Dive Cylinder Explodes - Sydney

[chillyinCanada]

Yes it was my cousin who is 26 years old. He is trained and very experienced. He was walking towards a tank when it exploded. He has had one leg amputated at the top of his thigh. He may lose the second leg. He has skull fractures. But you just all go on and discuss the ins and outs of oxygen tanks.

We're all so very sorry about what has happened to your cousin. I've lost a friend this way. He had a family and children of his own. It's all quite horrible and terribly sad.

And that's exactly why we'll all go on talking about tanks and filling tanks and the dangers and how to make things safer for everyone.

 

[CW123]

It seems that a dive cylinder has exploded in a dive shop at Cronulla, Sydney. My information is that someone has been injured, but I have no more information at the moment. Hoping it is not too bad.

In relation to the original post - information on what happened and a crowd funding campaign to help he and his wife with expenses. Lovely, appreciative people - if you have a few dollars to spare it would go a long way. Click on the link below

Mattias' Road to Recovery

 

[Griffo]

We are not talking about alienation here, but isolation.

Isolate this dive shop out on it’s own somewhere if these clowns want to fill 26 year old cylinders in a busy shopping street with only a plate glass window out front as the blast shield.

Do we even know that the cylinder was being filled? I've read every post in this thread and have yet to see anyone confirm it was being filled at the time. For all we know from this thread, some customer found an old tank in his shed, dropped it off in the shop reception area and it blew before anyone qualified inspected it.

 

[clownfishsydney]

OzGriffo, yes, it was being filled. It is virtually impossible for a cylinder to explode like this unless it was being filled. I am also pretty certain that it will turn out that it was being filled from a high pressure bank, rather than from a compressor.

Personally I have never heard of a cylinder exploding when being filled from a compressor. It has probably happened, in many cases perhaps because it was filling way past the fill pressure and compressor cut-off did not work, but also when being filled normally.

 

[BRT]

OzGriffo, yes, it was being filled. It is virtually impossible for a cylinder to explode like this unless it was being filled. I am also pretty certain that it will turn out that it was being filled from a high pressure bank, rather than from a compressor.

Personally I have never heard of a cylinder exploding when being filled from a compressor. It has probably happened, in many cases perhaps because it was filling way past the fill pressure and compressor cut-off did not work, but also when being filled normally.

It can't have happened in very many cases cause there are not very many cases.

 

[nadwidny]

OzGriffo, yes, it was being filled. It is virtually impossible for a cylinder to explode like this unless it was being filled. I am also pretty certain that it will turn out that it was being filled from a high pressure bank, rather than from a compressor.

Personally I have never heard of a cylinder exploding when being filled from a compressor. It has probably happened

Waterton, Alberta, Canada back in the 90s.

, in many cases perhaps because it was filling way past the fill pressure and compressor cut-off did not work,

That's a bingo.

 

[Noz2]

Haven't been there for a while? Pro Dive is now located where Aquatic Explorers used to be. The fill station is at the back of the building WAY away from the front of the shop. There is a garage and area at the back before the lane. A lot of stuff in the way for debgris to reach a window or the laneway.

 

[cerich]

Haven't been there for a while? Pro Dive is now located where Aquatic Explorers used to be. The fill station is at the back of the building WAY away from the front of the shop. There is a garage and area at the back before the lane. A lot of stuff in the way for debgris to reach a window or the laneway.

I once found body parts, pieces of the cylinder that exploded more than 300 m away from the explosion that occurred inside a building.

 

[Sydney-sider]

Hi everyone,

I am also trying to help this diving instructor from Sydney who became a victim of this incident.

Please click the following link for the summary of what happened to Mattias Lock : Dive Cylinder Explodes in Sydney (Part 2) - Your support needed!!!

Unfortunately, my post has been moved by the administrators to an unpopular thread, therefore, not many people saw it.

However, it's important to highlight the dangers of using old aluminium cylinders by divers around the world. Especially, I want to reach out to the novice divers who oftentimes don't have their own gear and are forced to use hired equipment for their first diving adventures. Unfortunately, oftentimes cylinders used by diving shops don't get checked on a regular basis,they are old and in a very poor condition.

Somebody mentioned before that thousands of divers fill their tanks on a daily basis, therefore, it's important to know that old aluminium tanks can cost you life.

If you can help Mattias, please get involved in this campaign. And if you can help to spread the word among the diving community, please share the link:
Mattias' Road to Recovery
Mattias' Road to Recovery

 

[Compressor]

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A ScubaBoard Staff Message...

A second thread started below on this topic has been merged with the existing thread. Marg, SB Senior Moderator

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I just read this in my Undercurrent subscription which IMO is a great newsletter. I thought I pass it along.

"On August 24th, dive shop employee Mattias Lock, 26, was severely injured at Pro Dive near Sydney, Australia, when he was walking toward a customer’s aluminum tank he was filling in a workroom at the back of the premises and it exploded.He was alone in the dive shop, and one leg was so severely damaged, it had to be amputated above the knee.His other leg was broken, and he sustained head injuries resulting in a swollen brain.

A bulletin accompanying an appeal for donations to help the young man who is now recovering reads, “It is too early to say what caused the explosion of the cylinder as the investigation continues.However, it is widely known that problems exist with older cylinders manufactured from certain compositions of aluminum alloy such as 6051.”

Legislation in Australia requires scuba cylinders to be hydrostatically tested every 12 months.Undercurrent has been told that the tank was out-of-test and was not intended for use with scuba, but for paintball games.Earlier news stories that reported the tank was being filled with oxygen were incorrect.Although some filling stations use water jackets or protective cages, there is no requirement to fill scuba cylinders behind any sort of protective barrier in Australia, just as there is no requirement in the USA."