Cheap?
That's $3.50 a tank over 100 tanks. I'd much rather put the money towards nitrox and not get bent. But again, each diver has to do their own cost-benefit calculation.
Use your CO analyzers
- Thread starter Angry Turtle
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
That's $3.50 a tank over 100 tanks. I'd much rather put the money towards nitrox and not get bent. But again, each diver has to do their own cost-benefit calculation.
Basscat
Contributor
No problem with anybody checking their tanks with whatever analyzer they want, go for it. But my favorite Divemaster logged his 9000th dive a few weeks before I got there a year and a half ago, and he seems fine, so I'm just not too worried about it. I do appreciate Don and Dave's work getting the major fill station to install the monitors, that is a good thing. Until someone can convince me that the problem exists, I'm fine with trusting my dive op. YMMV, peace out.
Dr. Lecter
Contributor
This is meant to address a slightly different issue, but works well here, too.
Burden of Prevention=$300
Probability of Loss=some number between 0 and 1. Quite low if one is considering any given tank out of every scuba tank available on the planet; still low if it's any given tank out of all tanks in a less rigorously policed/monitored/litigated region than, say, Canada/US/EU/UK, but closer to 1 than before. It would be interesting to have data to try and ballpark the odds: is it like 1:1,000, 1:100,000, 1:1,000,000, or 1:1,000,000,000?
Loss, Magnitude of=varies with physical condition and CO level, but there is no doubt that one can get a tank containing enough CO to kill you without it giving any smell/taste warning. In that case, like unknowingly breathing 100% O2 as you descend, you're a dead man walking...it's just a question of when the ox tox will convulse/CO will smother you. So, past some level, it's a death sentence with little warning or chance to correct the problem.
It's an easily prevented and otherwise quite deadly harm; even with a very small probability of occurrence, it seems prudent to test.
Bonuss, are you new?
(to the cyber world of forums and newsgroups)
There's nothing unique or extraordinary here at all - at all. Well, maybe it's a little tame in here.
(to the cyber world of forums and newsgroups)
There's nothing unique or extraordinary here at all - at all. Well, maybe it's a little tame in here.
What? No one is disparaging anyone for their choices for safety. Those of us who will probably not be ponying up for a CO analyzer have no problem with those of us who will, or have already. My only beef is with those who would have me believe that I take my life in my hands every time I get in the water without testing my tank for CO, and use false "evidence" and innuendo to support their position.
Speaking only for myself, I will say that should I start feeling the symptoms of CO poisoning on a dive (I have been twice poisoned by CO - not from a diving tank - and I know what it feels like), I will call the dive and demand that the tank be tested. Otherwise I am not going to worry about it.
DSFDF and YMMV.
I wonder if these CO discussions have any impact on people going to Cozumel. One person stated that they will not go to Mexico but that may have happened anyway because they are worried about other issues. The CO concern may not impact people like the ill-fated Scuba Mau deep dive and falsely suggested down current did to Cozumel's image.
In an earlier post, I suggested that it would be helpful to know what protective systems (and procedures) the various tank fillers use to ensure safety of their tanks.
I wonder if this is an opportunity for dive shops in cooperation with the tank fillers to promote what they are doing to prevent CO contamination. I am assuming that there are multiple systems that contribute to air safety. Maintenance of those systems, whether it is periodic replacement of components (like charcoal?) and humans factors aspects such as alarm location, are all relevant.
Establish a culture of quality air fills and you might prevent cases where people hear a suggestion that a drowned diver died due to CO poisoning and misinterpret that veiled suggestion as fact.
In an earlier post, I suggested that it would be helpful to know what protective systems (and procedures) the various tank fillers use to ensure safety of their tanks.
I wonder if this is an opportunity for dive shops in cooperation with the tank fillers to promote what they are doing to prevent CO contamination. I am assuming that there are multiple systems that contribute to air safety. Maintenance of those systems, whether it is periodic replacement of components (like charcoal?) and humans factors aspects such as alarm location, are all relevant.
Establish a culture of quality air fills and you might prevent cases where people hear a suggestion that a drowned diver died due to CO poisoning and misinterpret that veiled suggestion as fact.
gtboomer
Registered
This is mainly for Mossman, since he like to ask hypothetical questions too, but it would be interesting to hear how others would act;
Let's say you're on the boat ride to Punta Sur, when you realize that that guy checking his tank for CO, O2, and rat turds- is none other than the DandyDon.
-You & the dive op. didn't bring any analyzer.
-He gets readings of 20ppm, 21%, and 0 from his tank.
What would you do?[/QUOTE]
Great hypothetical question DSR-3, I might suggest that Mossman could take that tank, and he check another. Perhaps mine, Just for laughs.
Let's say you're on the boat ride to Punta Sur, when you realize that that guy checking his tank for CO, O2, and rat turds- is none other than the DandyDon.
-You & the dive op. didn't bring any analyzer.
-He gets readings of 20ppm, 21%, and 0 from his tank.
What would you do?[/QUOTE]
Great hypothetical question DSR-3, I might suggest that Mossman could take that tank, and he check another. Perhaps mine, Just for laughs.
Last edited:
flots am
Contributor
- Messages
- 3,226
- Reaction score
- 1,859
- # of dives
- I just don't log dives
You are taking your life in your hands. However whether you choose to do anything about it is strictly your choice.
There is no "false evidence." Tanks sometimes contain CO. People sometimes dive these tanks and die. I see no slight-of-hand or deceit here. People do die from diving contaminated tanks.
As was mentioned, CO is a low-probability, high-cost event. You probably won't get a heavily contaminated tank, but if you do, there's a good chance you'll die. Think of it as playing Russian Roulette with a revolver with several thousand chambers and one bullet. Some people spin the wheel and pull the trigger, while others spin the wheel, then verify the chamber is empty before pulling the trigger. It's your call.
flots.
Basscat
Contributor
But can you give me definitive proof that a recreational diver has died from CO on a dive in Cozumel recently? 3 people have died on the road between my house and my workplace (7 miles) in the last 7 months, but I still make the drive, without adding a roll cage and a helmet. Yes , I appreciate having the seat belts and the air bag just in case, as I appreciate the analyzers at the fill station (thanks Dave and Don), but until I see a real potential for an issue, I'm OK with it. YMMV, that's cool.
Similar threads
