firefighter air?

[all4scuba05]

wondering...if i took my tanks to work...and found a way to connect the firedept air fill station to my tanks, is the air we use in our SCBA's at work safe to use in USCBA's...anyone know or tried this one?

 

[kd7fds]

wondering...if i took my tanks to work...and found a way to connect the firedept air fill station to my tanks, is the air we use in our SCBA's at work safe to use in USCBA's...anyone know or tried this one?

Couple threads about this but it boils down to "it depends"

Our department has a fairly new compressor and our Chief has our air tested on a monthly basis to make sure it meets Class E (SCUBA mininimum) standards. We designed the air intake system to minimize the risk of getting CO into the compressor and have working alarms to detect it as well.

On the other thread, it seemed, that not all fire departments take these kinds of precautions.

 

[crpntr133]

Yep, flip a coin and do a search. The jury is still out on this issue.

 

[Hoosier]

Oh~~man, please use "search" I got this one in 2 seconds.

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=101299&highlight=fire+department

 

[DaFireMedic]

wondering...if i took my tanks to work...and found a way to connect the firedept air fill station to my tanks, is the air we use in our SCBA's at work safe to use in USCBA's...anyone know or tried this one?

The sum of those threads seems to boil down to the compressor filters used, having the air tested regularly, and the environment where those compressors fill their banks. In general, the compressors themselves should be fine and are the usually the same used to fill scuba.

Is your compressor on your truck deck where diesel engines are run? If so, then I would be leery about filling from it.

We have a mobile compressor that I can pull out and fill the tanks from directly from the compressor, bypassing the banked air tanks. I do it this way in case someone else was careless and filled the banks on the truck decks while an engine was running. I like to think that no one would ever do this, but I "never say never".

A neighboring Fire Department (they have a dive team) uses their compressor to fill their tanks, both for professional and personal use. Their compressor is located right on the truck deck, where the engines pull in and out. I believe that the air intake is run to outside air, in back of the station (still, right where the engines pull into the station). They've never had any problems yet, and they've been doing it for over 15 years with this setup. Still, use good judgement in deciding on using yours or not. It only takes a small amount of CO to kill you at depth.

I've done a fire inspection on an LDS within our jurisdiction, and I took a look at the compressor. I'm not sure I've seen more rust per square inch in my life. It looked like it was used during the civil war. I felt I needed a tetanus shot just from looking at it. I've never filled my air from that shop after that (not that I did before that either, but thats another story).

BTW: I had the company that services our compressors make me a fill whip to adapt our compressors to fill scuba. It cost me about $70. I'm sure yours could do the same if you decide to do that.

 

[jamiep3]

We use an adapter like this one.
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/AQU45010.html

Our air is tested to Grade E. That is the most important factor.

 

[DaFireMedic]

We use an adapter like this one.
http://www.leisurepro.com/Prod/AQU45010.html

Our air is tested to Grade E. That is the most important factor.

Mine is similar, except that I had a short length of high pressure hose put in the middle to give it some flexibility. I had to do this because a scuba tank would not fit into one of our fill stations without the flexible hose.

 

[Fireman Ken]

On our Air Light Unit, there is an adapter for Scuba tanks; however, I would not fill my personal tanks with that air because, all my tanks are O2 cleaned and normally have Nitrox mixtures in them. Our station cascade system does not have scuba tank adapters.

To answer your question, air that is good enough to breathe in an IDLH environment (e.g., burning building) should also be good enough to breathe under water. If your station doesn't have Air rated to the Grade E level for their SCBAs, I would be leary about going into an IDLH environment with it.

Good luck,

Ken

 

[DA Aquamaster]

To answer your question, air that is good enough to breathe in an IDLH environment (e.g., burning building) should also be good enough to breathe under water. If your station doesn't have Air rated to the Grade E level for their SCBAs, I would be leary about going into an IDLH environment with it.

I agree with you as long as you are referencing Grade E air.

It's a conditional agreement however as some of the contaminants that could find their way into an SCBA tank may be non problematic at 1 ATM inside a burning building, but are potentially fatal in a scuba tank when the contaminants may be breathed at the 2 to 5 ATM ambient pressures encountered in even recreational diving. So the existance and consistent application of safety procedures to ensure the air is frequently tested, properly filtered and maintained at or above grade E standards is vital.

 

[Fire_medic_RescueDiver]

I have been using the same adapter like the one listed above from LP for 10 years now and have had no problems. The big issue is what has been stated here. Check with the Cheif and ask for the paperwork for the station compressor and look on it it will tell you what the grade of air is.