POLL, Nitrox tank use and analyze

[currier]

I think observing an analysis done by a knowledgeable individual and doing it yourself is really the same thing ... but then, this is NOT what the op stated in the poll.

Can't vote. Don't own an analyzer. I observe what they do and watch them analyze, confirm the blend. Trust their equipment & analyzer. I would imagine many do this.

This is interesting to me ... because a shop or boat has provided me with an analyzer to check every tank I've ever used.

Has my experience been uncommon?

 

[ThomasScherrer]

thanks for all the honost votes and stories.

all Nitrox divers are trained to test them self before use,
and they surely expect a special non air mix.

but how about non nitrox certified AIR divers ?!?!
they just expect air, have newer heard about nitrox or analyzers,
could they get a mixed up tank from the filling station ?

 

[miketsp]

thanks for all the honost votes and stories.

all Nitrox divers are trained to test them self before use,
and they surely expect a special non air mix.

but how about non nitrox certified AIR divers ?!?!
they just expect air, have newer heard about nitrox or analyzers,
could they get a mixed up tank from the filling station ?

That shouldn't happen. The whole point is that an unmarked tank should never be filled with anything except air and not following this rule would be criminal irresponsibility on the part of the filler.
On the other hand, a tank marked for EAN or Trimix could contain literally anything and has to be treated as suspect until confirmed.

 

[randy88k5]

but how about non nitrox certified AIR divers ?!?!
they just expect air, have newer heard about nitrox or analyzers,
could they get a mixed up tank from the filling station ?

That's a good question. I can say I rarely ever analyze my AIR tanks. I know at my LDS, the air station is on a remote section closer to the sales counter, while the nitrox is in a different section in the back for blending. If I see them filling from the front station, I know it is just air. But for other shops ... I've taken their word it was air.

 

[DevonDiver]

but how about non nitrox certified AIR divers ?!?!
they just expect air, have newer heard about nitrox or analyzers,
could they get a mixed up tank from the filling station ?

The PADI Open Water course covers some basic knowledge about Nitrox; condensed to the following recommendation; Don't use a cylinder marked for Enriched Air.


That should pretty much cover it, as dive operations shouldn't ever be putting nitrox into unmarked tanks.

 

[D_B]

Fill an unmarked tank? it happens all the time .. a MOD label makes it a marked tank

 

[currier]

Fill an unmarked tank? it happens all the time .. a MOD label makes it a marked tank

I've had these myself ... the only differentiating marking is a piece of masking tape onto which I confirm the blend, record the depth, date, sign, etc.

 

[DevonDiver]

Fill an unmarked tank? it happens all the time .. a MOD label makes it a marked tank

Perhaps those fillers should take a nitrox course?

PADI Enriched Air Diver Speciality Course - Knowledge Review 1, Q5 (2005)

5. Why does enriched air diving require a dedicated cylinder, and what color coding, stickers and tags should an enriched air cylinder have?

• A dedicated cylinder is required to prevent confusion with air cylinders, and to ensure the cylinder is oxygen compatible if it will be used for partial pressure blending.

• Yellow cylinders: 10 centimeter green band with yellow/white “Enriched Air” or similar.

• Nonyellow: 15 centimeter band; yellow 2.5 centimeter band at top and bottom, center 4 inch green with yellow/white “Enriched Air”, or similar.

• Dated annual visual inspection sticker for enriched air use. Contents sticker or tag.

• Any markings required by local law.

I've never seen a dive operation that didn't mark it's tanks, or would fill an unmarked tank.

Not in Europe. Not in SE Asia. Not in the Middle East.

Perhaps this is an American issue?

I know that GUE is one of the few (only?) agencies that doesn't require it. All the mainstream recreational agencies do. GUE is a tiny percentage of the market - and their divers have particular training and use mixed gasses as standard. Their rules simply don't apply to the average OW recreational diver. I still think their outlook is irresponsible - because GUE divers do share boats with non-GUE divers... and should be aware that accidents can happen when kit gets muddled, picked up by the wrong people...and those divers might not understand GUE protocols.

How much does a little green/yellow sticker cost? I'd have an extremely low opinion of a dive operation that didn't feel the need to justify that minor expense in the interests of customer safety.

 

[Rainer]

Pretty much my approach. Cylinders are always analyzed both at pick up (why leave the shop if the gas is wrong?) and then the day of the dive (to make absolute sure it's the correct mix before using it). I'd be willing to trust my wife's analysis of our cylinders. That's about it.

I voted that I always analyze, but there is an exception . . . From time to time, my husband picks up the tanks at the shop, and analyzes them. (All tanks are analyzed before removing them from the store.) If the tape has my husband's writing on it, I will dive the tank. If he decides he wants to get rid of me, there are easier ways

So, all tanks are analyzed, but I don't always do it myself.

 

[Mossman]

I've never seen a dive operation that didn't mark it's tanks, or would fill an unmarked tank.

I've been on several liveaboards, I can't remember which ones but definitely more than one, where the only "marking" was a green valve cap or a small green plastic tag hung around the valve. I guess that's marking, but I prefer a nice yellow/green band around the tank proclaiming NITROX to the world. I'm guessing the liveaboards have a finite number of tanks and don't know how many divers will be diving air vs. nitrox on a trip, so they want the flexibility of deeming a tank nitrox or air on the spot without messing with semi-permanent paint or adhesive labels.