used when I want to do a CO analysis on air/gas I buy from the same fill station? This service would certainly be helpful in deciding which facility to use. I also think this approach would be the easiest to implement.

Having said that, fair dues to you who already own a CO detector.

Couv

 

[DandyDon]

.

The Pocket CO monitor I use has weaknesses, but for $149 delivered - it works, and can be calibrated 3 times for $50 delivered. Get the scuba model if you wish, which they developed after working closely with me in my beginning, but I like the simple model ok...

After looking at the Pocket CO unit, I think that is exactly what I am going to order!... The thing is tiny! And, even if it doesn't have a replaceable sensor, I think I can accept the $199 they charge (for the SCUBA version) for 2 years (that's the warranty period) of less worrisome diving!.... Thanks!

Well, add $10 shipping I think, but yeah I guess it is a better package. You really do need the Pelican box and cal gas, and tank mode and special bag may be nice. Save money that way...

The SCUBAPRO Tank Test Kit comes with all of the following items:

* Pocket CO SCUBA instrument and manual (includes special TANK TEST mode).
* Leak-proof test bag with attached adaptor.
* Laminated instruction card
* Small storage case for Pocket CO SCUBA and test bag.
* 1 cylinder of calibration gas, good for up to 3 calibrations or tests in 1 year.

$199.00

 

[sydney-diver]

.

The Pocket CO monitor I use has weaknesses, but for $149 delivered - it works, and can be calibrated 3 times for $50 delivered. Get the scuba model if you wish, which they developed after working closely with me in my beginning, but I like the simple model ok...

After looking at the Pocket CO unit, I think that is exactly what I am going to order!... The thing is tiny! And, even if it doesn't have a replaceable sensor, I think I can accept the $199 they charge (for the SCUBA version) for 2 years (that's the warranty period) of less worrisome diving!.... Thanks!

Think I'm going to get one of those as well, I checked and they ship down under for any antipodeans who are interested.

Dave