Bad air

[buckedoff96]

Hi all
Went diving with my Girlfriend yesterday. She complained about how the air in her tank tasted like plastic. I rented the bottles from a shop near to where I live. (my GF and me live about an hour apart.) Well it turns out that there was oil in her tank. I ended up using a bottle from the shop she goes to all the time.
I'm not to happy about it. Lucky for us she got out of the water and I was only doing some navigation training with an instructor. We wern't far out or deep. I just know it could have turned out bad.
Some advice here. Never go to that shop again? I do know that I'll tell them about it, for sure. Kerstin is keeping a close watch to be sure she doesn't get a lung infection. We do know that her regulator is going to need a good cleaning at the very least.
How can this happen and how to avoid it again??
Thanks
Steve

 

[DandyDon]

Wow! I hope you'll notify the agencies they represent ASAP, as well as the local authorities before someone gets killed. A DM and a Texas tourist got killed that way in Roatan a couple years ago. Hope the local fire department is not using that shop, but then you don't want to see any local divers die from that either.

If it is a Padi shop, they are required to do quarterly air tests at one lab they all use and keep records. This is not enforced unless there is a complaint, tho.

They owe you both reg cleaning and servicing, but I don't know if I'd trust them to do it.

 

[bleeb]

Although not frequent, this happens every now and then unfortunately. Warm water vacation spots have a bit more of a reputation (maybe not always entirely deserved) of problems than more strictly regulated parts of the world. Part of the way you defend yourself is performing the "taste test" as a routine part of your pre-dive check.

 

[tstormdiver]

I have seen "smell testing" the tanks taught to the students at my LDS when I assist with classes. It's the first thing taught when they are learning to assemble their gear for the first time. Although I wasn't originally taught that, I've been doing it & it's actually a good idea.

 

[buckedoff96]

Brought the bottles back after work today. The wife of the team put a clean rag in front of the bottle and turned it on. She showed me that it was clean. I asked why it tasted like plastic and she only said "weisse nicht" (german for I don't know) They didn't charge anything for the bottles. Ok I'm still very new with 15 dives, so who am I to say I know anything. My GF has over 100, Dave our friend and my teacher over 350 dives. I trust them. When 4 master divers looked at it, smelled the air and said whoa there's oil in that bottle. I trust them all. Dave and my GF have been diving together for 4 years. I'm waiting for Dave to call me back, I want to let him know what the shop said tonight.
I'm not mad but I know it could have turned out bad. The lady simple said she didn't smell anything. Oh and if there was oil in the tank simply blow it out of the regulator with fresh air. Somehow this sounds strange to me. Like I said I'm a newbie and still "getting my feet wet" but I didn't get into diving because I have a death wish. Nor do I want to see anyone I'm get hurt.
I'll write more when I know more. Thanks all
Steve

 

[fairybasslet]

A DM and a Texas tourist got killed that way in Roatan a couple years ago.

Is this the official cause of death? I never heard anything about it after the incident.

 

[DandyDon]

The lady simple said she didn't smell anything. Oh and if there was oil in the tank simply blow it out of the regulator with fresh air. Somehow this sounds strange to me. Like I said I'm a newbie and still "getting my feet wet" but I didn't get into diving because I have a death wish. Nor do I want to see anyone I'm get hurt.
I'll write more when I know more. Thanks all
Steve

Not someone I'd want to do business with.

Is this the official cause of death? I never heard anything about it after the incident.

I know, it was highly suppressed. I can't give details, not allowed.

 

[buckedoff96]

No I don't think I will do anything with them again. Several diver friends are saying the same. Think I'll stick to the school/shop I trained in, even if it's an hour away. A little gas money is worth it to me. Oh yeah my GF lives 5 minutes from there, ok that's the real reason LOL
Kestin is doing fine by the way. No apparent after effects from sunday. We'll see how she feels after she's done with her rescue dive training on thursday.
Thanks for the feed back

 

[LIVES4SHARKS]

We had an incident with a diver who brought tanks from his shop to Vortoberfest. He said the air tasted funny but dove it anyway. He ended up thumbing the dive after starting to feel bad and ended up sharing air to shore. I came into the situation after it happened. I have learned that if it tastes funny, let someone else try it before the dive and see how it effects them. In the end, if it has a smell or a taste don't dive the tank! Anything can happen during a fill so it's best to maintain that dive rule.

I am happy things turned out ok for y'all!
Carolyn:sharks:

 

[EastEndDiver]

Is this the official cause of death? I never heard anything about it after the incident.

I can give third hand account.I was on a dive trip in cayman staying at Spanish bay ,I believe in 2006,and the group that was diving with us were the ones who lost their friend .I was told by a person who was there that the tanks were tainted I believe by a bad compressor (CO2) and they almost lost a third diver ( one of the peoples wives) but she pulled through.I was also told by the same people that when all this took place the dive boat grabbed the DM and rushed him to shore leaving the other divers in the water including the one who did die.

The group was from Lubbock Texas,i hope i spelled that right.

maybe DandyDon can verify this version as told to me.Again it was told to me by someone who was there.It is third hand.