sambolino44
Contributor
I did a quick search on this with no results.
I recently experienced something for the first time: a strong smell in the air from my cylinder. It was an aluminum 80 rented from a shop I've never been to before, and the smell was not something I could definitely identify; it smelled like plastic or something. I first noticed it when clearing my mask, exhaling through my nose. I called the dive, and asked my buddy about it, but she didn't notice until I brought it up, and even then it was only like, "I guess I smell something" to her.
When I mentioned it to the other diver in the area, he brushed it off with a quick explanation, "That smell is from the food-grade silicone oil they use in the compressor, and it's harmless. I've been diving on air from that compressor for years with no problem." I didn't bring up the fact that he was very quick to identify and OK the smell, even though he didn't actually smell the air from my cylinder.
I've always heard that scuba air should have no smell whatsoever; that any odor is a sign of trouble.
Now that I'm so sensitive to it, I smelled the air in my own cylinder which was filled at my LDS, and I did detect a very slight amount of the same smell. Not nearly as strong, but the same note; and this was direct from the valve with no regulator.
So now I'm wondering, has that smell been there all along and I just never noticed it? Is it really OK? Am I over-reacting? I mean, it was strong enough to be unpleasant every time I cleared my mask, if nothing else.
What has been your experience with smelly scuba air?
I recently experienced something for the first time: a strong smell in the air from my cylinder. It was an aluminum 80 rented from a shop I've never been to before, and the smell was not something I could definitely identify; it smelled like plastic or something. I first noticed it when clearing my mask, exhaling through my nose. I called the dive, and asked my buddy about it, but she didn't notice until I brought it up, and even then it was only like, "I guess I smell something" to her.
When I mentioned it to the other diver in the area, he brushed it off with a quick explanation, "That smell is from the food-grade silicone oil they use in the compressor, and it's harmless. I've been diving on air from that compressor for years with no problem." I didn't bring up the fact that he was very quick to identify and OK the smell, even though he didn't actually smell the air from my cylinder.
I've always heard that scuba air should have no smell whatsoever; that any odor is a sign of trouble.
Now that I'm so sensitive to it, I smelled the air in my own cylinder which was filled at my LDS, and I did detect a very slight amount of the same smell. Not nearly as strong, but the same note; and this was direct from the valve with no regulator.
So now I'm wondering, has that smell been there all along and I just never noticed it? Is it really OK? Am I over-reacting? I mean, it was strong enough to be unpleasant every time I cleared my mask, if nothing else.
What has been your experience with smelly scuba air?