stingy air fills..?

[theslyfox01]

Hummmmmm, took my cylinder down to get an air fill, it already had 150 BAR in it from the last dive (my dive buddys drank their air so fast I have a suspicion they tuned their regs to freeflow and breathed off it that way for some insane reason) ut:

So anyway paid the usual $US5 to get it filled, and on checking it its sitting on 200 BAR, the tanks got a working pressure of 232 BAR, is it normal to get a fill at only 85-90% capacity?

Normally I couldn't care less but since its an hour drive there and back for one dive I don't want to miss dive time because I had 30 bar less air to use..

How good is your LDS at giving you good fills?

 

[JDostal]

It depends on who does them for me...

There is one guy that will fill up my tank to the exact pressure that the tanks are rated to. The gauges they had were a little off this summer, so we were typically getting fills that were a little stingy. Also, he was in a hurry with a lot of our air fills so he would fill them hot and then they would cool down to a lower pressure.

Two of the guys at the LDS are great though - they ask you what pressure you want in the tank when they are done. It makes it nice when you bring in LP tanks that are double disked

 

[DiveTub]

It depands on your tank
If you are running a 300bar tank with a three hundred bat DIN fitting then you might be lucky and get a 300bar fill

If you are running anything less than a three hundred Bar tank and or a K Valve the Aussie standard is 207 bar, anything more is a bonus.

Also take into account how the tank was filled, if it is a hot fill IE fast and not in a tub of water you can expect the pressure to drop anywhere up to 15bar.

Expect your fills to be anywhere from 207 to 250

 

[JDostal]

I think it has something to do w/ how good of a customer you are. Me and my friends drop a large amount of cash on gear, training and trips every year...so they are very nice to us in return. We usually get we ask for and most times it's above and beyond what the casual vacation-only diver gets.

That's just been my experience though...

 

[nickjb]

Most places in the UK manage to give a 230bar fill. Stick a bit of tape to the shoulder of the tank and write "232 BAR" on it. That should let them know what you want.

 

[theslyfox01]

Good thinking Nickjb I'll do that

Omicron, I was thinking since it was my first time in that particular dive shop they would want to leave a good impression on me as a possible long-term customer, and spend an extra 5 cents on giving me a decent air-fill, so in future I'll be up for spending $$$$$ on their gear. It's just basic sound business practice, but they missed their chance on making a good first impression

Ahhh well I just hope the week-ends diving goes well

 

[MikeFerrara]

theslyfox01 once bubbled...
Good thinking Nickjb I'll do that

Omicron, I was thinking since it was my first time in that particular dive shop they would want to leave a good impression on me as a possible long-term customer, and spend an extra 5 cents on giving me a decent air-fill, so in future I'll be up for spending $$$$$ on their gear. It's just basic sound business practice, but they missed their chance on making a good first impression

Ahhh well I just hope the week-ends diving goes well

I wish thatt's all a shop had to do to sell stuff. I give the best fills north or Florida and it's just wearing out my compressor.

 

[JimC]

Where I go I get a hot fill which cools down blow service presure.

I am happy to take it however, since it's free.

 

[JDostal]

theslyfox01 once bubbled...
Good thinking Nickjb I'll do that

Omicron, I was thinking since it was my first time in that particular dive shop they would want to leave a good impression on me as a possible long-term customer, and spend an extra 5 cents on giving me a decent air-fill, so in future I'll be up for spending $$$$$ on their gear. It's just basic sound business practice, but they missed their chance on making a good first impression

Ahhh well I just hope the week-ends diving goes well

That'd be the logical way to look at it, wouldn't it? Ah well...

 

[Lead_carrier]

Sydney_Diver once bubbled...

Also take into account how the tank was filled, if it is a hot fill IE fast and not in a tub of water you can expect the pressure to drop anywhere up to 15bar.

About the only thing you get when filling in a tub of water is a wet tank. Unless you put it in chilled water long enough to totally cool the tank throughly, wet fills are a myth. Unless it is an emergency, take the extra few minutes and just fill it slowly.