Posted by JT on February 08, 2002 at 14:06:47:
I usually lurk on the board but I had to share my recent dive shop experience. I just returned from what should have been a simple trip to my local shop to get my tank filled. My tank is a steel 72 from the mid 60's, stamped 2250 PSI, the teenager at this shop grabbed my tank without a word, didn't check the VIP, didn't ask for a C card and stuck it on a fill whip. I did tell him that it was a steel 72.
After about 90 seconds I see him turning off the air to my tank. I ask him what the pressure is and he says he's filled it to 2700 PSI. I politely tell him that that's too much pressure for that tank and to take out some air. He says it's a hot fill so it will cool down to 2400! I finally got him to drain out some air, let the tank cool a bit and fill slower! He's still clueless as to why I didn't want more air in my tank and proudly boasts that he normally fills 3000 psi tanks to 3800 so that they cool down to 3500!!!! Needless to say I will not be frequenting this dive shop again, even though I can walk to it from my house.
this was their second chance for my business, the first time I went in for a VIP on my tanks, Moe, Larry and Curly tried to put an o ring on my machine thread tank and then filled my other tank to over 3000 and had to replace my burst disc!
If they aren't trained on the simple matter of filling a scuba cylinder properly, I can't imagine what their regulator repair is like!!!! Scary!
Anyway that's my rant, had to vent!
thanks!