New Visual Inspection Required Before Filling with Banked Nitrox 32?

[The Chairman]

2 phreakin' phunni!

There's a lot of misinformation out there. It often gets, pardon the pun, blown out of proportion by the need to justify the misconceptions. How many NitrOx instructors tell you that the biggest reason to have your tanks clean is to prevent tank explosions and fires? How many explosions and fires can be attributed to filling NitrOx last year? None. The real problem is CO contamination. Does that mean that these instructors are "lying out of their teeth"? No. It does mean that we are all learning and need to be careful about the crap we inadvertently pass on.

If I stopped going to every shop that didn't understand gas handling and filling perfectly (eg the way I do ), I would have to start filling my own. Ya rly! Where do you draw the line? I don't. I learn to work within their framework up until it puts me at risk. Does doing a Visual Inspection put you at risk? No. Does requiring additional cleaning put me at risk? No. How about requiring a NitrOx sticker? Again, no. I've had all these three thrown at me, when I don't believe them to be necessary. I simply let them have their way. Why fight it? It doesn't put me at risk. It doesn't hurt me at all. It might cost me a bit more, but so what? With the amount that diving costs, what's another ten bucks? It's simply not my tipping point that will drive me from a shop or even from diving forever. Life's too short and I would rather not waste 20 minutes either way to save $10. It's simply a matter of perspective.

 

[Scubatude]

It amazes me how difficult it is to get nitrox in SoCal, considering that the profile of most of the popular dive sites are so ideally suited for it. Up here it's rare to find a shop that doesn't sell it ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

It's about to get a whole lot easier. :cool2:

 

[Hawkwood]

But Pete, anger and vitriol is obviously the way to handle things...at least according to some on SB.

2 phreakin' phunni!

There's a lot of misinformation out there. It often gets, pardon the pun, blown out of proportion by the need to justify the misconceptions. How many NitrOx instructors tell you that the biggest reason to have your tanks clean is to prevent tank explosions and fires? How many explosions and fires can be attributed to filling NitrOx last year? None. The real problem is CO contamination. Does that mean that these instructors are "lying out of their teeth"? No. It does mean that we are all learning and need to be careful about the crap we inadvertently pass on.

If I stopped going to every shop that didn't understand gas handling and filling perfectly (eg the way I do ), I would have to start filling my own. Ya rly! Where do you draw the line? I don't. I learn to work within their framework up until it puts me at risk. Does doing a Visual Inspection put you at risk? No. Does requiring additional cleaning put me at risk? No. How about requiring a NitrOx sticker? Again, no. I've had all these three thrown at me, when I don't believe them to be necessary. I simply let them have their way. Why fight it? It doesn't put me at risk. It doesn't hurt me at all. It might cost me a bit more, but so what? With the amount that diving costs, what's another ten bucks? It's simply not my tipping point that will drive me from a shop or even from diving forever. Life's too short and I would rather not waste 20 minutes either way to save $10. It's simply a matter of perspective.

 

[The Chairman]

Instead of a tank, maybe you want to see a user explode?

 

[DaleC]

I agree that getting bent out of shape isn't required (perhaps a sardonic laugh?) but it is disturbing.

For an industry that likes to call itself professional, and that resists the idea of regulation, it sure seems making stuff up is the soup de jour.
When we accept individuals promoting blatant falsehoods because of their lack of understanding (assuming the best) we open the door to external regulation because of a lack of will to self regulate and filling seems to be such an easy area to do that. There are DOT rules and gas industry standards in place. We just need to follow them.

Setting your own rules in place because it's your compressor is fine. But creating a lie to justify it negates whatever professional certification/accreditation/rating you, and your fellows in the industry, have. The perception becomes: Shops make things up, lie, and no one cares... that's the dive industry. If I were in that industry I'd be a little miffed about that because there is no difference (externally) between them and I.

Somehow, I manage to get my BBQ propane bottle filled the same way no matter where I go. There is no debate about date stamps, fill pressures, additional inspections stickers etc...

 

[redacted]

Some of the "professionals" in this industry set some fairly low standards. Unfortunately, they are not that uncommon.

And others support them.

 

[RJP]

But Pete, anger and vitriol is obviously the way to handle things...at least according to some on SB.

[video=youtube;q2dwx_OloLU]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2dwx_OloLU[/video]

 

[MXGratefulDiver]

Some of the "professionals" in this industry set some fairly low standards. Unfortunately, they are not that uncommon.

... consider what it takes to become a "professional" in this industry ...

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

 

[dumpsterDiver]

When you go to the grocery store and they try to charge you an extra $1 or $10 for something (or maybe even double the price), do you just say "OK" never mind that is OK? I don't.

We should accept "inappropriate" charges from a professional at a scuba shop, but argue with the minimum wage checker at Walmart?

 

[rwkosh]

If he is calling for a VIZ then maybe the tanks may have looked like they have may need a look inside as they are possibly possibly showing signs of pssible rust inside. I know you mentioned you had valid viz stickers but this LDS may have heard comments and seen work performed by them that was not so great and did not trust them. This should have been mentioned but a small possibility.

Both are steel tanks with no obvious sign of neglect. The tank they got of mine is still on its original hydro date--so less than 5 years old. While my viz sticker was not from his shop, my buddy's sticker was.