Carbon Monoxide in Cozumel

[nimoh]

I have been diving there for 20 years and never once worried about it or tested my air. The only ones I would even think about testing would be shops that fill their own tanks like Aqua World.....A lot of the ops though have their own testers, especially for Nitrox.Maybe use that as a factor in determining your dive op? When I dove with Blue XT Sea in June, they tested every nitrox tank in front of you and you had to verify it.

why would Blue XT Sea only test nitrox tanks?

 

[jfcl01]

Feel free to PM or ask other questions, will see them later (have to get off the computer and get some work done)

 

[Skittl1321]

why would Blue XT Sea only test nitrox tanks?

Maybe because the risk of a nitrox mix-up is higher than the risk of CO contamination?

Our dive shop taught us to never dive nitrox without testing, way too easy for it to be fatal; but CO was basically taught as "if it tastes bad, stop using it immediately". I'm now questioning if I should get a CO tester- as I'm a nervous nellie, and it seems to be an easy thing to check.

 

[Blue73]

Thanks to all that replied.

I didn't put much thought to CO testing until I read the post about BA. I plan to spend a week there in August, and honestly, I am not the type of person that's a worry-wart. However, I will be diving with my wife and 2 children, and I don't want to take any unnecessary risks with them (beyond the general risks of scuba diving).

I will likely rent an Analox unit and test the air for CO. Seems like a very small investment of time and money to eliminate a remote possibility, albeit one with potentially serious consequences.

Blue73

 

[Brules]

I honestly believe your money would be better spent on FULL DAN insurance for everyone diving....... Not having DAN to me is > anything else. Followed closely by testing Nitrox tanks.Get DAN! Don't leave home without it!

 

[mediumone]

I honestly believe your money would be better spent on FULL DAN insurance for everyone diving....... Not having DAN to me is > anything else. Followed closely by testing Nitrox tanks.Get DAN! Don't leave home without it!

Or any other trip insurance that covers scuba diving. You'll have to torture yourself by reading the fine print, as some do, some don't, and some have depth restrictions shallower than 130'.

I've consistently found much more coverage for less than DAN.

 

[nimoh]

Maybe because the risk of a nitrox mix-up is higher than the risk of CO contamination?

Our dive shop taught us to never dive nitrox without testing, way too easy for it to be fatal; but CO was basically taught as "if it tastes bad, stop using it immediately". I'm now questioning if I should get a CO tester- as I'm a nervous nellie, and it seems to be an easy thing to check.

I test all my tanks for O2 and He content before a dive, but since this thread is about CO, I assumed he meant all nitrox tanks were being tested for CO while other tanks were not.

 

[Skittl1321]

I test all my tanks for O2 and He content before a dive, but since this thread is about CO, I assumed he meant all nitrox tanks were being tested for CO while other tanks were not.

That makes sense; I read it to mean they were testing nitrox for O2, but not worrying about CO.

 

[Ron Lee]

I test all my tanks for O2 and He content before a dive, but since this thread is about CO, I assumed he meant all nitrox tanks were being tested for CO while other tanks were not.

Is "He" helium?

 

[nimoh]

Is "He" helium?

yes, my analyzer measures both oxygen and helium at the same time.