Posted by tleemay on October 25, 2000 at 17:24:33:
In Reply to: Re: In Defense posted by Jon on October 25, 2000 at 09:53:00:
Just last evening I was attending the board meeting
of a the dive club the Valencia Sport Chalet store
sponsors.
During the meeting, this very subject was touched
upon by the board members and gently discussed for
about 10 minutes. Even this store that sponsored the
club was pointed out has being less than adequate
answering questions concerning cost, availability
and application.
One story that was referenced about the Valencia store
was when one of the club members took his pony bottles
in for a vis and fill two days before opening weekend.
After the vis and the fill, he put his bottles into his
RIB and waited until Friday night for the season to
open.
At Anacapa Island in the middle of the night he geared
up, put the reg on his pony and turned on the valve -
pffft, nothing. No air in the tank. He removed the reg
and discovered the tank valve was just ever so slightly
tightened. It was so loose that when he checked the
other pony for air, the valve just unscrewed with almost
no effort.
It was obvious that the valves were not tightened enough
following the vis, fill and pressure check. What seal
there was was just adequate for the warm tank and
o-ring to seal and hold the fill until which time
tank cooled and the o-ring contracted - just enough
for all the air to apparently leak out hours later.
When he complained to the shop after the trip about
the loose valves, he was told by the same person who
filled them that they were only required to hand tighten
the valves.
And from the way the story was related to me, this
person was not a certified diver.