Safety lapse @ Amigos del Mar, Ambergris, Belize

[Gaz]

If from the neck of the tank thats another story I never had one of those from Amigos

Gaz

 

[peterbj7]

They're very common nowadays. I had several when I was diving with their tanks at Christmas/New Year.

 

[driftwood]

I'm a little confused about the o-ring to which driftwood was referring.

I just want to point out that there's a big difference between the o-ring found on the face of a yoke tank valve and the tank neck o-ring. The former can easily be changed regardless of tank pressure (so long as the valve is closed), whereas the latter requires draining the tank completely and removing/replacing the tank valve. A failed tank neck o-ring will allow gas to escape and eventually leave the tank empty.

I am very sure that the tank neck o-ring was leaking since we could see the air coming out between the valve and tank body. I don't even want to think about the condition that ring was in. I want to emphasize that we only saw the problem on the nitrox tanks and it was a small steady stream on bubbles.

I mentioned the problem to the owner of the shop we were diving with and got a bs answer that the problem was due to the change in temperature the island was experiencing between night and day (no joke). Too bad he didn't know I am a certified repair tech, my opinion of him and the operation fell substantially. The correct response would have been, "Show me the problem and I will make sure that it gets fixed."

Shawn and me dove with Peter a couple days later and the tanks we got directly from Amigo's dock were leaking. It wasn't one tank or all the tanks on one day were leaking. The problem was all the tanks over multiple days were leaking.

If a shop doesn't take care of a simple problem like changing the valve/tank o-ring, hard for me to call it a safety oriented operation.

Edit: The shop owner who gave me what I considered a bs answer to the leak WAS NOT Amigo's. Completely different shop and in no way connected to Amigo's del Mar. The only contact we had with Amigo's del Mars was picking up our tanks at their dock. Sorry if there was any confusion.

 

[peterbj7]

Yes, I dived with them on their last day and I saw the leaks. I don't know what the most likely cause is though. Perhaps they had a bad batch of O-rings during one service cycle? I's not good that they didn't spot the problem and correct it, but I do know the shop and the owner very well and I know he's normally meticulous over servicing. I just hope they're not still leaking!

 

[TSandM]

This thread made me think. My initial reaction is no, you don't touch MY gear -- we do the checks together, and you watch me check everything, and that's good enough. But the point about breathing off your buddy's octo is a good one -- the only thing is, my "octo" (what I donate) is my primary regulator. So, since I seem to think it's tuned well and working for ME, would you guys consider that to be good enough for you? I've never had anyone ask to breathe that regulator before a dive, but if they did, and gave that reason, I certainly wouldn't mind letting them do it.

 

[driftwood]

Peter,

There are three parts to the seal, the ring, and the two seats (tank and valve). The rings were failing. May be bad rings, may be buna rings used too long. I don't care, as long as Amigo's maintains their tanks all is good.

Loved diving with you and you did a great job checking on me. I never had to check my gauge when you asked, I was on top of it.

 

[peterbj7]

Likewise. I agree with your analysis, but I don't know where the problem lies. O-rings are easily replaced, but if either side of the metal (valve or tank) is failing then that's very serious, and costly for the operator. Nitrox does tend to eat away at the metal, in particular the threads and especially in our warm climate, so a nitrox tank will have a shorter whole life than an air one, assuming they're maintained the same way. I don't know who inspects Amigos' tanks, other than that it isn't the firm I used to use.