Tank Failure in Cozumel
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danoeltico
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I have always wondered if resort tanks truly get an annual Inspection as is mandatory its rare to see a vis sticker at most resorts and by looking at date stamps doesnt tell you much more than that the tank is older than you:mooner:
I think a lot of resorts just cycle there tanks until theres a problem but thats just my opinion.....Would be happy to be told otherwise but sadly I may be correct
I'm guessing you're right.
Nothing makes me feel safer than almost 4000PSI in an AL tank that was made while I was in grade-school and doesn't have a single inspection sticker or any hydro stamps that didn't come from the factory.
Makes me want to get in the water and start breathing it down before it blows.
Terry
refinished
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I had a OOA situation in Coz a few years ago from the AL oxide goo. I posted the story:
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/2948513-post10.html
Since that time I've learned about the 'goo' that can form as I've shared this story with those more experienced than I. I've also been told that dip tubes are hard to come by in Coz. I did the first several feet of my descent in a head-down position, which would have given the goo an opportunity to enter the reg. Out of shame, I left off an important part of the story - the total loss of reg function on ascent at 65ft and my diligent buddy that helped this become minor inconvenience and a big learning experience. I know I should have aborted the dive right away rather than continue even for a bit. This dive changed the way I think about diving.
http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/2948513-post10.html
Since that time I've learned about the 'goo' that can form as I've shared this story with those more experienced than I. I've also been told that dip tubes are hard to come by in Coz. I did the first several feet of my descent in a head-down position, which would have given the goo an opportunity to enter the reg. Out of shame, I left off an important part of the story - the total loss of reg function on ascent at 65ft and my diligent buddy that helped this become minor inconvenience and a big learning experience. I know I should have aborted the dive right away rather than continue even for a bit. This dive changed the way I think about diving.
ianr33
Contributor
Are dive ops under any obligation to VIP their own tanks?
As I understand it tank VIP's have no legal standing in the U.S and probably less than that in Mexico.
AfterDark
Contributor
That's correct. Diving is mostly self regulating. The VIP is something dives shops do to assure each other of the quality of the interior of a tank. It started back when all tanks were steel and people often sucked their tanks dry. Water would get inside the tank and cause internal rusting. This was suspect in several tank ruptures back in the old days. So the shops started the VIP program. These days, no shop will fill a tank without a current VIP sticker. (Imagine that, and without a LAW!) If you have your own compressor then the only legally binding test is the 5 year hydro, and that's only if your taking your tank on the interstate highways. If you live on the water, fill your own tanks, and never transport them in a car then you can just roll the dice. I just got my 20+ year old AL-80 hydro'd and am currently waiting for one of my 40 year old steel 72's to come back from hydro. Tanks last a along time with very little care. I've never let my tanks sit "dry" always have a least 500psi in them. That's it!
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I tend to agree that debris in the dip tube was the culprit. I have personally seen it happen several times and there is one frequent poster on this board ( Dr. Bill from Catalina, California) who had to do a CESA from depth because of a similar problem.
Probable cause: aluminum oxide. Also, unless I'm mistaken, there is only one suppler of tanks and compressed gas to the dive operators on Cozumel.
There are many operators that have DIN valves on Cozumel. In my shop on the mainland 40% of the tank valves are DIN, much higher percentange if I included all the doubles and stage tanks.
I would highly recommend to purchase a DIN regulator and an adaptor back to yoke for those times you cannot get the DIN valve.
Dennis
If they are a PADI dive center or resort, yes they are. If they care about thier customers they should and not just at 12 months.
The fill station on the Rivieria Maya askes that tanks be inspected but doesn't insist - that I know of. They do insist that hydros are done every 10 years, I still do them every 5.
Too many divers assume too much. Ask to see the service logs for rental equipment and tanks. Ask to see the O2 kit, the first aid kit, the lifejackets. PADI doesn't check this for you, your DM most likely doesn't understand the value of it, so DO IT YOURSELF and check before you dive.
Dennis
I had a similar problem in Cozumel this January (2009).
My first dive of the week I back-rolled in and got a bit of water in my mouth. I did not think anything of it, and assumed I was a little too relaxed and must have not had my my closed tightly.
I checked my reg and found it to be breathing perfectly fine, so I drained my BC and started a head first decent to the bottom. On my first inverted breath I got more water in my mouth so I surfaced and had the DM check my tank to see that my first stage was seated properly and that there was an 'intact' o-ring on the tank.
Everything checked out, so I hit the water again and decended foot first to the bottom. The decisicion to change to a foot first decent was totally unconscious, and at this point I was assuming that the first stage had not been seated correctly.
Once on the sand at the bottom, I stopped to make adjustments to my BC and do a last check of everything before proceeding with the dive. It was at this point that I looked at my SPG and noticed that with every breath the needle would drop from 2800 to around 500 PSI and then back up again.
I immediately signaled the DM that I was aborting the dive and I surfaced and got back on the boat.
My equipment had just been serviced (Apeks XTX200 / XTX40) so I was confident it could not be a malfuntion on my regs. I removed the first stage and inverted the tank and upon opening the valve found the equivalent of several inches of water flowing out of the tank.
It was not something that I had considered in the past, but anytime I dive with a tank that is not my own, I invert and open the valve before attaching my first stage.
What scares me the most, is that like another post also mentions, is that I OFTEN will intentionally invert during a dive to either poke my head into an opening or to look through my legs behind me. If I would have done this at 80 feet, a lung full of saltwater could have been a disaster.
My first dive of the week I back-rolled in and got a bit of water in my mouth. I did not think anything of it, and assumed I was a little too relaxed and must have not had my my closed tightly.
I checked my reg and found it to be breathing perfectly fine, so I drained my BC and started a head first decent to the bottom. On my first inverted breath I got more water in my mouth so I surfaced and had the DM check my tank to see that my first stage was seated properly and that there was an 'intact' o-ring on the tank.
Everything checked out, so I hit the water again and decended foot first to the bottom. The decisicion to change to a foot first decent was totally unconscious, and at this point I was assuming that the first stage had not been seated correctly.
Once on the sand at the bottom, I stopped to make adjustments to my BC and do a last check of everything before proceeding with the dive. It was at this point that I looked at my SPG and noticed that with every breath the needle would drop from 2800 to around 500 PSI and then back up again.
I immediately signaled the DM that I was aborting the dive and I surfaced and got back on the boat.
My equipment had just been serviced (Apeks XTX200 / XTX40) so I was confident it could not be a malfuntion on my regs. I removed the first stage and inverted the tank and upon opening the valve found the equivalent of several inches of water flowing out of the tank.
It was not something that I had considered in the past, but anytime I dive with a tank that is not my own, I invert and open the valve before attaching my first stage.
What scares me the most, is that like another post also mentions, is that I OFTEN will intentionally invert during a dive to either poke my head into an opening or to look through my legs behind me. If I would have done this at 80 feet, a lung full of saltwater could have been a disaster.
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