July 2012    Download the Entire Issue (PDF)

Vol. 27, No. 7   What's this?

Four Steps to Ensure Your Air is Clean

from the July, 2012 issue of Undercurrent  

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My simple current three-rule routine at all fill stations is as follows:

*Ask to see the compressor and its intake location. Assess for possible entrainment of vehicle or boat exhaust into intake. Assess risk for other contaminants in ambient air, such as the presence of paint or glue odors, or other industrial neighbors who could contaminate the intake. If there is a risk that cannot be quantified or assessed, then choose another operator.

*Test every tank for CO contamination prior to diving, with no exceptions. The one time you don't test is likely the time there will be CO contamination, which can and does come from the burning of an electric compressor's lubrication oil if overheated....