Short fills- how short is too short?

[Lead_carrier]

I don't get it... you expect 3000psi on your 80's... but you expect overfills on your lp tanks? Heck, if someone filled my 72s to 3000psi I would rip them a new one.

He's from yankee version of Florida. Aluminum, over 10 years old, sorry can't fill those. Steel, sure let me put 2 or 3 burst disc in it and then it won't have a limit.

I'll do my darndest to make sure I don't give you a short fill even after cooling but as soon as one of these guys comes in and demands overfills because the do it in Europe all the time. I usually just hand them their tanks with a travel brochure and tell them to have fun. So far it has only ticked off a couple of people.

 

[Rick Inman]

If I'm in and out and want the fill while I wait, I'm not picky. For the last year I've dived strictly doubles, so I usually have more than enough gas, so I don't sweat it.

With trimix top-offs (where I do the HE and the shop does the EAN), I am extremely picky - not about how full it is, but that's it's accurate. If I want a fill to 2600 with ean40, then I need it to be spot on (meaning within 50psi and 1% O2).

As to only paying for the amount of fill that I receive, unless they are charging by the cubic foot (which, in some cases they do), I assume that I'm paying for the service of the fill. I've had large overfills without asking, and a few shorties, too. I usually just take it and go diving.

 

[Narcosis Diver]

If a tank is supposed to be filled to 3000psi, then it should be filled to 3000psi. BUT... there is a 5psi change for every 1 degree. Tanks are going to get hot when filled, whether fast or slow. Even slow fills get hot inside, as building pressure always creats heat. A tank filled to 3000psi, when end up 2800-2900 if filled correctly. Some opperators will fill to 3200 to put the tank at 30 when cooled.
Some opperators will fill in water, an older prartice not currently recommended by both the DOT ( who governs scuba cylinders) and PSI Tank Inspectors ( the leading visual inspector training agency), but can still be done safe as long as the whole tank is underwater, not just half.
I personally would rather loose a couple psi, and creat less stress on my tank. Pressure test are done every five years for a reason. People who overfill will their cylinders, my pay for it at hydro time, when the tank doesn't pas b/c it to overstressed.

 

[DepthCharge]

I was diving with a charter operator last weekend and they had us check our tank pressure before the boat left. I usually had 2700-2800 psi in an AL80 ("full" at 3000 psi) and the DM always asked if I would like a "full" tank. I didn't think that a few hundred psi/10 BAR was a big deal, at least not big enough to bother to change the tank.

Where do you draw the line with short fills on recreational dives? Does it depend on the depth/current/temp?

(I'd make a poll, but I just don't care anymore )

I consider anything below 3000psi in a LP steel tank a "short fill".

 

[DepthCharge]

I don't get it... you expect 3000psi on your 80's... but you expect overfills on your lp tanks? Heck, if someone filled my 72s to 3000psi I would rip them a new one.

Hell, that's just right!

 

[Hoosier]

Where do you draw the line with short fills on recreational dives? Does it depend on the depth/current/temp?

Depending on the depth and temp..

But, anything below 300 psi doesn't make me happy because LDS used to charge more for HP tank (3442 psi). So I think it is fair to say a short fill.


Just my 2 cents.

 

[CBulla]

Honestly, this is why I take my own tanks when I dive around FL. Other thank tanks I filled myself at the shop I schlep at, the two places I've recieved correct pressure fills are Fill Express on the Florida East coast and Conch Republic Dive Center in Key Largo. Both places spot on 3000 or 3100 depending on if it was in the sun or not. They also provided me with the correct percentage Nitrox.

 

[under water]

Just last weekend I watched 2 HP80 steel tanks that I was renting get filled to 3400. I also checked them on my DC as I put them in my trunk and they were 3390 & 3380.
The next morning when I was ready to dive, they had 'cooled down' to ~2900.
I am pretty sure they both didn't have a leak.
However, the reason I watched them fill the tank and checked was that I had originally picked them up with 2700 and 1400!!
Obviously the last one wasn't even filled after it's last use or the pressure ran out of their fill tank.
As it turned out the very short & shallow dives (At DUI DOG days) only used about 1500 psi so I ended up hauling the unused 6 lbs of air (3 per tank) back to the shop.

 

[cummings66]

On an HP80 tank I'd complain if I didn't get the full fill, give my 3400 psi and I'll ask you to top it off. Give me 3000 and I'll be a bit unhappy. On my regular HP100's and HP120's I don't complain on a short fill, as long as I got at least as much air as an AL80 I'm fine.

I'm lucky, my regular dive shops give me good fills and I don't often face the problem but I have in the past and I feel for you that routinely get shorted.

 

[redacted]

Aluminum, over 10 years old, sorry can't fill those.

Do you have any credible basis for rejecting aluminum tanks manufactured in the early '90s? Could you identify the shop where you do this?