How many of you have failed to analyze a tank that you thought had air?

[rhwestfall]

But maybe I should do something about CO .....

we will be (are) waiting........

 

[Aquabot]

From a pure curiosity standpoint, how many dive boats really want to wait while 20 open water divers pass around the shop's analyzer to do 40 tanks of air?

I'm sure not many, but it sure as hell beats the alternative of waiting to find out if you lost that lawsuit too. As someone has mentioned tho, tanks can be analyzed before hand and rightly so.

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Tapatalk 2

 

[Imbodie]

IMO...

Until someone can show me evidence and statistics quantifying substantial risk that someone puts a gas other then air in an air only tank, I'm not prepared to worry about this. Until then, I think the current training and protocols for air divers is reasonable.

.

In Florida (not just cave country) any tank could be an EANX tank.... NONE of my tanks are tagged as EANX, of course I also don't have deco bottles... but all of my tanks have something between 21% and 32% blends in them. I KNOW I'm not diving over the MOD because the deepest I dive ANYWHERE is 100' and the MOD for 32% is 111'.... As long as you are not PPB'ing NITROX the tanks don't have to be o2 cleaned...

My point is... the only tanks you should trust to have just air in them are AIR ONLY BANK TANKS (after you test the air in them).

-Tim

ps
no I didn't always test my tanks after a fill, that has changed a bit after recent incidents...

 

[elan]

Every shop doing nitrox fills offers to use them for free

You must have missed it in the book. You're suposed to buy airfills from PADI Dive Centers.

If analysis of (normoxic) air is so critical that failing to test can be viewed as a foolish, why not offer analyzers at cost for the safety of the diving community?

Just an idea. Tongue-in-cheek, but throwing it out there.

---------- Post added August 21st, 2013 at 06:02 PM ----------

All because one tech diver (IIRC) didn't analyze one tank that he assumed was air.

Nope just because one wants to make back home safe.
There was a local case here when a guy had an issue with his tank of air (o ring blown and no spares or something of that kind)
He was given a tank of what he was told "air" and toxed IIRC at 140ft. It turned out to be 36 percent.

 

[rhwestfall]

He was given a tank of what he was told "air" and toxed IIRC at 140ft. It turned out to be 36 percent.

So, exceeding recreational depths (>130) - I assume competant training, and, doing that aggressive dive plan, his training should have kicked in to "do a little more" than accept a tank......

Mandating is a scare tactic, beneficial only to the instrument makers, and the shops charging the mark-up.... not buying in to it....

In other words - use the thing between your ears........

 

[WB2GLP]

Every shop doing nitrox fills offers to use them for free


Were talking normoxic air not nitrox. Testing nitrox will not tell you the partial pressure of CO in your mix.

 

[elan]

He would likely tox at 130 too. In my very short diving experience I have seen so many getto mixes in back gas single tanks topped up with air that I cannot count on my fingers and toes.

Analyzers are relatively cheap, all shops Ive seen allow to use them for free and actually encourage using them. Those filling air might not have them but again they are not expensive.

So, exceeding recreational depths (>130) - I assume competant training, and, doing that aggressive dive plan, his training should have kicked in to "do a little more" than accept a tank......

Mandating is a scare tactic, beneficial only to the instrument makers, and the shops charging the mark-up.... not buying in to it....

---------- Post added August 21st, 2013 at 06:22 PM ----------

I probably missed your point about the CO

Ive seen Some of the shops started offering to use their CO tester which is a good move

Every shop doing nitrox fills offers to use them for free


Were talking normoxic air not nitrox. Testing nitrox will not tell you the partial pressure of CO in your mix.

---------- Post added August 21st, 2013 at 06:33 PM ----------

Even if statistics shows you that it is 99.999% safe falling into the remaining .001% would definitely suck.

IMO...

Until someone can show me evidence and statistics quantifying substantial risk that someone puts a gas other then air in an air only tank, I'm not prepared to worry about this. Until then, I think the current training and protocols for air divers is reasonable.

/QUOTE]

 

[uncfnp]

Two questions? Has anybody tried the Cheap Nitrox anylyzer? I'm considering one of these.
Also, once the tanks are O2 cleaned, if you put air in, is that okay?

Hi Tracydr,

Once the tanks are O2 clean you can still put air (21% nitrox compatible) in them. It is super clean/filtered air called Modified Grade E. Just make sure that any dive shop that fills your tanks uses filtered oxygen compatible air and you'll be fine.

 

[chrpai]

Even if statistics shows you that it is 99.999% safe falling into the remaining .001% would definitely suck.

You might as well quit diving then. I don't think there is even a 1 : 100,000 chance of an air diver ox toxing. There are far scarier boogy men out there.

 

[elan]

Or just spend a couple of hundred bucks on the analyser...

You might as well quit diving then. I don't think there is even a 1 : 100,000 chance of an air diver ox toxing. There are far scarier boogy men out there.