fldiver1
Contributor
Glad to see ya on the boards Marta!!
Overfill at Castaway Scuba
- Thread starter UCFKnightDiver
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LiteHedded
Contributor
I would be pissed if they did it to my 80s
but I'd still dive them. at that point the damage is done and you may as well enjoy it
Doesn't Castaway have a "mailbox" for singles? Also, given the extremely low incidents of tanks blowing up, I would have no problem standing by tanks as they filled. Fortunately, unlike Divers Direct, they can fill tanks out side of their mailbox. Divers Direct couldn't fit my buddy's HP120s or LP120s in their mailbox, and refused to fill them. That's why I'm never going back to Diver's Direct. Castaway is closer, has good prices (*cough*needtosellgasbycubicfoot*cough*), is more personable (owner answered my email promptly and responds on the boards here too, that's awesome!) and will fill your tanks no matter what.....even if they overfill
Castaway does NOT have a DIN pressure guage, atleast they didn't when I was there last week, trying to get my doubles filled. I didn't have my regs with me so I hooked them back up to the banks and opened the valves to see what they were sitting at, I don't understand everything about tank filling but that seems to my brain likeit would work, right? Open both sides, if needle doesn't move then the bank I'm filling from and my bottles are both at the pressure on the guage, right?
For what it's worth, I always like to watch and make sure my tanks are filled right. With doubled MP aluminum 100s, I want a fill to 3500 hot or more.
The guy there couldn't have filled my doubles to 6600, not even if he tried. He's not going to kill anyone, but I really really really think it's somewhat important for dive shops to properly train employees before leaving them alone. The only other alternative is to say "you'll have to leave the tanks overnight" and that is not the best in my opinion. The primary reason I go to dive shops is for air, that is what they need most to be able to provide.
Fortunately, it seems like Castaway is going to resolve this issue and train their employees. I respect them more for it! I also am glad that the owner came on the boards and gave an objective response to what amounts to several criticisms: three divers in the last week or so have said they have had some funky experiences at Castaway.
Will I go there for air? No. Not unless I have to. Why? Because I pay $10 to top my doubles off from 2500 to 3300. That seems unfair to me. That's about 50 cubic feet of air, or slightly over half of an aluminum 80 drained to maybe 500 psi? I don't feel like calculating the exact pressure. But still, I pay double. So I won't go to Castaway unless I really need air, unless they are willing to find some more, in my opinion, equitable way to sell me air. I know we just had a huge debate over whether it's fair for a shop to charge what they do, instead of by the cubic foot, and I'm not saying Castaway is a bad shop, but if I can wait until I'm in Gainesville for a weekend, I can save about $6 by getting nitrox by the cubic foot at Cave East. For what it's worth, CEE had one employee who wasn't a diver at all. He didn't know how to fill tanks either, and I ended up doing most of the fill there too. No place is perfect.
So Castaway, what you need is a DIN pressure guage, possibly convert another whip to DIN (only one is DIN, right?), start selling gas to doubles divers by the cubic foot (at the very least, it would be nice if you could say "if it's under half full, then $5/tank, if it's over half full, $3/tank" but charging by the cubic foot would be better) and try to train your employees better before leaving them all by themselves
Also, I wouldn't mind if they could find some way to work more hand in hand with the dive club on campus. I don't know exactly if they, as I'm not a member, but it doesn't seem like they are hand in hand. They are the closest shop and I'm sure that they could each scratch each other's backs somehow if they aren't already! For example, maybe you could offer air by the cubic foot to dive club members? *hint hint* I'm looking for some reason to join the dive club...(they don't offer much to cave divers, and I'm not really intersted in ocean dives at $60/day..)
Thank you Castaway!!!
Castaway does NOT have a DIN pressure guage, atleast they didn't when I was there last week, trying to get my doubles filled. I didn't have my regs with me so I hooked them back up to the banks and opened the valves to see what they were sitting at, I don't understand everything about tank filling but that seems to my brain likeit would work, right? Open both sides, if needle doesn't move then the bank I'm filling from and my bottles are both at the pressure on the guage, right?
For what it's worth, I always like to watch and make sure my tanks are filled right. With doubled MP aluminum 100s, I want a fill to 3500 hot or more.
The guy there couldn't have filled my doubles to 6600, not even if he tried. He's not going to kill anyone, but I really really really think it's somewhat important for dive shops to properly train employees before leaving them alone. The only other alternative is to say "you'll have to leave the tanks overnight" and that is not the best in my opinion. The primary reason I go to dive shops is for air, that is what they need most to be able to provide.
Fortunately, it seems like Castaway is going to resolve this issue and train their employees. I respect them more for it! I also am glad that the owner came on the boards and gave an objective response to what amounts to several criticisms: three divers in the last week or so have said they have had some funky experiences at Castaway.
Will I go there for air? No. Not unless I have to. Why? Because I pay $10 to top my doubles off from 2500 to 3300. That seems unfair to me. That's about 50 cubic feet of air, or slightly over half of an aluminum 80 drained to maybe 500 psi? I don't feel like calculating the exact pressure. But still, I pay double. So I won't go to Castaway unless I really need air, unless they are willing to find some more, in my opinion, equitable way to sell me air. I know we just had a huge debate over whether it's fair for a shop to charge what they do, instead of by the cubic foot, and I'm not saying Castaway is a bad shop, but if I can wait until I'm in Gainesville for a weekend, I can save about $6 by getting nitrox by the cubic foot at Cave East. For what it's worth, CEE had one employee who wasn't a diver at all. He didn't know how to fill tanks either, and I ended up doing most of the fill there too. No place is perfect.
So Castaway, what you need is a DIN pressure guage, possibly convert another whip to DIN (only one is DIN, right?), start selling gas to doubles divers by the cubic foot (at the very least, it would be nice if you could say "if it's under half full, then $5/tank, if it's over half full, $3/tank" but charging by the cubic foot would be better) and try to train your employees better before leaving them all by themselves
Also, I wouldn't mind if they could find some way to work more hand in hand with the dive club on campus. I don't know exactly if they, as I'm not a member, but it doesn't seem like they are hand in hand. They are the closest shop and I'm sure that they could each scratch each other's backs somehow if they aren't already! For example, maybe you could offer air by the cubic foot to dive club members? *hint hint*
I'm looking for some reason to join the dive club...(they don't offer much to cave divers, and I'm not really intersted in ocean dives at $60/day..) Thank you Castaway!!!
LiteHedded
Contributor
that's why I like cave country
i think I paid 8 bucks to top off my two 80's with 32% on saturday
there are a couple cave/cavern divers in the dive club btw
i think I paid 8 bucks to top off my two 80's with 32% on saturday
there are a couple cave/cavern divers in the dive club btw
Just wanted to make it abudantly clear that I feel that Castaway Scuba is a better shop than many others. Sure, they have one employee who needs alittle practice filling tanks, but they have a convenient location, decent prices, and an owner who cares very much about making sure the customers are happy. That last thing to me is the most important, and I feel the characteristic that makes a store survive and succeed.
I will gladly return to Castaway, infact, I'll be dropping off an Al. 40 for hydro, vip and fill there sometime soon. My complaints still stand: they ought to get a DIN guage, I'd like it if they'd find some way to not charge me $10.65 for 50 cubic feet of air, and it would be good if all of their employees were better educated. But, they are a great little shop and one which I would heartily recomend to other divers!!!!
Thank you VERY VERY much Marta for taking the time to come on the boards here and making sure that any issues are resolved, that shows true character, and that's why your shop is getting my business! (well...there's a shop up in Sanford I might visit sometime, but that's a bit of a drive. They happen to be convenient if I ever end up at Alexander on a Saturday, but I keep ending up there on Sundays, and they are closed. For the most part, Castaway will be getting my business while I am a UCF student!)
I will gladly return to Castaway, infact, I'll be dropping off an Al. 40 for hydro, vip and fill there sometime soon. My complaints still stand: they ought to get a DIN guage, I'd like it if they'd find some way to not charge me $10.65 for 50 cubic feet of air, and it would be good if all of their employees were better educated. But, they are a great little shop and one which I would heartily recomend to other divers!!!!
Thank you VERY VERY much Marta for taking the time to come on the boards here and making sure that any issues are resolved, that shows true character, and that's why your shop is getting my business! (well...there's a shop up in Sanford I might visit sometime, but that's a bit of a drive. They happen to be convenient if I ever end up at Alexander on a Saturday, but I keep ending up there on Sundays, and they are closed. For the most part, Castaway will be getting my business while I am a UCF student!)
SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
Surely they have a DIN/Yoke adapter... Cheaper than buying an entirely new whip/guage setup.
By the way... Dive Shops charging by the cubic foot are the exception, not the standard. Flat rate fills are standard pretty much everywhere by cave shops... :/
By the way... Dive Shops charging by the cubic foot are the exception, not the standard. Flat rate fills are standard pretty much everywhere by cave shops... :/
OP
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
Thankyou Marta for replying to the thread I went up there and rented another tank for a dive on sunday, and noticed that the guage read 3300 psi then when I put my regulator on it on sunday It read 3000 psi the tank was not hot at all when I got it so I am wondering if your guage is off or maybe my reg gusge is off just something you might want to check that may have been the reason for an errant 3900 psi reading by the guage in the shop.
SuPrBuGmAn
Contributor
... or you misread?
Now this is what I call a class act! I'd get my fills from you anytime if I lived down there. (15 bucks an hour and help with moving expenses after May and you could have a new YMCA instructor on staff). Finally another shop that insists divers be responsible for themselves! Just because it's not nitrox does it mean you just pick up the tank and run. I'd like to take a trip down some time just to meet you. And kudo's for giving a guy a chance to learn something. Don't be too hard on him. Not everyone would even try to help him out like JJW did. A few more weeks and you'll have one hell of a fill guy if he's learning from all this.
OP
UCFKnightDiver
Contributor
nope im pretty certain I read correctly both times
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