Plastic DIN cap warning

[Alan Owens]

I am posting this in the hope that I can save others from the potential injury that plastic DIN plugs pose to users and bystanders.

I have owned and used these plugs for over 8 years with no problems until Sunday morning. I had noticed the posts of others warning of the dangers and said to myself “Don’t open the valve dumbass”. Well after handling the tanks for 8 years this “dumbass” finally slipped up and cracked the valve.
I had just gotten a fill and was loading my doubles onto my truck. While laying them flat my left hand was on the knob and the motion just did open the valve, quickly pressurizing the plug which promptly exited the area in about 4 pieces. The pointing finger on my left hand was directly in the path and took quite a blow from the resulting projectile. To be quite honest it didn’t hurt as much as it scared me. The second cap was in the trash before the bleeding stopped.
Some of my fellow divers on hand immediately came to my aid and offered assistance. Upon examination we determined that we were seeing plastic shrapnel and some of the inner workings of my finger that should not be seen and at a minimum I would need stitches. Also my finger was numb and tingling, causing me to fear some type of nerve damage. My new friends bandaged me up and I proceeded to the nearest hospital.
At the hospital the doctor removed, hopefully, all the foreign material and closed me up with 7 stitches. I am pretty sure there is no nerve damage because, believe you me, I can feel that son of a ***** now.
To reiterate the point, please dispose of these plastic DIN caps before someone is seriously hurt. I was careless and stubborn when I ignored the warnings. It scares me to think about one of my children messing with my tanks and bearing the brunt of this type of thing.
If you want to flame me on this go right ahead, but this post is not for you “perfect” divers, it is intended to be a warning for the rest of us human divers.

 

[Boogie711]

I hope your finger heals up quick Alan. I've got a number of those Delrin jobs but I've been switching over to Stainless Steel. Apparently that's not a bad choice.

Thanks for sharing your story.

 

[TCDiver1]

I knew the plastic caps and plugs were bad news but i didn't know delrin was a problem. Is it?

 

[ScubaFreak]

hey alan, thanks, i too use these caps as do a number of my friends,
Thanks for the story and mind that finger!

 

[jonnythan]

I knew the plastic caps and plugs were bad news but i didn't know delrin was a problem. Is it?

Delrin is plastic and there's no reason it should be able to withstand 3500 psi in a DIN thread. There's a reason regulators and such are made out of metal, not plastic..

 

[novadiver]

I am posting this in the hope that I can save others from the potential injury that plastic DIN caps pose to users and bystanders.

I have owned and used these caps for over 8 years with no problems until Sunday morning. I had noticed the posts of others warning of the dangers and said to myself “Don’t open the valve dumbass”. Well after handling the tanks for 8 years this “dumbass” finally slipped up and cracked the valve.
I had just gotten a fill and was loading my doubles onto my truck. While laying them flat my left hand was on the knob and the motion just did open the valve, quickly pressurizing the cap which promptly exited the area in about 4 pieces. The pointing finger on my left hand was directly in the path and took quite a blow from the resulting projectile. To be quite honest it didn’t hurt as much as it scared me. The second cap was in the trash before the bleeding stopped.
Some of my fellow divers on hand immediately came to my aid and offered assistance. Upon examination we determined that we were seeing plastic shrapnel and some of the inner workings of my finger that should not be seen and at a minimum I would need stitches. Also my finger was numb and tingling, causing me to fear some type of nerve damage. My new friends bandaged me up and I proceeded to the nearest hospital.
At the hospital the doctor removed, hopefully, all the foreign material and closed me up with 7 stitches. I am pretty sure there is no nerve damage because, believe you me, I can feel that son of a ***** now.
To reiterate the point, please dispose of these plastic DIN caps before someone is seriously hurt. I was careless and stubborn when I ignored the warnings. It scares me to think about one of my children messing with my tanks and bearing the brunt of this type of thing.
If you want to flame me on this go right ahead, but this post is not for you “perfect” divers, it is intended to be a warning for the rest of us human divers.

Did these caps have gas release holes in them? or were they solid caps?

 

[The Kraken]

Good post, Alan.
That's what's good about this board.
I will take this bit of information, heed it, and store it in my scuba memory banks.

 

[DandyDon]

I've only used Din once, and thought I was being nice to my friend by buying him the plastic caps. :11: Maybe black tape would keep the valves clean.

 

[TCDiver1]

Delrin is plastic and there's no reason it should be able to withstand 3500 psi in a DIN thread. There's a reason regulators and such are made out of metal, not plastic..

Delrin isn't plastic it's an engineered polymer. Theres a big difference. If you have any factual information to post please feel free to post it. Otherwise, try harder keeping to yourself jonny.

 

[SDAnderson]

Did these caps have gas release holes in them? or were they solid caps?

I've seen the plastic/delrin ones with the holes in them fire the retaining bead that holds the loop of string across a room at a truly amazing velocity. If you're going to use DIN plugs (not caps - those go on regulators) they need to be made of brass or stainless steel. No vent holes will mean you'll need a wrench to loosen them but they will save your gas if the valve is accidentally opened.

Not to hijack the thread, but what is the distinction between a plastic and a polymer?