Overpressurizing / Overfilling steel tanks

[Ontario Diver]

I think all of you have forgotten something..

Most of the "catastrophic" tank failures happen during or just after the fill, not hours later. So if you ask for an overfill, the person who is most at risk is the person doing the fill. Up here it is downright illegal.

Taking equipment that is not being used correctly, is not only dangerous for you... but can potentially put the rescue divers that come after you into a dangerous situation.

Omar, things are overengineered for a reason, that reason is not legal but safety related. Accidents happen rarely when one thing goes wrong but when several things go wrong in concert.

Any LY; tis a bad thing to rely on your safety backups. That is like saying I can drive like an idiot because I have a seatbelt and airbags. And of course, have you ever tested your Burst disk.....What if it fails?

Rick; I agree with you 100% on this one. I've done enough rescue work on friends that did "everything" right to try to and add other dingbat variables to the equation. Nulli secundus

 

[Lost Yooper]

...and you can't prove they are dying. I can say that it is happening all the time and has been forever. I can also say that the Europeans don't even use burst disks. If a tank can handle a hydro, it can certainly handle a little over pressurization.

This is just another fallacy (to a point).

Mike

OD. What burst disks??

 

[Iguana Don]

Originally posted by blacknet
Hey,

You can NOT prove that people are not dying from overfilling tanks. Accidents like this is not reported by the media and kept quiet along with the o2 accidents.

Ed

Where I live, you don't have to report this to the media, they pick up on accidents of this or any other catastrophic nature rather quickly, almost a 6th sense. They monitor all 911 communications and fire and police frequencies. So your theory on "mums the word" doesn't hold water.

ID

 

[blacknet]

hrello,

yea it does hold water. Fact remains that the media just doesn't care about things like this.

Ed

 

[100days-a-year]

There is no great conspiracy to hide accidents folks.Dirty laundry sells newsrags.The death of ONE person from just about any preventable cause will bring down the twin vultures of the media and the legal profession making it impossible tp keep quiet.I give Ford and Firestone as an example.Either of these guys could probly buy the dive industry and when a death occurs they can't and couldn't hide it.

 

[Rick Murchison]

When I was at the Naval Postgraduate School's Safety Officer course some twenty years ago, we had a little demonstration of "design" versus reality that I think most of you will understand.
The design of an empty aluminum beer can sitting on a nice, flat surface will allow it to support the weight of a full grown man. You can put that weight on it reliably over and over. But the tiniest ding, defect, or even a change to a rough surface on which the can is placed will result in instant collapse of the beer can.
The "design" weight supporting capacity of the beer can is over 200 pounds, while the "working" weight supporting capacity is about 20 pounds. With a gap like that you'd think you could "reasonably" overweight the beer can to a few pounds over the working weight without fear, but it ain't so.
You can do the same with an old steel beer can, which will support even more, but the same general principal holds.
DO NOT OVERFILL TANKS.
That is all.
Rick

 

[Lost Yooper]

Some people fail to realize that most these things aren't driven by reality or real potential danger, but rather from a liability driven society. Anything less than 200% safe isn't enough for the diving industry -- and I don't necessarily blame them.

IMO, this discussion (as well as many others) is 100% about liability not actual danger. I think lawyers and greed make up 99% of the problems in this industry.

Mike

 

[joewr]

It pains me to see my "pals" at loggerheads over a serious issue. And I have to admit I avoided the conflict for quite a while...until I could no longer resist.

Let me just write a few things and, then, I will join Rick...

(1) Why do you think your judgement is more reliable than the people who are legally responsible for making such judgements?

(2) You are not just risking your health, but others', too. So, if your tank explodes whilst being filled, the person doing the filling could be injured. Or if it explodes whilst on the rack of a dive boat, someone besides you who happens to be sitting near it could be hurt.

(3) If there were an accident, do you think Omar will step up and say, "Oh, that was my fault because I recommended it. Here is my wallet: take as much as you want."?

That is all...not even any attempts at humor...I like and respect all you guys...well, most of you, anyhow...so, be safe!

Joewr...well, almost no attempts at humor...

 

[Ontario Diver]

Originally posted by Lost Yooper
...
OD. What burst disks??

The ones replaced by metal slugs cause the old ones kept popping

Hey, to all the younger divers....The above is a joke. I am funnin' with Lost Yooper ( and he knows that) ! Even tho we may disagree about some things, playing with you reg set without proper training is insane!

Now I will adjorn to the coffee room with Rick and Joewr. I think we will need a fourth for bridge!

 

[Lost Yooper]

Occasionally you can find a guy from OMS or PST that will talk off the record and reinforce some of what has been said here. It's not like this is being made up. You're simply not going to blow up a LP steel tank that's in hydro by over filling it to a reasonable limit. The Oring will most likely extrude first anyway because that is the weak point in the tank. On top of that, you would be hard pressed to find a compressor capable of doing it in a typical scuba shop.

It's all 'bout liability -- plain and simple. The industry has much to gain and everything to lose by being extremely conservative. Tis the day we live in.

BTW, I haven't had a disk go yet and am not likely to either, OD.

Mike