Choice nuggets from the LDS

[diverbrian]

I hope that he doesn't use that tank in water warmer than the air, LOL.

Actually, we had a diver who came back from Florida (a beginning tech diver) and he grumbles under his breath that the LDS owner up here won't overfill tanks like they did for him down there.

I don't have many stories like that simply because I don't frequent an LDS like that. I did hear one about a gentleman who partially filled his tank with oxygen and wanted it topped off with air. The fill station operator got suspicious, put the analyzer on it and got 99 percent O2 in the tank. The guy came back to an empty tank (the employee vented the tank) and basically got told to never try a stunt like that again.

 

[DandyDon]

Lead_carrier once bubbled...
I had a friend that came back with an excellent fill from them. We hooked it up and it had about 4000 psi. They kept putting air in until they got the proper mix. Not bad for an AL80.

Aren't most 1st stages rated at 3,500 pounds? Wouldn't this be a major safety risk not only with the tank but also the Octo-reg? :boom:

Should legal action be sought for someone that reckless...??

Don :banging:

 

[ZoCrowes255]

Wow I can't get over some of these stories. I can see why some people would stop going to dive shops if all they had in town was full of incompetent salesman.

On the yellow tank: Why the hell would you not sell the customer what they wanted? It just pisses them off.

The only dive shop I have ever dealt with is the one I work for and if anyone one of us around here ever acted like that I hope somebody knocks some sense into me.

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

dandydon once bubbled...


Aren't most 1st stages rated at 3,500 pounds? Wouldn't this be a major safety risk not only with the tank but also the Octo-reg? :boom:

Probably not if the 1st stage uses a DIN fitting. Keep in mind that the new E-series tanks are rated to something like 4,400 psi, and they're designed to use with the same regulators you already own. I don't think you'd want to put a yoke fitting under that kind of pressure though.

And the octo would be unaffected by tank pressure ... it only ever sees the intermediate pressure delivered thru the 1st stage (typically 140 psi).

On the other hand, most AL80's come with a burst disk rated at 3,800 psi ... surprised it didn't blow! That would've woke somebody up ...

... Bob (Grateful DIver)

 

[Scuba_Vixen]

I'd be demanding a new tank out of them!!! They ruined that one as far as I'm concerned. That's damn near hydro pressure and they do hydro in a water tank for a short time. Aluminum doesn't have the elasticity of steel, and should never be overfilled like the steel tanks routinely are. I bet that tank has lost half of it's usable life. (number of times it can be filled and emptied)



Darlene

 

[diverbrian]

That tank would be going back. That amount of overfill is pathetic. I am sure that the store owner would have loved to hear about that. As I said, I hear that cave divers overfill their tanks to some extent all the time. My tech diving instructor tells stories of when he cave dives in FL. He was telling me of a couple times when the divers hit the water and the burst disc popped due to the warmer water causing the increase in tank pressure and the tank already being overfilled.

 

[cornfed]

Scuba_Vixen once bubbled...
That's damn near hydro pressure and they do hydro in a water tank for a short time.

The fact that they do hydro testing in water is irrelevent to this. Also, I don't believe the amount of time has much bearing either. Someone can (and will) correct me if I'm wrong.

Aluminum doesn't have the elasticity of steel, and should never be overfilled like the steel tanks routinely are. I bet that tank has lost half of it's usable life. (number of times it can be filled and emptied)

I don't think it is as bad as you suggest. I would probably insist on having the shop hydro the tank (the last thing they ever did for me) but I doubt they cut have the tanks life off.

 

[cornfed]

diverbrian once bubbled...
My tech diving instructor tells stories of when he cave dives in FL. He was telling me of a couple times when the divers hit the water and the burst disc popped due to the warmer water causing the increase in tank pressure and the tank already being overfilled.

I'm having a hard time believing this. Won't the water temperature be lower then the ambient air? Especially in the springs? Even in the winter the water temp will be lower then the shop where the tank was filled. If if didn't blow in the shop why is blowing now?

I'm not saying burst discs don't rupture. I'm just having trouble buying your explaination for it.

 

[roakey]

cornfed once bubbled...
I'm having a hard time believing this. Won't the water temperature be lower then the ambient air? Especially in the springs? Even in the winter the water temp will be lower then the shop where the tank was filled. If if didn't blow in the shop why is blowing now?

Not speaking to burst disks blowing, but I've seen an increase with my own eyes last December when I was caving in Florida (cold air temps, at least for Florida weenies ). We were getting fills at Cave Excursions (http://www.sidemount.com/) which does their filling outside, and when we'd jump into the water I'd see the SPG climb by at least a hundred or two PSI.

The model was something like it'd be filled to pressure n (and the fill would be warm), drop to pressure m sitting in the car, then rise to x in the water, where x<n, as you point out.

Roak

 

[diverbrian]

(or disadvantages), guaranteed that tank pressure will drop when you hit Great Lakes waters (brrrr!!).

It will be a while before I have a chance to dive any springs in FL. My vacation time and money only have one more trip planned for the year and it is already scheduled. I do know that they had a customer come back with a tank that they bought used. It was so badly deformed that when the LDS went to put a valve on, the deformed threads wouldn't allow the technician to do it. The customer was told that a special valve was required or something to that effect. So, the LDS owner calls the tank manufacturer and is told to run not walk away from that tank. Apparently, this thing had been overfilled for quite some time.