Divesorb Shelf Life

firemandiver

I'm sure this subject has been covered before, but I can't seem to find the pertinent posts. I have a tub of Dragersorb that has an expiration date of 8/2005. It is sealed and unopened. Is it still ok to use, or am I asking for trouble? Conventional wisdom would say that if it's out of date, it's no good. However, I did 15 dives this past summer when I took my class on the exact same batch of 2 year expired sorb with no apparent problems. Being a newbie I just packed the canister with what I was given by my instructor. I had no idea it had an expiration date. He's been diving the same batch for several years. He bought a bunch at the same time and took a few years to deplete his supply. I bought a tub from him and only later noticed there was an expiration date. I hate to toss a good tub of sorb, but I'd really hate to die over a $50 tub of sorb! C'mon all you experienced Rebreather divers, what would you do? Thanks, FD

jradomski

The "expiration" date and how far out ther are depends on the manufacturer.. for example grace used to date their stuff only 1.5years from manufacturer, now its 2 or 3 years while sofnolime and dragersorb date theirs much further out.. something like 6 years.... Thats alot longer time for a problem to occur (like drying out or freezing) with the sorb in storage (not that it will occur)..


if the stuff expired in 2005, your taling about a chemical thats been sitting around about 8.5 years! Thats quite a bit of time and I wouldn't bet my life on it..

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Joe Radomski
CCR Trimix Instructor Trainer
ANDI Instructor Trainer Director #10

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Ben Field

Agreed with Joe, sounds pretty old to me.

I still believe we all rather in the dark about adsorbent and the manufacturers like to stay behind their smoke and mirrors regarding exactly how slime should and can be used, I suspect because they have so little control over Rebreather divers, (unlike the medical industry) and they want to avoid any legal action when things all go pear shaped.

Just a couple of months ago Molecular Products where quoted as saying you shouldn't store part used slime in the unit for more than a day, yet almost everyone I've met happily leaves theirs for a week or two before binning it or diving it (within the rated hours of course)

It would be really nice to know how long packed used and unused slime can be left in the rebreather before its unsafe to use, whether drying or leaving damp is better etc etc.

I've read a whole host of different opinions on here and elsewhere but almost none of it qualified by test results or manufacturers guidelines.

That said, past the use by date is pretty clear cut and if you where to have an incident it would as you say be a horribly cheap way to die for a few $'s of kitty litter!

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wedivebc

About a year or so ago the Canadian Navy was faced with running critically low on sorb due to expired supplies and the fact it was not going to get replacement sorb in time so they sent some out for testing at a government lab. I heard the expired sorb not only was found suitable for further use but actually tested better than the new sample they compared it to. They ended up certifying the sorb for one year past expiration date. I know there are some navy divers on here who can confirm this but that was the story I got from one of them.

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Cheers,

Dave....

Man is the only animal burdened with the knowledge he will eventually die

Ben Field

I bet they had more than one kegs worth though, so more of an incentive not to bin it.... but at least they tested it and had solid data.

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Dutchy

Basically there's not much to go wrong. *IF* a keg is good the PE will do a fine job of keeping the CO2 out and the water in. If it was in the sun for most of the time I'd doubt the quality because of aging HDPE (mostly used for packaging) but if it had been stored indoors (out of the sun and other extremes such as freezing temperatures) I'd most happily dive it.

Remember it's a very *simple* stable chemical substance. I'm carefull with cells and other stuff that may deteriorate over time but this is nothing like that... *I* would use it without much further doubt.

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human

This is definitely not a use or don't use opinion, that ultimately is up to the user. Expiration dates IMHO mostly seem out of control. Face it, testing is expensive and adds a lot more to the bottom line. Prime example, bottle water has an expiration date on it, and from a medical perspective tons of med's and supplies are tossed base on the date stamp (at least for public use ). And as stated above, proper storage is one of the biggest keys.

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firemandiver

Thanks for all the help! I've decided that I don't care to risk my life over $50 worth of sorb. Better to be prudent and alive than careless and dead! I tossed it and ordered some Sphreasorb with a fresh expiration date. FD

diverreb

That one was a no brainer.... Smart decision. $50.00 is nothing.... Not even a tank of gas for the old SUV these days. Certainly not worth the worry of a CO2 hit with every dive on it.

Richie