Synonymous
Registered
I took the PADI nitrox course this week, and it was made very clear that you always analyze your own tanks before using them. Then I was told that the analyzers are very expensive and there is usually one around to use.
The next day I got on the boat with the same shop (my instructor was on board). I used their analyzer and got a very different reading from what was marked on the tanks. A crew member came to help me and it turned out the analyzer was drifting after being calibrated. After we tried a few times and got varying readings approaching what the markings said, she told me that it was okay to use the percent marked on the tank.
That night I met a local guide for a dive and she provided the nitrox tanks. She didn't have an analyzer so I went with what she had marked on the tanks.
It seems like many of the "rules" I've been taught in scuba courses tend to be more "guidelines" when I get out in the real world. Is this one of them? What are people's practices as far as analyzing your own tanks?
The next day I got on the boat with the same shop (my instructor was on board). I used their analyzer and got a very different reading from what was marked on the tanks. A crew member came to help me and it turned out the analyzer was drifting after being calibrated. After we tried a few times and got varying readings approaching what the markings said, she told me that it was okay to use the percent marked on the tank.
That night I met a local guide for a dive and she provided the nitrox tanks. She didn't have an analyzer so I went with what she had marked on the tanks.
It seems like many of the "rules" I've been taught in scuba courses tend to be more "guidelines" when I get out in the real world. Is this one of them? What are people's practices as far as analyzing your own tanks?