Toby

[faye]

I hear that toby is going to be a real ***** to dive out of due to the accident with the glass bottom boat. I just heard of the accident and am wondering if anyone knows what happened, are the charters still running, whats the deal guys. I wanted to do forest city this year!!

 

[Groundhog246]

Are you referring to the one with the students in a storm (actually they were caught in two freak waves) or has there been a more recent event that I've missed? That event lead to better enforcement of rules already in place regarding crew, safety equipment and limits on the number of passengers.
I haven't heard of any of it affecting dive boats, other than those carrying more than they were supposed to. I've heard of a few being re-assessed and their passenger numbers for dive charters reduced due to the gear weight of a typical diver (it's weight, as much as space, that determines a vessels passenger/cargo rating and 2 tanks, BC, lead, etc, weighs almost as much as an average passenger).

 

[Doppler]

faye once bubbled...
I hear that toby is going to be a real ***** to dive out of due to the accident with the glass bottom boat. I just heard of the accident and am wondering if anyone knows what happened, are the charters still running, whats the deal guys. I wanted to do forest city this year!!

Faye: I was there last season -- post accident -- and things had changed. There are fewer charter boats for one thing since the CTC rules are now being enforced.

However, that said, there are still charter boats operating, and yes, if you are able to show the right cards and or logged dives, you will be able to make the Forest City.

Take care

 

[Butch103]

........and you will have to pardon my vagueness, a special vis done on your tanks or they will not fill them. I believe it is a special check on the threads of the tanks......Some help on this would be appreciated from those better educated than me.....

 

[GTADiver]

Butch103 once bubbled...
........and you will have to pardon my vagueness, a special vis done on your tanks or they will not fill them. I believe it is a special check on the threads of the tanks......Some help on this would be appreciated from those better educated than me.....

Are you talking about Eddy Current testing? Its only for aluminum 6351 tanks. Not for steel or the newer alum tanks.

 

[Butch103]

I am thinking yes, if this is the one where they pay particular attention to the threads. Measuring the thickness, consistancy and general well being of the threads.....

 

[Groundhog246]

I'm pretty sure it's visual Eddy testing to which you refer. Around here it's done on ALL aluminum tanks, not just the older alloy. It will detect micoscopic cracks in the neck of the tank that a visual inspection will not. Doesn't work on steel tanks. Some shops charge extra (about $5) for eddy testing, my LDS does Eddy on all AL tanks so it's one set price. In some shops it's referrred to as VIP plus.

 

[Butch103]

thats the one.......Apparantly Toby shops won't fill without it......My LDS is reccomending it be done, although they won't refuse to fill without it........

 

[seahunter]

Did I miss something??

How did we jump from the dive boat situation in Toby which is better now than it was 2 years ago before the non-diving boat accident to the discussion about Visual Eddies - another non-issue since they are not required IF (note the capitals) the visual inspector does his job correctly??

We just sold our Visual Eddy machine since it is not an essential service and was adding nothing to the safety of the visual exam. Dive stores who indicate otherwise are simply trying to pay for the machine OR they have no one who can conduct a proper visual. This is my opinion and is based on the course and literature of Bill High of PSI who is the current expert on high pressure tank inspections in North America ( www.psicylinders.com ).

Here's the scoop...
If you can conduct a proper and thorough visual inspection of a tank (which includes the threads of all tanks, not just 6351 Aluminum), the tank is perfectly safe. Sorry groundhog but a proper visual exam will detect those cracks. A Visual Eddy machine can do no better. Keep reading..
If you cannot do a proper inspection or are sloppy at the job, the Visual Eddy machine will help you catch some you missed - but not all! The Visual Eddy machine will do a better job of detecting cracks than a sloppy or incompetent inspector will.

In fact, IMHO the machine tends to make the inspector lazy. That is, using the Visual Eddy machine may increase the likelihood of a missed problem because he depends on the machine to do the job. Vis Eddys are well-known for false positives (shows a crack that doesn't exist) or the opposite.
Having used the machine, I can tell you that it's easy to screw up. In the time it takes to make a thorough and proper Vis Eddy you could complete a proper visual and be certain. Note that a Vis Eddy is for the threads only - you still have to make a tank visual!!
What's the point?

 

[Groundhog246]

seahunter once bubbled...
We just sold our Visual Eddy machine since it is not an essential service and was adding nothing to the safety of the visual exam. Dive stores who indicate otherwise are simply trying to pay for the machine OR they have no one who can conduct a proper visual. This is my opinion and is based on the course and literature of Bill High of PSI who is the current expert on high pressure tank inspections in North America ( www.psicylinders.com ).

These threads do jump around. In this case the topic was Toby and the follow up was getting air fills in Toby. Since there was a past tank explosionup there, they may be a little more sensitive.

I'm not going to pretend to be qualified to argue Eddy testing one way or the other. We have 3 shops locally that all do eddy testing. Two do it on all aluminum cylinders, not sure about the third. They also do a close visual inspection of the threads as well as the tank interior.

The PSI link was interesting, I did not see stated anywhere that Eddy Testing was not good (except for not intended for use on stell which I already knew). I did see links to companies selling Eddy test equipment.