Mandatory nitrox % testing and tank fill pickup

[scubadada]

Gah! Stumped me. Gotta think on that one.

Maybe they will let you send the confirmation by email with an electronic signature. Only limited by one's imagination.

 

[Storker]

Hi I do most of my diving from my home in SE FL. I have a little kit with an Analox, tank pressure gauge (easier and faster than transferring your reg set), painter's tape and a Sharpie. As I don't have any of my tanks in FL, I always have rentals. When I board the boat, I analyze all my tanks, between 2 and 4, and record the values on my own tape. Not only does this insure that my tanks are appropriately analyzed, but I can choose the best tanks for the dive, depending on mix and fill. This works very well for me.

I dive mostly at home as well, and I fill my tanks myself using my club's mixer. I analyze after the fill, mark the tanks and re-analyze at the site. Even with my extensive lab experience, I don't trust myself enough to be 100% certain I haven't screwed up with only one analysis. I trust others even less.

 

[scubadada]

I dive mostly at home as well, and I fill my tanks myself using my club's mixer. I analyze after the fill, mark the tanks and re-analyze at the site. Even with my extensive lab experience, I don't trust myself enough to be 100% certain I haven't screwed up with only one analysis. I trust others even less.

Hi @Storker

I enjoyed visiting your club's webite. Google Chrome does a fine job of translating Norwegian into English. Are you the Storker who is the leader of your dive club or is that a different Storker? From what I gather, Storker is not a very common name. The structure and resources of your club are very attractive, no equivalent system in the US.

Good diving, Craig

 

[uncfnp]

Just as an example...

Several years ago I analyzed my nitrox tanks with a fill from a very reputable dive shop. It read 68%. Always analyze your tanks.

But I admit I or Eric (its usually me) will analyze each others tanks. We figure our lives depend on each other in other ways and this is little different.

 

[Beau640]

@tbone1004

Did you mean in the tech world you don't analyze them when you pick them up, or you don't analyze them before you dive? I always analyze all my mixes with my own analyzer before diving to ensure they are what I think they are. If i'm going to die under water, it's not going to be from diving the wrong mix.

Before I got into tech I would analyze any non 21% mix at the shop with their analyzer. I remember taking the nitrox class thinking "do people really analyze all these tanks before taking them from the shop?" Then I got it hammered into me, yes standard procedure is to analyze tanks when you pick them up. Even when I've vacationed, if I've requested a rented nitrox tank, someone from the shop will analyze the rental tank for me (even if on the boat) to show me I'm diving what I think I'm diving. Seems to be standard procedure. I personally wouldn't dive something without seeing it analyzed with my own two eyes (too many things can go wrong/not be analyzed properly).

 

[doctormike]

I remember in my nitrox class the instructor saying it's good practice to test your own tanks but I thought he said if you dived with a reputable shop it wasn't mandatory.

If that's really what you were taught in Nitrox class, see if you can get a refund...

 

[tbone1004]

@Beau640 no one makes you analyze at the fill station and sign off on the mixes you're receiving like you see at recreational shops.

I.e. at all of the cave shops that I frequent, they have sensors hooked up to the fill stations so you know exactly what is in the banks. You are there when they are filled, and most people I know will either check at the fill station, or check when they get to the site, but it's not required to pick the tanks up. I check mine at the side because I find it easier to verify the mixes by hooking up to inflator hoses so I don't check when I am at the fill station. Too much of a PITA. I know what was in the tanks when I dropped them off, and I will usually peek at the analyzers, but these guys fill thousands of cubic feet of EAN32 every day and it is rarely off by more than 0.5% so it's exceptionally rare that you'll have an issue.
When I will 100% check before I leave the fill station is if I'm trying to radically change mixes, I.e. I bring tanks filled with air down and am putting EAN32 in them, or any time PP filling is involved *mainly trimix*. If it's just nitrox or air fills, I won't usually check until the dive site, but it's a risk that I am aware of an accept. Not one I would recommend for others to do, especially if they are at a shop that doesn't bank nitrox.

 

[WarrenZ]

It sounds like you have a shop that either takes safety very seriously or they have had a recent run in with the Lawyer/Insurance Fairy.

I always test my tanks when I dive them and when I pick them up if I didnt blend the gas myself I test it infront of them.

If I am picking them up after having the shop top the O2 with air because I am PP mixing then I am normally watching as they are filled and retest when they have had a chance to fully mix.

I have seen the final percentage change by as much as 1% after a few hours of travel/mixing time.

Bottom line I dont trust anyone so I test after filling and then retest before using the tank.

 

[Rred]

Since the Carter years (finally, something to thank Jimmy for) federal law has said that any document which required a signature, may be signed DIGITALLY and that has the full force of law. Now, finding software, especially free software, which will give you the ability to sign digital documents with a secure digital signature, that's a wee bit harder. But it is possible, the new Adobe on-line reader stuff is one of the options. Some of the electronic fax software also offers similar options, so the shop can send you a fax and you can digitally sign the return one. There are all sorts of options, mainly used in the real estate business where transactions need to happen "NOW" and be securely signed. Of course convincing your LDS to come into the 20th century (yes, just to the 20th) may be impossible.
But certainly if you could do something like have your wife do the O2 check while you skyped it to observe and confirm...or if you sent a signed email to confirm that you had just seen this and approved it...
The shop might have someone there who is able to think creatively and solve problems.
Or just ask them to mark the invoice "TANKS STOLEN." No release needed then, right?

 

[boulderjohn]

I very faithfully analyze my tanks before using them. I am very careful about that, and over the years just about every dive operator I have ever used has required personal testing. I am sure every agency's nitrox class says the same thing. One reason I would not just accept whatever a shop sent out and marked is that I know that the tanks were filled by someone like me. I am very careful when I blend gases, but if you are using partial pressure blending, it is easy to make mistakes. I have indeed made a couple mistakes over the years, but they have never caused a problem for me because I always check.