Overfill at Castaway Scuba

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no no looking over his sholder while he was using the pressure guage to check it not the one on the whip maybe there was something wrong with it
 
Could've been. It could have been off a bit. bet it hasnt been replaced in a while. I can promise you this, I have never had a problem with a fill pressure or air quality from them. And I have had probably a couple hundred fills come from there in my tanks and my buddies tanks. Good thing about them though is they will give you a full fill(even a bit over if you want). never got a tank from them that when I hooked it up showed 27 or 2800psi. Always at least 3000 cold. But then again Castaway VIP's and hydros my stuff so they know my tanks and dont mind stretching a bit for me.
 
just want to clarify I dont neccesarily want to put a bad name on castaway scuba but think its important for saftey reasons to share any mishap with the dive community which I realize now wasnt a huge huge deal but...(it sadens me when we get these stories that say a diver has died, or been hurt, but I think that the details of what happened need to be shared so that divers can hope to learn from it.) Though in hind sight I think the more prudent route would have been to call the dive shop owner also.
 
So everyone is actually okay with an aluminum tank being overfilled, even to 3600?!? Aluminum tanks are not meant to be filled that high. Sure they can take it. They do on hydros...once every 5 years. And they do have burst disks to hopefully prevent the tank from exploding. However, I'd demand the shop replace the burst disk on this particular tank. Whether it was filled to 3600 or 3900 psi, the integrity of the burst disk has been compromised.

rox, your 1st stage should be okay at that pressure. If it's regularly exposed to higher pressures it might need more frequent servicing, but other than that there shouldn't be much of a problem. Even the yoke should be able to hold at that pressure. Although I definitely feel better with a DIN above 3200.

vshearer, yes they typically do remove valves for hydro. But I run water through my valves every year when I O2 clean them. That doesn't damage the valves.
 
No, we're not saying it's OK for AL tanks to be taken that high. I don't put more than 3100psi in mine. That said, my AL doubles got overfilled once when the fill operator lost track, and I had to remind him that they were AL tanks! I think they were at 3400 when I noticed.

As a point of curiousity, if the tank has been overfilled, is the burst disk likely to fail above or below it's rated pressure?
 
The burst disk is likely to fail below it's rated pressure. After repeated exposure to higher pressures the burst disk becomes distorted enough that it will either form a slow leak or completely give way. Hopefully this happens on land...
 
I agree, if they overfilled it like that go by and have them put in a new burst disk. That shouldnt be a big deal to get them to do.
 
I am the owner of Castaway SCUBA and I agree that it would have been nice to have received a phone call about this instead of reading it on scubaboard, with that said, I will be researching this issue as I was out of town and this is the first I got wind of the situation. I can guarantee you that that tank could not have been filled to 3900 as I have purposely set the compressor to fill not more than 3600psi, the compressor is rated to 4000psi. As for the gauge checking, please please please and I can't stress this any more to everyone, you must check your own tanks before you leave the store. Whether it be Nitrox or Air, ask the team member to show you how to use the pressure checker and check them yourself. We train that in our Open Water classes, hopefully your instructor insisted on that as well when you were trained. As for the tank pressure checkers, we have two on site, if indeed something looks funny, hook up the second one. As for replacing the burst disk, I have no problem with it if it is truly your concern. Feel free to contact me directly 407-797-8397 and I will let them know you are coming.
As with any new employee, there are learning curves and we are attempting to work through those curves the best we can. I'm not at the store till after 6pm most nights so I need to be contacted if you see an opportunity for improvement. We, at Castaway, guarantee you will receive the friendliest and best service possible, I love to hear from my customers/friends be it good or bad- preferrably Good of course.
Bring the tank in and we'll check it out.
thanks,
Marta- it's time to Come out and play with Castaway
 
Dude,
Good for you for stepping up to the plate on scuba board! I was about to post that everyone seemed to be missing the point. This was a symptom of a bigger problem...training. Since you ID'd the issue yourself, I'll step out and my hat is off to you. Stuff does happen.....nice to see the LDS take responsibility.
 
Marta, it's great of you to step up and take responsibility for this, even though you were out of town. There should be more LDS owners like you.
 

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