Overfilling LP Steel Tanks -- How bad is it?
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Greg Barlow
Contributor
Let's put it this way...I have made several trips to Florida over the years where my primary purpose was to cave dive. I've gotten "cave fills" from different businesses that cater not only to cave divers, but to recreational divers as well. Unless I specifically state a fill pressure for my LP steel tanks, I find that they are routinely "over-filled".
As far as DIR goes, I can tell you that if the dive mission requires "over-filled" LP cylinders to make the dive safely, then they will almost certainly contain 3,500-4,000psi. GUE/DIR divers are certainly not "silent" about it.
Me, personally? My last dive in Devil's Ear was turned at Stage Bottle Rock, and did not involve using staged cylinders. You can rightly assume that my back mounted LP steel 95's did not contain 2,640psi at the start of the dive.
Greg Barlow
Former Science Editor of Rodale's Scuba Diving Magazine
LOL! That is rich. Well, there you go, folks: part of Doing It Right means Ignoring The Specs. DIR Diving = ITS Diving.
Hey, whatever floats your boat (or "whatever fills your tanks" might be more apropos)... dive and let dive.
LOL! That is rich. Well, there you go, folks: part of Doing It Right means Ignoring The Specs. DIR Diving = ITS Diving.
I'm glad this is such an amusing discovery. We'll be sure to give you prior warning so you can put your coke down in case we discover that some people exceed the maximum posted speed on the highway, too!
Indeed.
Greg Barlow
Contributor
LOL! That is rich. Well, there you go, folks: part of Doing It Right means Ignoring The Specs. DIR Diving = ITS Diving.
Hey, whatever floats your boat (or "whatever fills your tanks" might be more apropos)... dive and let dive.
I am not considered a DIR diver, nor am I a member of GUE. I was merely stating what the "standard" is for cave diving in North America.
Considering that your comments could be construed as condescending, may we be enlightened as to your extensive knowledge of technical diving issues?
Perhaps I should not mention that I routinely make dives using restored vintage equipment. That being: a double hose regulator, steel 72 cylinder, with or without a J-valve reserve mechanism, and no BCD. Perhaps I should be committed for doing such "dangerous" dives...Of course, when I started diving in 1974, that would have been considered a typical gear set-up.
My gear is selected for the dive and its conditions. When I make technical dives, I use modern, well designed, open circuit gear. When I make dives in less than 100fsw, and for pure pleasure, I go back to the roots of scuba diving and use vintage gear that has been lovingly restored. The greatest safety device used by divers is the large, highly vascular, organ located between your ears.
One of my favorite recent conversations was with a diving "expert" who wanted to argue that it was "impossible" to make a dive without an external buoyancy control device. I was thoroughly impressed with his knowledge of physics.
Greg
H2Andy
Contributor
LOL! That is rich. Well, there you go, folks: part of Doing It Right means Ignoring The Specs. DIR Diving = ITS Diving.
not that you have an anti-DIR thing or nothing going here ... but
i must ask
is it because of the small size of your hose compared to theirs or is it because they get all the cool chicks with their black threads?
One could argue that the material properties of Steel are well documented and relied on in a broader sense every day.
Meanwhile one could contend that decompression theory presents a great amount of unknowns in comparison.
Thus were does the risk really lay?
Meanwhile one could contend that decompression theory presents a great amount of unknowns in comparison.
Thus were does the risk really lay?
Opens up a raft of questions:
"Dear GUE, My tank is rated for 2640 PSI, but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how much I can fill?"
"Dear GUE, My tables say I can't spend more than 8 minutes at 120' with my gas without decompressing, but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how long I can stay no-deco at this depth?"
"Dear GUE, My dive light says it's rated for 150', but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how deep I can use my light?"
"Dear GUE, The state says I can only take so many lobsters on one dive here, but since the specs don't apply to us, how many can I really take?"
Conversely, the driving instructor to your high school kid: "The sign says 65 but you can do 80 on this road - since we know better, the speed limit doesn't really apply to us."
Nah, I'm just picking on GUE here for the fun and the irony... feel free to substitute the name of your favorite training agency in the above statements to make the same point - IF their instructors openly advocate overfilling tanks beyond rated spec, that is.
"Dear GUE, My tank is rated for 2640 PSI, but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how much I can fill?"
"Dear GUE, My tables say I can't spend more than 8 minutes at 120' with my gas without decompressing, but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how long I can stay no-deco at this depth?"
"Dear GUE, My dive light says it's rated for 150', but since specs don't apply to us, what's the real limit to how deep I can use my light?"
"Dear GUE, The state says I can only take so many lobsters on one dive here, but since the specs don't apply to us, how many can I really take?"
Conversely, the driving instructor to your high school kid: "The sign says 65 but you can do 80 on this road - since we know better, the speed limit doesn't really apply to us."
Nah, I'm just picking on GUE here for the fun and the irony... feel free to substitute the name of your favorite training agency in the above statements to make the same point - IF their instructors openly advocate overfilling tanks beyond rated spec, that is.
Nothing personal, but I think you're just totally missing the fundamental point here. None of GUE nor any of the other training agencies I know of adhere to any slavish devotion to "the printed rules." The "overfill past rated pressure" deal just isn't the ironic or hypocritical deal you think it is.
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