Luxfer not honoring Nitrox fills in their tanks?

[MY01SHADOW]

Hello All,

I went to a customer appreciation dive day with my LDS on Saturday and we showed up with Luxfer AL80's with Nitrox bands on them. When we got there, someone said wow what a waste, since you can't get those brand new tanks filled with Nitrox anymore. Confused, I asked the owner of the shop about it and he said, "there was an occurence somewhere, not sure what, but Luxfer was sued over a problem with a nitrox fill in one of their tanks. Now, they are claiming that they won't stand behind their product for use with EANx, so local dive shops won't be able to fill them anymore (with EANx) due to insurance regulations and the risk of liability.

Anybody else here heard this or know any more about it?????

Thanks,

 

[Diversauras]

That must be one powerful statement to retroactivly remove EAN capability from it's products. Guess every owner can ask for his money back?

Sounds bogus to me, now that I am not being sarcastic I can't imagine how it could be, like Ford saying they won't honor warranty for cars driven in the rain...

 

[CBulla]

I would contact Luxfer about that. I'll ask my LDS about it this week to see if they've heard anything.

 

[Spratman]

http://www.luxfercylinders.com/support/bulletins/20040823.shtml

Only thing I could find and that is from a year ago. It has nothing to do with new cylinders.

Jack

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Luxfer used to ship all their tanks as Nitrox ready. However, since about January 2005, they have been shipping them as approved for O2 mixes below 23.5% only. I was advised this was due to their inability to assure that the tank remains sealed and O2 clean after it leaves their facility. This is the case for all new Luxfer tanks unless they are specifically ordered as Nitrox ready tanks from Luxfer (a process that I suspect involves more expensive shipping and some type of waiver).

But while Luxfer tanks are potentially still able to be shipped as Nitrox ready to local dive shops, I suspect most local dive shops are unaware of this option and will consequently require O2 cleaning of all new tanks, regardless of how they were marked or approved by Luxfer. And realistically, some shops may be aware of the option but are also aware they can make more profit O2 cleaning the new tanks they sell rather than ordering them Nitrox ready.

 

[Spratman]

I would have thought that the shops would have done that regardless (O2 cleansing), to cover their butts and make more money.

 

[wedivebc]

What it means is luxfer is adhering to the gas industry sandard of treating O2 mixtures of 23.5% and greater as enriched oxygen mixtures as the scuba industry's 40% standard is not a recognized by the compressed gas association. The details can be found here http://www.andihq.com/pages/mainpage.html

 

[Leadking]

Hello All,

I went to a customer appreciation dive day with my LDS on Saturday and we showed up with Luxfer AL80's with Nitrox bands on them. When we got there, someone said wow what a waste, since you can't get those brand new tanks filled with Nitrox anymore. Confused, I asked the owner of the shop about it and he said, "there was an occurence somewhere, not sure what, but Luxfer was sued over a problem with a nitrox fill in one of their tanks. Now, they are claiming that they won't stand behind their product for use with EANx, so local dive shops won't be able to fill them anymore (with EANx) due to insurance regulations and the risk of liability.

Anybody else here heard this or know any more about it?????

Thanks,

ALL luxfer cylinders we sell are supplied with a label from Luxfer stating O2 clean.
The label (with green borders) states;

WARNING: This cylinder was cleaned for oxygen and oxygen-enriched service at the Luxfer factory. If you intend to use this cylinder for oxygen or oxygen-enriched service(i.e. with any gas containing oxygen concentrations of 23.5%or more) all components used with the cylinder must be oxygen compatible. It is the responsibility of the cylinder user to ensure that the cylinder and all components are maintained in a proper state of oxygen cleanliness in strict accordance with regulatory and Luxfer requirements and industry standards. Failure to observe this warning may result in serious injury or death, as well as property damage.

Lee

 

[MY01SHADOW]

Luxfer used to ship all their tanks as Nitrox ready. However, since about January 2005, they have been shipping them as approved for O2 mixes below 23.5% only. I was advised this was due to their inability to assure that the tank remains sealed and O2 clean after it leaves their facility. This is the case for all new Luxfer tanks unless they are specifically ordered as Nitrox ready tanks from Luxfer (a process that I suspect involves more expensive shipping and some type of waiver).

But while Luxfer tanks are potentially still able to be shipped as Nitrox ready to local dive shops, I suspect most local dive shops are unaware of this option and will consequently require O2 cleaning of all new tanks, regardless of how they were marked or approved by Luxfer. And realistically, some shops may be aware of the option but are also aware they can make more profit O2 cleaning the new tanks they sell rather than ordering them Nitrox ready.

I thought that as well, however, he's even saying that he can't/won't be insured even if the tanks are O2 cleaned. As a matter of fact he's doing away with his rental nitrox alum tanks (using them for air fills only) and said he had to order 15 PST 100's so that he can still rent nitrox and be covered by his insurance.

I think we may be hearing more on this in the near future.

 

[pants!]

What a moron.