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Dear List, I am a recent subscriber to the list and have a question that has been bothering me for some time. I am at the low tech end of tech diving. I was nitrox certified 2 1/2 years ago, primarily for increased bottom time and an increased safety factor. I do four 60-80 dives in a day and nitrox has been a God send. Unfortunately, I have come to the realization that the limiting factor in spearfishing is now my out of shape ass. Anyway, I was going to a local dive shop for my nitrox fills, never giving them any consideration. He would mark the oxygen percentage on the tanks with a magic marker written on a piece of tape. Everything was great until two of my friends went to this dive shop to themselves get nitrox certified. They sat through the theory part of the class and towards the end of the evening, the instructor/dive shop owner wanted to show the class how an oxygen analyzer works. The previously filled nitrox tanks were sitting along the side wall so he grabbed one of the tanks to show the class. He measures the first tank and shows the class that it has 33% oxygen. Unfortunately, the piece of tape on the tank says 32%. The next tank is also off by 1%. The next tank is off by 1.5%, the next by 2%. The final tank was off by 5%! His explanation was that he had someone else do the fills. The new person did not wait long enough between the time the tank was filled to do the oxygen measuring. He says that the additional time is needed so the oxygen can mix. Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? BTW, since this occurred, I felt I could no longer trust this guy. I have four six foot oxygen tanks in my garage which I use to pump up our nearly empty tanks to about 1000 lbs of oxygen I bring these tanks to the dive shop (with his knowledge of what I am doing) and have him fill them. Once home, I then measure the tanks myself for their oxygen content. I would appreciate the list's comments. Thanks much, Dave P Bonita Springs FL -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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