Old air

[East Coast Donnie]

Is it ok. To use tanks that have been full all winter say...five months or so or should I get fresh fills ...sounds stupid I know but does air go bad...I have steel 80's ...thanks

 

[Herb-alaska]

did you keep the air refrigerated and has the tank of air passed the expiration date on the valve?



Just joking air does not go bad if your tank has been sitting a bit you may need a fresh visual before you can refill it, if that is the case then go for a dive and then to the dive shop. 4 or 5 months is nothing. if it was 4 or 5 years i might drain and fill only to fill better but really it doesn't need to be drained excel by diving

 

[poohbear1]

Had a tank filled with 40% for like 5 years or so....tested it and yep still was 40%. Used it and still kicking and deco done.

 

[mockney]

This is one of those questions you often think about but never actually ask

 

[East Coast Donnie]

Tanks for the info guys ...my tanks were new last summer so gonna use it ...still wicked cold here hope to get in a lake or something by the first of May ...fins crossed

 

[Diver0001]

Is it ok. To use tanks that have been full all winter say...five months or so or should I get fresh fills ...sounds stupid I know but does air go bad...I have steel 80's ...thanks

This question comes up a lot.

There's no reason to think that air could "go bad" but if there were any amount of water in the tank, significant oxidation, especially on steel tanks, isn't out of the realm of possibility. For example:




If you've taken care of your tanks and gotten them filled at proper filling stations then this should never happen but if they've been sitting around for a year or more I would get a visual anyway.

R..

 

[ScubaInChicago]

I would keep a Spare Air handy and just go diving without a worry. When the visual is done, then you can ditch the Spare Air.

 

[Doc Harry]

There have been many threads on this subject. Try the search function.

Short and sweet answer, yes air can go bad in steel cylinders and there is at least one documented death from air that went bad.

 

[icechip]

Tanks for the info guys ...my tanks were new last summer so gonna use it ...still wicked cold here hope to get in a lake or something by the first of May ...fins crossed

Hoping to get in Penobscot Bay here in the next couple of weeks. As far as getting in a Maine lake...as soon as the ice goes!

 

[Diver0001]

There have been many threads on this subject. Try the search function.

Short and sweet answer, yes air can go bad in steel cylinders and there is at least one documented death from air that went bad.

IN the absence of any kind of chemical reaction, how would you suppose air could "go bad". It's not like chicken that you can only keep in the fridge for a couple of days..... Maybe it's the term "go bad" that sets me off. Air in a tank isn't going to turn into something else unless there is something else in the tank and it would take a HELL of a lot of oxidation before the O2 content got so low that it was dangerous.....

I'm not aware of any deaths from air going bad over time but I know of a few from bad fills. I'd like to read about the case you mentioned if you have a link. My knee-jerk reaction would be to say that it must have been a tainted fill that would have been just as "bad" the day it was filled as it was a year or whatever later.

R..