Does gas go bad / expire / go stale in a tank?

[Kim]

Al is different to Steel - but still, 12 years is too long to my mind. If the rest of the stuff you bought didn't get used for the same length of time I would suggest that EVERYTHING you bought should be checked and serviced before you use it! You don't want your name changed from GotAir to NotGotAir now do you!

 

[NINman]

I agree with what the others have said. Get it Hydro and Inspected before even using it to test with.

 

[Diver0001]

In general can air go stale in a scuba tank (Reason)I just bought a guys complete scuba gear collection and it came with 2 tanks and a bunch of other goodies. it looks like the last time he had them filled was 12 yrs ago. i was going to use the air in the tanks before I have them hydroed and filled again.

Just for curiosity sake why don't you O2 test it? I'd be interested in knowing what the results are. I'd expect that it's ok but since you need to get them hydro'd anyway I'd personally just send them for hydro now and forget it.

R..

 

[Tx_Jeff]

We had a recent problem where a couple of tanks were overlooked and did not get a fresh fill since they were last filled six months ago (Clean/Dry/Air Compressor). The divers that used them complained of nausea, dizziness and one even complained of vomiting. We checked the remaining air in both tanks, O2 = 20.9%, CO = 0 ppm. The only thing we could figure was stale air.

 

[SDAnderson]

In general can air go stale in a scuba tank (Reason)I just bought a guys complete scuba gear collection and it came with 2 tanks and a bunch of other goodies. it looks like the last time he had them filled was 12 yrs ago. i was going to use the air in the tanks before I have them hydroed and filled again.

I wouldn't dive the tanks until they'd been hydro'd and VIP'd. I can't give you any scientific explanation for why, but would you eat a can of soup that had been on the shelf for 12 years? It should be fine, but...

 

[Boogie711]

Air fill = $5.

Your life > $5.

Simple math.

 

[IslandHopper]

More important is that you don't really know WHAT is in the tanks. Aluminum is much more resistant to problems than steel.... but there could still be plenty of pitting/corrosion or organisms growing (well... grew, then died) in there after 12 years if there was any amount of moisture in it.

For the 2-4 $$ an airfill probably costs, I'd just go ahead and write-off whats in the tanks now

 

[Scubakevdm]

Isn't exposure to air for prolonged periods of time the reason why stuff goes stale?

 

[will_tekkie]

i can not believe you are seriously considering to dive with air 12 years old....(it is not a good whiskey...)

besides this...how someone store a tank 12 years with a full air charge...????tanks have to be keep a lower pressure if a long store time is expected...in this case a complete check up (hidro test included) is a must in my opinion...

 

[GotAir]

I see everyone has an Opinion on this. Opinions are nice but they are just that !. lets do this SB i'll go home tonight and hook a reg to them and do a taste test and report back to you soon. then i'll take them to my LDS and get the results on the o2 and report that back to ya. I'l send them off to get hydroed and VI and make a note to my LDS that the air is 12 yrs old and would like to have any info he can tell me about it. I dont need these tanks to dive with right now i have plenty of other one's that are stamped and have fresh refills in them. I was just curios and still am if air can go stale.

I'll keep you posted!

Mike