Welcome to the Cave Diver's Forum.

View Poll Results: What is your experience with CO?

Voters
65. You may not vote on this poll
  • I always test for CO, and have personally found CO in my tank(s), or have been poisoned by CO.

    11 16.92%
  • I always test for CO, but have not personally found a reading, or experienced CO poisoning.

    11 16.92%
  • I always test , haven't had a reading, but know someone that has found CO or experienced CO.

    8 12.31%
  • I always test for CO, haven't had a reading, but have heard of found or experienced CO.

    3 4.62%
  • I don't test for CO; I personally know someone that found or experienced CO.

    5 7.69%
  • I don't test for CO, but the station has a CO tester and I've seen it.

    6 9.23%
  • I don't test for CO; I fill my own and test for CO, or just trust my fills.

    9 13.85%
  • I don't test for CO, I've not heard of it around here and don't believe it is an issue.

    6 9.23%
  • Other

    6 9.23%
Closed Thread
Page 3 of 4 FirstFirst 1 2 3 4 LastLast
Results 21 to 30 of 35
  1. #21
    Administrator Forum Admin
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    24,000

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jax View Post
    Really?!?!?! I've never seen a reading in O2.
    Did you notice he is in Mexico?

    Forrest Wilson (with 2 Rs)
    Any opinions are personal.
    Sump Divers

  2. #22
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    Europe, Finland
    Posts
    29

    Default

    There was a car running in front of the air intake of the compressor. The gas blender relied on the CO filter, which unfortunately has a very limited capacity. Some of us got a 21/35/10ppm quadmix. Noticed it by chance mere minutes prior to the dive because one of us happened to carry a CO analyzer. No experience with CO under water.

    Sent from my SM-T560 using Tapatalk


  3. #23
    Honorary Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    SE Coast of Arizona
    Age
    67
    Posts
    2,264

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FW View Post
    Did you notice he is in Mexico?
    Oh, wow . . . just wow . . .

    Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

    "If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?" ~Sydney J. Harris

  4. #24
    Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    High Springs Florida
    Age
    64
    Posts
    2,513

    Default

    I have had experiences with CO both in the water and out. In 2011 I helped swim my friend's body out of a cave in Mexico. We found out that his passing out was the result of CO poisoning from the person who preformed the autopsy. This individual insisted on this diagnosis despite pressure from local authorities to change it to drowning. I have posted about this event for the team on this forum. My friend's passing helped bring the danger of CO contamination into the light. Since that day I have not dove any tank with out analyzing it for O2, He and CO. I do this not to look for CO but simply to make sure what I am breathing is in fact what I think I should be breathing. Two years ago I analyzed my tanks and found that they had Co readings of 17ppm to 43ppm depending on the tank. The odd thing was I had trouble believing these readings because I had filled the tanks myself at a dive shop who works very hard maintaining his compressors. I then analyzed the tanks again with another analyzer and got the same results. Then I used those button detectors still I had doubt so I barrowed Forrest's and got the same results. I called the shop owner and he acted very honestly by calling all his customers from the past week and warning them to either test or dump their tanks. Even after the first experience with CO my mind had trouble believing I could be hit again in less the 300 dives. I have talked to several groups about that day in Mexico (I will speak to any group that asked me) and have done much research into how these event happen. It is my belief, and mine alone, that these events don't happen because they are bad shops operating dangerously, but rather, these events happen to GOOD shops who have had something bad happen to them. The answer to how to stop these event for shops is absolute vigilance in maintenance and in keeping divers analyzing and logging the contains of their tanks. Divers need to have absolute vigilance in analyzing their tanks each dive every dive. In the end, it's up to the individual to protect himself.

    Www.artflowslikewater.com
    Brendan's Law - "Know what you're breathing. Analyze your gas for O2 and Co. Analyze your gas each time, everytime, anywhere."

  5. #25
    Honorary Member
    Join Date
    Jul 2010
    Location
    SE Coast of Arizona
    Age
    67
    Posts
    2,264

    Default

    Well said, MichaelAngelo!

    Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

    "If a small thing has the power to make you angry, does that not indicate something about your size?" ~Sydney J. Harris

  6. #26
    Moderator CDF-STAFF Member
    Join Date
    Oct 2004
    Location
    The World's Most Beautiful Beaches?
    Age
    67
    Posts
    12,724

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Jax View Post
    Well said, MichaelAngelo!
    Yes.

    I didn't know Brendan, but I knew about half a dozen on that trip. It was right before DEMA 2011 in Orlando, and every cave diver I saw at DEMA bought a CO detector. I check mine EVERY dive.

    Whoever said money can't buy love never bought a puppy.

  7. #27
    Member
    Join Date
    Sep 2010
    Location
    Tulum, Mexico
    Posts
    13

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FW View Post
    Did you notice he is in Mexico?


    Yes I live in Mexico Forrest, but positive readings have come from many different countries visited, and as I said Co in o2 is pretty much a global thing (all the o2 I've analysed in the Pacific is shipped from the US of A)...


  8. #28
    Administrator Forum Admin
    Join Date
    Oct 2000
    Location
    Georgia
    Posts
    24,000

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Kelvin Davidson View Post
    Yes I live in Mexico Forrest, but positive readings have come from many different countries visited, and as I said Co in o2 is pretty much a global thing (all the o2 I've analysed in the Pacific is shipped from the US of A)...
    The only O2 I have seen CO in was in welding tanks. Never in aviation, or medical tanks. Most gas suppliers just refill welding tanks, which may get CO in them from getting empty while welding. They clean aviation, and medical tanks.

    Forrest Wilson (with 2 Rs)
    Any opinions are personal.
    Sump Divers

  9. #29
    Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2011
    Location
    St Petersburg, FL
    Posts
    4,612

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by FW View Post
    Did you notice he is in Mexico?
    Has no bearing. Medical oxygen is allowed to have some co. I can't remember the exact amount. But it's not uncommon worldwide.


  10. #30

    Default

    I've never been huge on marking my primary tanks for storage or transport, which sometimes draws a negative comment, but it keeps me honest with myself about analyzing every time. I often analyze after a fill, and then absolutely every time I put my regs on the tanks before getting in the water. It does mean the same tank gets analyzed a couple times on the same fill, but who cares - I'm slow enough gearing up, no one is going to notice another two minutes.



 

Similar Threads

  1. Carbon Monoxide Checker
    By NorthWoodsDiver in forum Gear Exchange
    Replies: 6
    Last Post: 01-10-2015, 08:32 AM
  2. Carbon Monoxide
    By RN in forum Main Forum
    Replies: 20
    Last Post: 11-24-2011, 07:20 PM

Tags for this Thread

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts