Nitrox Fill Question?

[HarveyO]

I recently became Nitrox certified and also boiught my own tanks. Yesterday I went for my first fill post purchase and cerification and thought I would be testing the fill content and logging the fill per PADI training that I just went through.

In fact the local LDS where I got the fill (and who I really trust) said "OK here's your tank " with no indication of a need to analyze the contents or log.

Being the newbie that I am, I asked "Do we need to test and log this?" and I received an answer to the effect "If you really want to I can do that" accompanied by a look that said "if you want to be a geek",

This lead me to ask the fill person what most people do and I was told most people pick up there tanks and skip the analysis and logging.

I want to be prudent, but no more of a geek than the next guy so I wonder what everone out there in the Ohana does?

 

[akscubainst]

So now you have 2 tanks and no idea what's in them?

This is your life we are talking about not your reputation at some dive shop.

How can you possibly dive those tanks without knowing what your breathing?

In my shop analyzing is very serious. Every nitrox tank that leaves my store is analyzed by the owner and logged. My personal tanks might get analyzed a couple times between the time I fill them and the time I get around to using them.

This is serious stuff and even if they don't take it serious, you have to.

Dave

 

[ffestpirate]

You absolutely HAVE to analyze your own tanks. How can you be sure you're not diving the mixture too deep and risking o2 toxicity? It is your right AND responsibility to check your mix. I will double check my own mixes when I mix them, much less trust anyone else. It's your life, protect it. If someone is annoyed that you're putting them out, ask if they would dive an unknown mix.

 

[VBlueV]

i check mine every time. your max bottom time and max operating depth depend on your actual reading of the mix coming out of your valve. (not what your local dive shop thought they put in there. the residual might be enough to change the mix)

you're not a g33k for checking.. besides would you rather take a little (ignorant) ridicule.. or be dead?

bottom line.. DTA.. don't trust anyone..

 

[kidspot]

I use my own analyzer and check the tanks when I pick them up, then again after putting my BC on the tank I check again and verify the contents label. I had a friend who had a tank of "air" slipped into his use between checking right before loading tanks on the boat and diving it ... cost him several days on Oahu doing chamber rides.

Many shops may not have logs (this is Hawaii ... things are a bit more relaxed, and we like it that way, don't we...) the log is "their" insurance, analyzing the contents is "your" insurance ... btw I have seen tanks read as much as 4% off what the contents label read ...

Aloha, Tim

 

[mislav]

What everyone said.

What did the guy tell you was the mix in your tank? Was it really Nitrox? You don't give us that info.

If your tanks were filled with plain air, then I understand the look that guy gave you. No one analyzes their air filled tanks. Well, at least no one I ever came in contact with. It's just - air.

Nitrox blends, on the other hand, really need to be analyzed and then verified prior to dive.

 

[Damselfish]

It's not geeky, it's smart, the LDS sounds a little lame to me.

We all get casual about various "rules" as it suits us, and I don't think the log part is a big deal (not for my safety anyway.) But analyzing tanks is a rule I don't skip and from what I see few people do. There's a couple of ways for things to go wrong and while maybe it doesn't happen often, it does happen. I bet a fair percentage of people who have been diving Nitrox for awhile have had at least one surprise. I recall at least one, almost 40% when I was expecting 32. And I think my husband hit a 36 that was supposed to be a 32 on vacation just a month ago.

 

[BKP]

My LDS (to their credit) is insistant we check their fills.
When I get non-local fills, I'm typically shown the analyzer's readings... if not, I ask for it...

I really don't care if I'm viewed as a PIA when it comes to what I'm breathing... I shrug my shoulders, and pity the next dude that goes to 110 feet with an EAN36 fill...

 

[Walter]

If you have too rich of a mix, you can die. For that reason, I'm anal about checking my mix.

 

[Damselfish]

and if you don't have as rich a mix as you think, or it's actually plain air, you can get bent...