Hearing Loss from Tank Opening Blasts

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There probably isn't any data on tanks... but there is a whole truckload of data on exposures to various situations... IIRC, anything above 85 db can be problematic if it is continuous.

I'm too lazy to go measure, but I'm sure that cracking a tank or "blasting" a gre would exceed 85 db, and therefore everyone should stop doing that (I hate that noise).

Personally, I have sufficient HF hearing loss that I built my own tank silencer. I won't drain a tank without one.
 
85 dB is the threshold for hearing damage, but it is dose dependent. OSHA standards are exposure to 85 dB for 8 hours to experience hearing damage. As the sound pressure level increases, the time exposure for damage starts to decrease quickly. 94 dB is max 1 hour exposure. 100 dB is 15 min. I haven't measured it, but I wouldn't be surprised if a cracked valve could hit 110 dB or more in an enclosed room. The valve would really need to cracked open to hit those levels, however. Cracking the valve and walking away is unlikely to be a problem.
 
Just fold a towel in half and wrap it over the valve if you need to crack it open. Problem solved.
It goes from a loud high pitched hiss to a much lower muted sound.
I spent years in a body shop with air blowers, air chisels, die grinders, etc. and also a lot of gun fire in my younger years.
My hearing is pretty much shot.
 
I have hearing loss myself from a variety of things. Maybe I've always had it, so I don't think about it, but as long as I have my eyesight, I could care less about my hearing if I had to pick between the two.
 
This has been studied, because I remember reading about it.

Which means that it was probably mentioned in some DAN publication.
 
It's not hard to slightly crack open the valve so that it is not noisy. I generally do this to get the water out of the dust cover. The valve does not have to be all the way open. Don't be lazy. It just takes a little tenderness and consideration. It's different though if you are trying to drain the bottle. It's best to have it in an unoccupied room. Kits are made to keep the volume down.
 
Has anyone tried if the O ring can fit inside a 1.5 Liter soda bottle?
 

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