Possible Air Problems Aboard Local Charter

[drbill]

I fail to see anything wrong with Jim's posting of this problem. I have experienced incidents like that myself and have immediately returned my filled tank to be slowly bled and refilled (unless oil were involved). It is something to consider at any fill station whether on a boat or in a land-based shop.

Jim did not blame the boat or the club's trip organizer. He merely relayed a story intended to inform other divers of a potential problem they might encounter. This kind of thing is what boards like this are for.

Dr. Bill

 

[socaldiver]

And I have no problem with the posting of the problem. I am only saying that I don't feel it necessary to post the name of the charter.

As far as posting as the email was sent out, it was sent out to their members. I just feel it would have been more appropriate to post on this board that there was a problem with bad air and then continue with what you feel people should do.

Understand, I am not disagreeing with your post, I am only saying a little diplomacy by not mentioning this name, or any name for that matter might have been more appropriate.

 

[SoCalAngel]

The issue with the Aquatica's Air Compressor has apparently been resolved. The owner has done an amazing amount of work to get the thing fixed. It seems to have stemmed from some faulty wiring (2 of 3 phase wires switched). This caused the compressor to heat-up, causing the filters to crack, causing oily liquid to enter the lines and eventually the tanks of the divers.

On August 8th, we had an awesome day of diving Catalina's backside, including Farnsworth banks. The crew was good, they fed us chocolate dipped strawberries on the way home, and conditions were ideal. Can't ask for much more than that.

A few people had Aquatica air on their first dive, but didn't say anything to me. When we came up from the second dive (the first dive our tanks had been filled with Aquatica air) we all expressed a strange taste to the air. A couple of divers came to me quietly about it and others went straight to our DM. I asked the DM about the air quality and he assured me and the group that the filter had just been changed the Friday before. Not ever having had this taste before, I believed him that all was well.

Well a few divers didn't feel quite right after that second dive. One had felt quite sick. One other still felt poorly the next day. But beyond that, no ill health effects.

A couple of divers took there tanks to various LDS adn some liquid was found in the bottoms of their tanks. This prompted a group emailing requesting everybody take their tanks in to be vis'd. End result - all but three tanks that had Aquatica air fills have been tumbled and a few people felt it important to them to have their regulators serviced. One of those other tanks was AL, so it was just washed out with simple green.

The owner was out of the country at the time, yet still managed to stay in email contact with me. He is going to be the go between between us and the electrician to get the service costs back to each diver and has offered each diver on the boat a 1/2 price trip in the future. A fair offer, I believe.

What did we divers learn on this trip? That if air smells and tastes funny, we should not continue diving.

Hopefully this sheds some light on the issue and I would be happy to reply to any questions from here on out.

Laurel

 

[Aerodog]

It sounds like there were no related diving injuries while using the bad air (blackout, dcs, etc) but did anyone who felt ill get checked out by a medical professional? Does anyone know what kind of long term damage could be caused by breathing oil contaminated air?

 

[plcmd]

The issue with the Aquatica's Air Compressor has apparently been resolved. The owner has done an amazing amount of work to get the thing fixed. It seems to have stemmed from some faulty wiring (2 of 3 phase wires switched). This caused the compressor to heat-up, causing the filters to crack, causing oily liquid to enter the lines and eventually the tanks of the divers.

Being a Licensed Electrician I have my doubts about this. First of all if it was a "Control" circuit, it wouldnt cause any problems, unless of course the stepdown transformer was missing a leg. In that case the control voltage would be missing and the compressor shouldnt run at all. Secondly, if it were the three phase to the motor the only thing that would happen is the the motor would run backwards. This would not be condusive to good fills. Wouldnt this in fact pull a negative pressure in the tank? Sorry I have to call BS on this explanation. Sorry.

 

[SoCalAngel]

Secondly, if it were the three phase to the motor the only thing that would happen is the the motor would run backwards. This would not be condusive to good fills.

Well that is exactly what the owner said happened. The motor was running backwwards, it did damage to the fan or something. I won't pretend to understand, either. The air did taste horrible.

The good thing is, NO ONE has had long term harm done to them physically. Three people did feel sick that day. Most of them contributed it to the slight swell/seasickness, who knows? I had a slight headache after the second dive. One person felt lightheaded the day after and contemplated going to a doctor, but was fine the next day.

A safety feature with air compressors is they use a non-petroleum based oil that isn't particularly harmful if breathed. This is what I have been told by one dive shop owner, two instructors, and a few dive shop workers.

Almost all the divers have been diving since the trip. I've done 8 fun dives since. It is truly all about the diving, isn't it?

Laurel

 

[socaldiver]

I am glad to hear all is well with everyone and that Manny has been in contact with you.

He is a good guy and always has divers safety first on his list.

We wereon the Aquatica just a little before your group and will be going out on it again in the next week or so.

The boat isn't the prettiest but the crew is topnotch and the food has always been great.