Should air have a smell?

[jackass]

I just bought my first tank and had it filled yesterday, but I am noticing that the air has a definite smell. I can't define it. My problem is that I have never really paid attention to smelling the air when I rent tanks. But I don't think I have ever noticed a smell before. Would it have something to do with a new tank? Does air just have an odor in general? Is it possible that I have "bad" air? The new scenario for me is that I brought it home and was messing around with it, something I don't do when I rent tanks before a dive. I am wondering if I am paranoid.

 

[Teamcasa]

Generally no. Your air should not have a noticable ordor. That said, some people have very sensitive sniffers. Take the tank to a diffrent shop, bleed the air and have it inspected, re-fill and re-smell.

Dave

 

[123Scuba.com]

Breathing Air should not have an odor. If you feel "it stinks" take it to a shop for a second opinion. If possible, try finding one that has a current gas analysis cert. Believe it or not is a requirement (albeit un-enforced) of most of the major agencies.

 

[CC1020]

It should definitely NOT have any smell at all...

 

[mislav]

Breathing bad air is one experience I could do without. You don't want it happening to you. Take your tank for a refill and make sure you tell them about bad air that's inside.

 

[jackass]

Thanks for the responses. Off to a different shop I'll go... I asked my wife to smell it, and she said, yeah, there was a smell.

 

[JBRES1]

Is the smell coming out of the tank or from your reg ?
Open the tank and smell the air as it comes from the tank valve, next hook up the reg and smell it as it comes thru your second stage and octopus.
Where is the smell coming from ?
If its from the tank, get the tank checked out / cleaned.
If its coming from the reg, have that checked.

I had a tank that had a smell to it. I drained the air out of the tank, took the valve off, used simple green and water and a tank whip on the tank inside , and rebuilt the valve . I put it all together and refilled it and all was good.

Jim Breslin

 

[diversteve]

Thanks for the responses. Off to a different shop I'll go... I asked my wife to smell it, and she said, yeah, there was a smell.

Please, for the sake of other divers, contact the original shop also in case they have a problem they aren't aware of.

 

[divenutny]

Take it back to the original shop. I'm confident they would take care of it. As stated above, try to figure out what caused the problem. Since it was a new tank, maybe it was not thoroughly cleaned before the fill. Sure the shop will solve it.

One of my tanks developed a bad smell a few years ago. I dumped all the air from the tank and the problem went away. Never knew the cause. I suspect it was caused from water vapor after a hydro.

 

[jackass]

I didn't smell it directly out of the tank, but I do have two different regs and tried them both with the same effect.

I know for a fact that the guy that filled my tank didn't "clean" it out first though. Is that what is suppose to happen, because if it is, then that is the problem. Either way, those are all good thoughts, and I will follow through on all of your advice.

Cheers.