This is why I own a CO Monitor..

[DandyDon]

OMG! What a dreadfully close call! 25 ft is not 2 atmospheres, but it's in the ballpark so the effect would be around 200ppm, yeah - yet it's more complicated than that. CO binds with the oxygen-transporting hemoglobin in blood and is released slowly, so on ascent when the PPO drops, you're at higher risk.

Usually the co analyzer is used before the dive.

I bet he gets a CO tester and tests his own now! Well, I dunno - people surprise me at times.

Testing the air going into the compressor wont tell you if your compressor is creating co.

Right, and so many don't know that compressors can indeed produce it internally, including electric compressors.

The petrol powered compressor that filled this cylinder is mounted permanently into a van (truck). Its not a new compressor & the exhaust & intake locations are for want of a better word - compromised.
However, I (knowing the people involved) suspect that this compressor is run for too long & gets far too hot.

Damn, that's a bad setup, altho I have seen similar.

I'm still wishing someone would set up another group buy for CO analyzers like last year.

Well, none of us wanted to spend money on one I don't guess, but it's the only way to know if the tank is safe or not. Is a $300 price all that much more appealing than $400? Here is one for $339 including shipping and I guess the warranty is good, but you can ask Patty at Analox if you'd like. Brand New in Box Analox EII Co Carbon Monoxide Analyzer Worldwide Warranty | eBay

And that is the main reason for the post...

If one person now takes air fills a little more seriously then this thread will have done its job.

My friend has had a headache for 2 days but is otherwise fine & the HSE has already been in touch - they seem to be taking this very seriously.

Just because it is filled by a 'diving professional' doesn't mean its not bad for you..

Has he seen a physician? I really don't know if he needs treatment or not.

Scary Scary incident. A a very good reminder to test EVERY tank before diving.

It's gets old and boring when tank after tank comes back at 0, no one else on the boat testing, until you find a tank that's not clean. Don't give up waiting for that one.

 

[swamp diver]

What about boat refills? I notice the boat's engine always running during fills. I never really questioned the possibility of CO contamination.

Sent from my LG-P999 using Tapatalk 2

Yes that is also a potential problem for CO contamination if the engine is running. We've measured 500 ppm on the back of a houseboat from transom exhaust even while underway. In the cabin the divers were breathing 150 ppm on the way to the dive site due to the station wagon effect.

The captain should shut the engine done if possible during filling, but the compressor may be run off a generator powered by the engine in which case I'd have a CO analyzer on hand to check my tank. It is just too easy to entrain CO from his engine or the slip neighbour's engine when not paying attention. Alternatively he could put a CO monitor on his compressor.

 

[kelemvor]

Here is one for $339 including shipping and I guess the warranty is good, but you can ask Patty at Analox if you'd like. Brand New in Box Analox EII Co Carbon Monoxide Analyzer Worldwide Warranty | eBay

Got a number for Patty?

 

[Suzuki416]

I just asked my friend to ck for an odour. There is NO SMELL from the contaminated cylinder..

 

[DandyDon]

Got a number for Patty?

Tel: +1 (877) SAFE AIR From Contact: Analox - Looking after the air you breathe.

I just asked my friend to ck for an odour. There is NO SMELL from the contaminated cylinder..

CO is odorless, part of the danger. Sometimes it accompanies other gases that smell, sometime not.

 

[Suzuki416]

DandyDon,

I have to partly blame you for the fact that my friend & I own a CO monitor. :kiss2:

Reading some of your posts made us a little paranoid & in the grand scheme of things:

IF you can afford a compressor - you can afford a CO Monitor.

I test my own bank once a month (my setup I only pump into my bank - never into a cylinder) & any cylinder that I don't own before refilling.
My friends cylinder was filled by this dive centre & so I didn't test it as I wasn't using it - lol...

I know that my friend WILL be purchasing a monitor very very soon - she has already contacted my local dive operator about it..

This thread is not about will this issue happen to you - it is about the fact that now in 2013 you can 'fairly' cheaply & 'fairly' reliably guard yourself against it..

 

[tracydr]

Your friend really needs to see a doctor. If levels persist, he may need hyperbaric chamber to remove the CO.

 

[Suzuki416]

My friend had a headache for 36hrs - that has gone now & is otherwise fine....


More irritating is the response from the Dive Operator that supplied the fill...

 

[Superlyte27]

Steel 12litre filled with air (21%)

---------- Post added July 1st, 2013 at 07:44 PM ----------

The petrol powered compressor that filled this cylinder is mounted permanently into a van (truck). Its not a new compressor & the exhaust & intake locations are for want of a better word - compromised.
However, I (knowing the people involved) suspect that this compressor is run for too long & gets far too hot.

Running too long or getting too hot really has nothing to do with CO levels. However, if the intake is west of the petrel exhaust and the wind is blowing east to west, this would put CO into the compressor. There are a few ways to get CO produced in a compressor. Runtime isn't one of them. As a commercial diver, usually all of the gas pumped down to us is via a diesel fed or gas fed compressor. These compressors sometimes run non-stop for days at a time feeding us breathing gas. We are always very careful to put the intake for the compressor far away from the exhaust of the engine.

 

[Suzuki416]

so on the roof 5 ft from the inhale isn't your ideal location then ?