Nitrox cylinder bands

[AJ]

LOL! You're all missing the point I wanted to make. I'am just saying if you want to know what's in the tank: analyze it! Don't trust stickers or the operator. This has nothing to do with tech or rec. Anybody can analyze a tank. It's real easy. The real question is: how important is it to you?

To be honest, while diving on vacation doing easy shore dives on air I do not analyze my tanks. Once I know how the operation is run, I trust the operator and the way they operate. What I do no trust is some silly meaningless sticker on some tank I have had Nitrox tanks without stickers and air tank with them.

 

[DJEdB]

LOL! You're all missing the point I wanted to make. I'am just saying if you want to know what's in the tank: analyze it! Don't trust stickers or the operator. This has nothing to do with tech or rec. Anybody can analyze a tank. It's real easy. The real question is: how important is it to you?

To be honest, while diving on vacation doing easy shore dives on air I do not analyze my tanks. Once I know how the operation is run, I trust the operator and the way they operate. What I do no trust is some silly meaningless sticker on some tank I have had Nitrox tanks without stickers and air tank with them.

Not that easy without an analyser. Pointless unless you know how to calibrate the analyser and have o2 available to check the cell.

I am a technical diver, all be it an inexperinced one. The techies know best attidue annoys me. The vast majority of divers in the world will never go near a tank of trimix, and just want to swim round some pretty coral at 15m taking snaps on thier GoPro. Remember that every tech diver in the world did an entry level course at some point.
For sure don't trust a sticker. When tech diving I would not considder getting into the water without analysing my back gas, even if I 'know' it is air.
For me technical diving and recreational diving are as different as SCUBA and snorkeling. Different things.

 

[Storker]

At current no major recreational training agencey teaches its students to analyise tanks before use in entry level recreational diving. Analysers are not required equipment for these courses and entry level divers are not trained to use them.

At best your statement is inaccurate and misleading.

AFAIK the major recreational training agency's standards for their entry level enriched air class require students to analyze, tag and log nitrox tanks. It cannot be done theoretically, it has to be a hands-on experience. Thus an analyzer is required for that course and "entry level divers" - whatever you mean by that - have to be able to use them.

 

[Storker]

Pointless unless you know how to calibrate the analyser and have o2 available to check the cell.

Standard nitrox analyzers have single-point calibration. Single-point calibration can be done with EAN21. You know, air.

And if you can tie your own shoelaces, you can calibrate an O2 analyzer. Turn on the instrument and adjust the calibration knob until the display shows 20.9% (or 20.8, or 20.7, depending on the moisture content of the ambient air). It's not exactly rocket science...

 

[Rred]

There are multiple standards (all simple and fairly similar) for using tank color to designate tank use. Fo rinstance Bottled gas - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and if you're using the EU standards, a nitrogen+oxygen tank would have the tank shoulder painted in balck and white quarters, to indicate the two gasses being used.

Paint eliminate the corrosion and decal issues.

But the dive industry, especially in the US, just refuses to do things the simple way and adopt any type of standards. A cynic might suggest they make more money selling "Nitrox" bands and cutting them off every year. Similar to the way that all dive shops here seem to require "a hydro and VIP" when the hydro stations/technicians, regulated by the DOT, are all required to perform a VIP as the start of any hydro test. Think about that: You can't get a hydro in the US, from any DOT-licensed personnel, unless they have done a VIP first. And yet, the shops still need another $25 to do another VIP immediately afterwards? If they don't trust the VIP that the hydro started with, they shouldn't be accepting the hydro, either.

Stickers? Hey, the shop is a small business and they can choose how and who to operate. Then they ask, why is business down, and why customers fall out of love with diving, after treated like fools? As Captain Kirk said to Spock in a Star Trek movie, if you're looking for logic, you've come to the wrong planet.

 

[AJ]

Sigh, I have had it with the feeling: those techies allways know better, we rec divers are different and don't need to do what they do. There are no tech or rec divers, we're all just divers! We dive for fun, right? The only question is: what's the risk profile? The higher the risk profile, the more certain you want to be about what you breathe. Exactly what you mention. We have the same way of thinking.

One more time on topic: I'am not saying you have to analyse! But, if you want to know what's in the tank: do it yourself, analyse it yourself. There's no other way, stickers and procedures mean nothing. If you trust the operator, go dive. That's what I do on vacation. I certainly don't analyse every fill knowing it can only be air or EAN32. I just go diving because it does not matter what it is for this kind of diving.

I rest my case.

 

[Jack Hammer]

Unfortunately I've seen rec dive boats randomly give tanks to divers. I've had my nitrox filled cylinders, that were analyzed and marked with tape, given out to other divers while I was still in the water. The explanation I was given by the crew was essentially, "What does it matter who uses which tank? They're all the same."

When I explained they were my personal tanks, not rentals, and not containing air, I was told it was my "fault" for not properly marking them with a nitrox label. (My tanks are marked with my name and a contents label with the date and the contents). It was a recreational based boat with no tech experience.

I think Nitrox labels should be unneccessary, unfortunately there are some ignorant "dive professionals" out there. Whichever you choose, realize there may be situatuations where duct tape and a magic marker may be needed.

 

[Peter69_56]

For me, I blend, then mix well, test and label. Leave it a few days and test again. Before I load into car I test and check cylinder pressures. All cylinders other than air have at least 2 labels on them. I check my air as well.

I do however not test before I kit up. If I however, were I offered a different mix on the day I would test, check pressure and label prior to use.

I also label my secondary regs with their mix and all my Nx/O2 regs have green hoses. All my Nx tanks have different coloured valve knobs to air (black) Nx (green), except pure O2 which has a red knob. My gear is assembled prior to boarding the boat. In this way I would hope at least one of these signs would trigger a response that the wrong gas may be about to be used.

 

[DJEdB]

Standard nitrox analyzers have single-point calibration. Single-point calibration can be done with EAN21. You know, air.

And if you can tie your own shoelaces, you can calibrate an O2 analyzer. Turn on the instrument and adjust the calibration knob until the display shows 20.9% (or 20.8, or 20.7, depending on the moisture content of the ambient air). It's not exactly rocket science...

There we go. Another 'trained' Nitrox user who is unaware that 02 cells degrade over time and need to be checked regurlarly against 2 known mixes, eg air and pure o2 to confirm the cells are still producing a linear voltage change.

 

[DJEdB]

At best your statement is inaccurate and misleading.

AFAIK the major recreational training agency's standards for their entry level enriched air class require students to analyze, tag and log nitrox tanks. It cannot be done theoretically, it has to be a hands-on experience. Thus an analyzer is required for that course and "entry level divers" - whatever you mean by that - have to be able to use them.

Examples of entry level dive courses include the PADI open water course SSI open water or BSAC ocean diver. Sorry if you do not understand that terminology. I did not say entry level eanx courses.