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I aqm following another thread in the DNY section of the board with great interest, regarding the melting down of a compressor filter. The thread deals with the operator and if they should have notified, shouldn't have notified, etc.
I want to discuss the mechanics of a filter meltdown. I have seen compressors explode, final seperators explode, crankcases explode, filters installed incorrectly explode, filters get so saturated with oil or water that they break through, filters get so hot the hopcalite releases the CO back into the air, and heard stories of oil getting so hot it releases toluene into the breathing air supply. I've removed filters so old they fall apart when you pull the top cap off. Note to self - if that ever happens again, please turn the entire canister upside down to remove the filter element, otherwise you get filter junk throughout the air system. I have seen the wrong filter installed, the right filter installed incorrectly, and filters manufactured out of tolerance, resulting in mechanical failure of the filter. I have never seen a filter melt down, but I haven't seen it all yet. I can imagine a fire in the filter chamber, but that compressor won't come back online until many new parts are ordered.
Talk has been made of the high ambient temperatures in the fill shack of this particular facility, which I have never visited, but it can't be any higher than on any liveaboard that operates in the Caribbean. My compressor room is at ambient 120 degrees during the dive day, and we've never melted a filter.
Can anyone explain the mechanics of a melted filter?
I want to discuss the mechanics of a filter meltdown. I have seen compressors explode, final seperators explode, crankcases explode, filters installed incorrectly explode, filters get so saturated with oil or water that they break through, filters get so hot the hopcalite releases the CO back into the air, and heard stories of oil getting so hot it releases toluene into the breathing air supply. I've removed filters so old they fall apart when you pull the top cap off. Note to self - if that ever happens again, please turn the entire canister upside down to remove the filter element, otherwise you get filter junk throughout the air system. I have seen the wrong filter installed, the right filter installed incorrectly, and filters manufactured out of tolerance, resulting in mechanical failure of the filter. I have never seen a filter melt down, but I haven't seen it all yet. I can imagine a fire in the filter chamber, but that compressor won't come back online until many new parts are ordered.
Talk has been made of the high ambient temperatures in the fill shack of this particular facility, which I have never visited, but it can't be any higher than on any liveaboard that operates in the Caribbean. My compressor room is at ambient 120 degrees during the dive day, and we've never melted a filter.
Can anyone explain the mechanics of a melted filter?