Free fills at the Fire Dept????

[crpntr133]

Ask if the FD fills their dive teams tanks. If it is good enough for their dive team it would be good enough for me.

 

[WVDiver]

I get my fills at the LFD, it is what they dive with and I have been doing this for years with no problems.

 

[moneysavr]

Yep Our FD has a new set up,and yes I could get fills if I had a wip,But the thing is yes it is filltered,but Moisture is not a problem with Firemen,but at depth in the Great Lakes I would be screwed!Too Cold and wam reg freeze!
So not worth it pluss a whole host of legal stuff ,so not worth it at all!
Brad

 

[CBulla]

Ok I have a possibly dumb question, but here it goes. I was just offered free air fills for my scuba tanks at a local fire dept, but a buddy of mine told me that this was a bad deal as the filtration system used by fire dept compressors are not very good and that the possibilities for contamination are much hirer and of course a bigger problem at depth. Is this true? Does anyone out there have any experience with this?
Thanks

It would be helpful to know where you are diving and what the depths are.

 

[Firefyter]

Yep Our FD has a new set up,and yes I could get fills if I had a wip,But the thing is yes it is filltered,but Moisture is not a problem with Firemen,but at depth in the Great Lakes I would be screwed!Too Cold and wam reg freeze!
So not worth it pluss a whole host of legal stuff ,so not worth it at all!
Brad

I would think that they would have moisture filters as well, especially since they are so far up north and it gets so cold. Moisture is most definitely a problem for us as well, since it will cause our scba regs to freeze up. I know even here where I live we filter the air for moisture as well as contaminants, and we don't have near the cold that they do up north. Again, though, as I have stressed on other threads dealing with this same subject, it depends on the department.

 

[SHARKBAIT94]

I would think that they would have moisture filters as well, especially since they are so far up north and it gets so cold. Moisture is most definitely a problem for us as well, since it will cause our scba regs to freeze up. I know even here where I live we filter the air for moisture as well as contaminants, and we don't have near the cold that they do up north. Again, though, as I have stressed on other threads dealing with this same subject, it depends on the department.

I would ask if they fill scuba tanks and if they have a dive team or they take of the tanks for a dive team. My depts air is filtered for moisture and contaminates, we fill both scuba for the dive team and scba for the fire dept. If anything ask first see what they say I doubt they would offer to fill not knowing the air quality and I’m pretty sure all dept have to or are supposed to keep records of air quality and maintenance. If they are not sure then don’t fill your tank, free air is not worth it.

 

[DaFireMedic]

Yep Our FD has a new set up,and yes I could get fills if I had a wip,But the thing is yes it is filltered,but Moisture is not a problem with Firemen,but at depth in the Great Lakes I would be screwed!Too Cold and wam reg freeze!
So not worth it pluss a whole host of legal stuff ,so not worth it at all!
Brad

I looked at ours, it has a large moisture filter on it.

 

[kd7fds]

I live in a very small town (5,500) and I am a member of our volunteer fire department.

Our chief has our compressor air tested and certified to class E every month. We don't fill many scuba tanks (just for a handful of us :10: ), but he felt it was a health issue. The higher quality air has to be healthier, on the surface or at depth.

And yes, we use 4500PSI bottles.

 

[Knight1989]

Our dive team gets all of our tanks filled by the local FD. We havent had any problems. I would deffintly take them up on the offer to fill your tanks. Tank fills can get pricey over time. Just remimber that an LDS will make sure your tanks inspection is current before filling it, since you wont have them looking at it, make sure you remimber to do your inspections.

 

[Hoosier]

I am not sure why I have more confident on the fire department. Your LDS is business guy who tries to make money. The fire department is not for the money, but for saving your life. There is no reason that the FD is stingy on air filtration. Don't you respect the fire fighter?