Dive shop expectations on "Tank Fills"

[lsorenson]

Hey guys...

I am trying to get a good feel when it comes to filling your tanks with nitrox at your LDS... If you ask for 32, do you get 32...?

Dropping off 4 tanks, I can get clean air in 2-4 days but Nitrox is becoming a problem. Shop is waiting for gas or has little to none to fill the requirement and may take a week or two.

I realize some shops can fill on the spot and if I was diving a "hot spot" e.g. the islands, FL coast or such then I would be looking or maybe expecting same day/hour service...! BUT, my local dive shop tends to take more than just several days... The say the humidity is too high or its too hot or....

I appreciate my local shop but there are a couple of choices in the area that I have avoided so far. I mentioned that two weeks was way too long to wait for Nitrox and I was disappointed with this so we ended up with clean O2. Tanks were dropped off on Monday and we will be diving Saturday... Should a shop have more than one tank of gas on hand if they fill with Nitrox or at least be ahead of the curve and order before they get to low....?

Mind you, this is a small shop and I really have no idea of how many tanks they fill a week (lake and quarry's around here) but are my expectations a bit high or is someone dropping the ball...?

Thanks for you input,

lee

 

[RJP]

They obviously don't have enough supply to meet the demand. Tanks left on Monday should be able to be filled by Saturday. I'd move on.

 

[redacted]

"Too hot"!! "Too Humid"!!!! They may be low on O2 but they seem to have plenty of smoke to blow up your a$$.

 

[Kevin Carlisle]

Awap and RJP are right. Something is wrong with that picture. I would move along.

 

[Mark Michaud SELAUSAR]

The term "Jackleg" comes to mind. In this economy scuba diving is a luxury. These "Mom and Pop" shops better quit playing on, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Business is done differently today than it was twenty years ago. This seems to be a recurring story. I hope some of these folk are reading and change their ways. If not, they may not be around when things get better.

 

[oly5050user]

Sounds like that store may have only 1 person that does the nitrox fills,or..
very little cash flow and they cannot keep 02 bottles in store due to people purchasing gear elsewhere and only coming to them for for fills.As a curiosity and not to stir anything up,but did you purchase your gear there or elsewhere?
We all know that air/nitrox fills does not pay the electric bills...Maybe that store takes the tanks to a different facility to get the nitrox fills.We had a store here that did not/could not due nitrox,so when they needed it they transported tanks here for fills.

 

[The Chairman]

Most shops that I know have more than one O2 bottle to fill NitrOx. As for humidity and heat, they would affect air fills as much as NitrOx fills. You should ask them about it and tell them your concerns.

 

[Sas]

Wow, I've only ever waited a day for fills and that is rare! I'm not in a diving hot spot either. 99% of the time the tanks get filled on the spot with air or nitrox. With nitrox I generally get within the range of +/- 1% of what I have asked for as most of my fills are partial pressure. One shop does banked EAN32 though.

Why on earth does it take them that long to do fills?

 

[lsorenson]

They obviously don't have enough supply to meet the demand. Tanks left on Monday should be able to be filled by Saturday. I'd move on.

"Too hot"!! "Too Humid"!!!! They may be low on O2 but they seem to have plenty of smoke to blow up your a$$.

Awap and RJP are right. Something is wrong with that picture. I would move along.

The term "Jackleg" comes to mind. In this economy scuba diving is a luxury. These "Mom and Pop" shops better quit playing on, baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet. Business is done differently today than it was twenty years ago. This seems to be a recurring story. I hope some of these folk are reading and change their ways. If not, they may not be around when things get better.

Thanks guys.... I felt pretty sure I was getting petty excuses expecially since they fill tanks in some of the most humid places in the world...!

 

[lsorenson]

Sounds like that store may have only 1 person that does the nitrox fills,or..
very little cash flow and they cannot keep 02 bottles in store due to people purchasing gear elsewhere and only coming to them for for fills.As a curiosity and not to stir anything up,but did you purchase your gear there or elsewhere?
We all know that air/nitrox fills does not pay the electric bills...Maybe that store takes the tanks to a different facility to get the nitrox fills.We had a store here that did not/could not due nitrox,so when they needed it they transported tanks here for fills.

No worries on stirring anything up oly5050user.... I have spent enough money with this shop not to worry about purchasing items from other shops... I mean several thousand dollars and lessons as well.

The owner is a really good guy and has a heart of gold... I believe he is just a bit like myself and forgets alot of things! He does the tanks in the back of the store, just not a priority for him, so it seems...

Thanks for chiming in on this...

lee