Posted by roakey on August 15, 2001 at 15:16:40:
In Reply to: Re: MHK, do you ALWAYS spoil for a fight? posted by MHK on August 15, 2001 at 13:43:04:
>>BTW, if you only put a 1/2 inch of oil I'd be fine ;-)
Ok, how about no dip tube and we go lobstering, too? :-)
You're right, once a myth has started it's very hard to stop. I'm amazed at the difference in Nitrox savvy between Florida and California. Most of California shops seem scared to death of it. Accidents like the reg that caught fire (on the what, 80%?) a few years back don't help, that's for sure.
Here's a great story that highlights technical naiveté in Colorado (though in this case not Nitrox naiveté). I needed an Argon fill. My local shop only stocks it in the winter (I guess no one dives below the thermocline in the summer?) So I call a shop up in Denver: “Got Argon?” “Yup, sure do” “Thanks” and I drive about 75 miles to the shop. I actually had other things to do in Denver, so it wasn’t *that* bad but I wasn’t going to let onto this little fact.
Me: “I need this Argon bottle filled.”
DSM: “Sorry, we can’t do that, Rob’s not here.”
Me: “I just drove up from Colorado Springs because you told me you had Argon. I need this filled now.”
DSM: “I’ll see what I can do.”
We go into the back and he starts looking all around a small storage room.
Me: “You looking for the whip?”
DSM: “Yes.”
Me: “It’s right here.” (Pointing to three whips hanging on a wall about 5’ away from the bulk cylinders).
DSM: “Argon’s not explosive, is it?”
Me: “No, it’s inert, so it’s even safer than air.”
DSM: “That’s right, it won’t explode unless it’s mixed with oxygen.”
Me: “It’s INERT! It won’t explode period!”
DSM: “Oh.” (I don’t think he understood the full meaning of “inert”)
I then help him figure out which whip to use (hint: look at Argon cylinder connection, find a whip with a connection that will fit).
DSM then pours over my cylinder to see if it’s in hydro. Watching his face I see him stumble when he can’t find a common VIP sticker, but then decides the neck crack inspection sticker fits the bill. He hooks up the bottle and starts the fill.
Me: “How much pressure in your bulk cylinder?”
DSM: “I don’t know but it can only be about 2600 psi max, so I can't overfill your bottle.”
Me: “That’s a 2015 psi bottle you’re filling.”
DSM immediately shuts off bulk valve, turns off my cylinder’s valve and opens the bulk cylinder again. The whip’s pressure gauge ends up reading 1800 psi. Must be that checking the hydro is more important than checking the working pressure of the bottle you’re about to fill.
Me: “Ok, I have some time, if you don’t mind open the bulk cylinder valve just a crack and let it equalize slowly and I’ll wander around out front and check out what you’ve got (it was my first time at this shop).
So I go out front and check out their “technical” area with stage bottle valve rings, carabiners and other stuff I wouldn’t be caught dead with and waited for my bottle to fill.
Afterwards the DSM hooked up the bottle to a regulator to check the pressure (what’s wrong with the gauge on the whip?). I also was a bit unconcerned about the pressure because they only had one bottle of Argon, so whatever I got, I got.
At least the visit was entertaining at some level.
Roak
Ps. Did I mention the tapped pony keg of beer on ice next to the cascade?