getting fills question

[LUBOLD8431]

We have alot of our customers coming in to our shop with O2 clean tanks and nitrox labels who want an air fill.

As long as the tank has a valid VIP sticker on it, we will fill it.

Of course we fill it with Hypercleaned air (clean air) because we wouldnt want to ruin the guy's rating on his cylinder.

I think that shop KNOWS that their AIR is not clean, and it would ruin the rating, and they are trying to gouge you on the VIP...

Find another dive shop to fill your tanks.

 

[Wendy]

I had seen someone post this scenerio on another board, and was just curious what you guys would think. This is a true story, and I called the dive shop in question and was told that there is clean air and that it is a corporate policy since this is a dive shop chain. I mentioned that folks waiting for a fill would probably buy something from this shop and that they would be loosing business not only in fills but in merchandise if they give up this practice.


Its ok they, I'd rather support my LDS.

 

[SDAnderson]

Let's play Devil's Advocate for a moment...

A diver brings a Nitrox labeled tank in and asks for an air (NOT an EAN21) fill. The tank is in hydro and has a current EAN VIP sticker and is O2 clean.

Obviously, the diver is:

• not aware of what they're doing, and/or;
• an idiot, and;
• a potential danger to themselves and others.

This filling tanks business is based on trust - divers trust fill stations to put clean, dry and appropriate gas in their tanks and fill stations trust divers to read, understand and follow the directions. Don't act as expected and "phhtttt" - the trust is gone. There may not be an immediate danger to the dive shop...operator...but if a diver is dumb enough to be asking for an air fill in a nitrox tank, who knows what crud may be inside that tank or what condition it may be in? Has he been getting fills off the local garage compressor or fiddling with the leftover gas from the birthday party balloon fill tank?

Since the fill station can no longer assume that the diver knows which end is up, maybe it's appropriate for them to take a very paternal stance and verify that the diver has a safe and clean tank - at least for the next dive.

At it's worst, the VIP fee is a tax on stupidity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Steven

 

[Big-t-2538]

reefraff once bubbled...

A diver brings a Nitrox labeled tank in and asks for an air (NOT an EAN21) fill. The tank is in hydro and has a current EAN VIP sticker and is O2 clean.

Obviously, the diver is:

• not aware of what they're doing, and/or;
• an idiot, and;
• a potential danger to themselves and others.

<snip>
At it's worst, the VIP fee is a tax on stupidity, which isn't necessarily a bad thing.

Steven

Then about 1 minute of conversation with that diver should tell you wether or not he/she knows what he/she is doing, and wether or not the stupidity tax is in order....

 

[Uncle Pug]

reefraff once bubbled...
Obviously, the diver is:

• not aware of what they're doing, and/or;
• an idiot, and;
• a potential danger to themselves and others.

...you are one of those DIR dudes who thinks air is only for tires and that only an idiot would use air for diving!

Actually I know folks who are nitrox certified but chose to dive air on occassion using their nitrox wrapped tanks.

Steven... a nitrox wrap doesn't mean the tank contains nitrox... it only means that the tank might contain other than air. The fill analysis label tells you what the contents of the tank are.

Why do you think that it is idiotic or dangerous to put air in a tank with a nitrox wrap?

 

[scubaredneck]

runvus4 once bubbled...
If they are filling their scuba tanks with clean filtered with "oxygen compatible" air then a Nitrox tank can be filled with "regular air" with no need to re-vip or remove any certifications.

If they use lower quality/less filtered air that contains contaminants, then I could see where they would feel obligated to remove the O2 certification and nitrox stickers, but then you just shouldn't go to that place to get an airfill.

I agree. If they don't have an O2 clean air whip, then they have to remove the EANx sticker because at that point, the tank is not O2 clean anymore and can't carry EANx untill it is recleaned.

 

[Uncle Pug]

scubaredneck once bubbled...
the tank is not O2 clean anymore and can't carry EANx untill it is recleaned.

That isn't the case.

 

[Stone]

Before I started filling my own tanks, I'd get air in a nitrox tank when I needed to work on a regulator. Air is $4 vs $8 for nitrox and all I need is clean, dry air for drying parts and testing.

 

[GearHead]

I'm one of those "idiots" that has Nitrox labeled, O2 cleaned tanks, and I occasionally fill them with "air" when the situation calls for it. I'm not a DM or an instructor, and my fills aren't free, so when planning a day of 1 or 2 recreational dives, i.e. I'm not doing a bunch of repetitive or deep dives, I fill them with air because of what Stone said: Air is ~$4 and EAN is ~$8.

I know for a fact that the shop that I get my fills from uses clean, filtered, "oxygen compatible" air.

So, my question to you, ReefRaff, is: If the day's dive-plan doesn't warrant EAN, then why pay more money for an EAN21 fill?

reefraff once bubbled...
A diver brings a Nitrox labeled tank in and asks for an air (NOT an EAN21) fill. The tank is in hydro and has a current EAN VIP sticker and is O2 clean.

Obviously, the diver is:

• not aware of what they're doing, and/or;
• an idiot, and;
• a potential danger to themselves and others.

Steven

 

[Big-t-2538]

Cheapest EAN fill in the Midwest is 12 bucks...and that's with the preferred customer discount.....There's a reason I dive air all the time...I'm a dad with financial obligations, and I can use school's tanks when it is O.K. with the course director.....why pay 25 bucks for 2 cans of EAN per day when school is FREEEEEE???