A B737-700 WAS DISPATCHED AFTER THE CREW OXYGEN BOTTLE WAS REPLACED. BOTTLE VALVE WAS OPENED AND SYS TESTED. LATER RPTED VALVE FOUND NOT FULLY OPENED. BOTTLE WAS OF COMPOSITE TYPE.
Synopsis
A B737-700 WAS DISPATCHED AFTER THE CREW OXYGEN BOTTLE WAS REPLACED. BOTTLE VALVE WAS OPENED AND SYS TESTED. LATER RPTED VALVE FOUND NOT FULLY OPENED. BOTTLE WAS OF COMPOSITE TYPE.
Narrative
THIS WAS MY FIRST TIME CHANGING CREW OXYGEN BOTTLE ON A B-700 ACFT. WHEN I INSTALLED THE BOTTLE I MUST HAVE BEEN CONFUSED BY LOOKING AT THE VALVE FROM THE TOP (B-300 ACFT IS OTHER ORIENTATION). I KNOW I OPENED THE VALVE ENOUGH TO HAVE PRESSURE IN THE LINE; AS I CHKED THE GAUGE AND DID THE MASK TEST; BUT I MUST HAVE NOT NOTICED THE SLOW RECOVERY ON THE GAUGE. I'M PRETTY SURE THAT I FULLY CLOSED THE VALVE AND OPENED IT A 1/4 TURN; INSTEAD OF FULLY OPENING VALVE AND CLOSING 1/4 TURN. I CERTAINLY WILL NOT MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE IN THE FUTURE. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE BOTTLE WAS REPLACED AND THE VALVE WAS OPENED AND THE OXYGEN FLOW WAS TESTED USING 100% FLOW LOOKING/WATCHING FOR A PRESSURE DROP. CALLBACK CONVERSATION WITH RPTR REVEALED THE FOLLOWING INFO: THE RPTR WAS FAMILIAR WITH THE COMPOSITE BOTTLE PROBS OF THE VALVE STOPPING BEFORE BEING FULLY OPENED AND BELIEVED THE VALVE WAS FULLY OPENED. THE PROC WITH THE VALVE PROB IS TO OPEN THE VALVE TILL IT STOPS THEN USE A 'LIMITED' FORCE TURNING THE VALVE TO THE OPEN POS. THE RPTR BELIEVES THE PROB MAY ALSO BE IN TESTING THE SYS AS THE MASK TEST MAY ONLY BE TESTING THE OXYGEN IN THE LINE. THE RPTR'S PROC IS TO USE 100% LEVER AND WAIT FOR 10-15 SECONDS AND WATCH THE GAUGE FOR RECOVERY DURING THE TEST.
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Source: NASA Aviation Safety Reporting System (public domain). Reports are voluntary submissions and are not verified by NASA.