Cheap nitrox

[Helen F H]

<font color='#000080'>hey guys, i remember reading on a thread somewhere that they blend their own nitrox (possibly from O2 J bottles in the garage), and it was rediculously cheap. &nbsp;How do you do it? &nbsp;and more to the point how can I do it?

[Dr Stevil]

Well you'd need to do a blenders course first, but TBH, do you really want to
You got a suitable space for the kit? &nbsp;
Your house insurer cool about large quantities of a gas which will support the combustion of just about anything known to mankind? &nbsp;
what about the compressor for the actual 21% part of the mix, you got one already? (your O2 will go in first then the air is added not the other way around
you got the money to setup such a facility?

Put it this way - in my old club (who already had the space and a compressor) we asked the compresor service engineer for a quote on setting up such a system, his recommendation was &nbsp;&quot;Don't bother&quot;. Compressors aren't cheap to run and maintain and the danger of large amounts of O2 can't be taken lightly.

[Sandman]

Shag your local gas blender

As Steve says it's probably not worth the hassle unless you are using quite a bit of Nitrox or are getting a few people involved in it with you.

[Mark Chase]

It is worth the hassel if you can get hold of a J so you dont have to pay rental and you get a fill on the J that charges you by the Bar rather than by the J.

As for the blenders course???

The O2 Hackers hand book is all you need for air top stuff.

You need to be doing a fair bit of diving to make the front end cost of a whip and decent in line presure gauge work out. Yo definatly dont want a shead load of buddies involved as you will be for ever getting the J filled.

ATB

Mark Chase

[Andy the Coastie]

<font color='#0000FF'>Prog,

Nitrox and blending is easy to do, and very simple.. If you can pump ya own cylinder with air, then ya can mix nitrox........if a bit of help and a bit of some extra equipment.

j bottles can be easy to get hold of , if ya friendly with a NURSE, Ambulanceman or the local scrap yard.,,, Average price is £ 10 - 15 for a J.

Also , you will need a analiser........
a chart to what amount of who many BAR of of O2 to mix, then how many BAR of air to mix the nitrox.


If you do a blending course, then tell your HOUSE INSURANCE, they normally take and make a note, without any extra upgrade of more money.

Andy.

If you want to know more on how to mix nitrox, PM me for futher info.

[bang-on]

<font color='#0000FF'>the oxy hacker mark mentions is a good way of getting an over view of the nitrox,blending,equipment,expense,safety issues and would give you a good bit of information to see if its for you and your shed.
if you would like my copy for a while let me know and i'll send it over.
cheers
barrie

[Fiona]

<font color='#0000FF'>Helen

I went this route a few years ago when getting hold of Nitrox fills on trips could be quite difficult.  I bought two 10 litre O2 cylinders, decanting whip and I have a analyser.  I did the blending course but I don't think alot of people do, I just like to know what I am getting in to.  I have now been doing this for about 4 years I fill cylinders with O2 and go to local dive shop and get them topped up.  They know what is in the cylinders sometime it is 100% O2 and sometimes its just a very rich mix depending what was in there to start with.

However nitrox if getting more widely available and if I were in your position now I don't think I would bother, I have a local gas station which can do it just as cheaply, although I do like to be able to take a bottle of O2 on trips and just get air fills as this saves time and quite frankly some air stations are just a rip off (controversial I know).

Fiona

[Dominic]

My club does its own Nitrox. We had our own compressor anyway, so it was no biggie to get it set for clean air. All you need to blend Nitrox then is some Js of Oxygen (About £5 a month) and a decant whip. Oh, and an Oxygen gauge

It's probably not worth it for one person, but if you can talk you CLUB into it, the costs become very realistic.

Mind you, there ARE one or two people who manage it dirt cheap by getting Js of Oxygen and Nitrogen, and therefore removing the need for any compressors. It's not the best way, but you'll use a Hell of a lot of Nitrogen before you outweigh the cost of buying and maintaining a compressor

[Noel Johnson]

No problem - I get it for free anyway