Portable CO monitor

[DandyDon]

My question was to everyone here who now own an EII CO.

How 'bout you, and anyone else - have you decided how you're going to handle the recommended every-six-months "span calibration" these things need? IMO, sending it off that often to get it done could become burdensome, but it's important enough that it needs doing somehow.

Ah OK. I haven't got mine yet so haven't gotten into the manual and servicing. I think that Patti said that they are discussing some details with the engineers with a possible content change of the bump & calibration gases. I feel confident that calibration will be a chore that the owner/diver can do at home, but it would be nice to see dive shops also offer the service at a reasonable costs - except, when I tell a compressor operator what my readings are on his tanks, I like to be able to say that I calibrated myself. They're commonly in denial about their own quality controls.

I'll be watching for more info from Patti here...

 

[CriticalMass]

Ah OK. I haven't got mine yet so haven't gotten into the manual and servicing. I think that Patti said that they are discussing some details with the engineers with a possible content change of the bump & calibration gases. I feel confident that calibration will be a chore that the owner/diver can do at home, but it would be nice to see dive shops also offer the service at a reasonable costs - except, when I tell a compressor operator what my readings are on his tanks, I like to be able to say that I calibrated myself. They're commonly in denial about their own quality controls.

I'll be watching for more info from Patti here...

That's what I want to do as well. 6 months goes by pretty quick - the next 6 over the winter without much SCUBA for me, REALLY will, I expect. I do have my first trip to Cozumel booked for late Feb, and I'll have mine with me there.

I did see a comment or two here earlier about lowering the PPM amount, IIRC, but I've ordered my 1st can of bump gas now anyway so I have a way to at least do a preliminary check prior to the trip.

The manual is available on the Analox web site for download, and the 6-month "span calibration" requirement took me a little by surprise. The manual speaks to a couple of calibration accessories but their website isn't offering them for sale yet, that I could find. Guess it'll take a little time.

 

[Scared Silly]

How 'bout you, and anyone else - have you decided how you're going to handle the recommended every-six-months "span calibration" these things need? IMO, sending it off that often to get it done could become burdensome, but it's important enough that it needs doing somehow.

I have a local shop that can do calibration (i.e. they have cal gas). I plan to see about working with them. If not (i.e. cost wise) I will just send the to Analox and have them do it. At some point I might get the cal gas myself but not for now.

 

[Patti Analox]

Dear Usual Suspects,
All good points and suggestions. We will offer a calibration service here at Analox, however our focus is, and has always been, to provide you with analyzers you can service and maintain yourselves.

Items we are ironing out: Bump and Calibration gas ppm levels. Currently, we offer 50 ppmCO/blance air bump gas. Your feedback has us taking a look at 10 ppm for both bump and calibration purposes. We have a meeting on the books for the first week of January to finish out the details of the EIICO launch.

I promise everything will indeed be "at the ready" long before anyone's first 6 month calibration is due. More to follow in January...in the meantime I wish you all Happy Holidays and Safe Diving!

 

[CriticalMass]

I promise everything will indeed be "at the ready" long before anyone's first 6 month calibration is due. More to follow in January...in the meantime I wish you all Happy Holidays and Safe Diving!

Very good information, and thanks for the update, Patti.

Hoping you and yours have a great holiday season.

 

[CriticalMass]

I feel confident that calibration will be a chore that the owner/diver can do at home, but it would be nice to see dive shops also offer the service at a reasonable costs - except, when I tell a compressor operator what my readings are on his tanks, I like to be able to say that I calibrated myself. They're commonly in denial about their own quality controls.

I just got an email from Josh Hockney at Analox in response to an inquiry I sent a while back. Do-it-yourself calibration is not looking good at this point. I am very disappointed at that news, and I responded in that vein.

Mr. Hockney indicated that Analox is tentatively planning to make calibration kits available only to service centers, and that "this will hopefully avoid end users taking off the back of the unit and having to work with the pcb without being trained to do so. Obviously we would rather certified centres do this job."

I told him that I do understand that Analox would like to limit their liability exposure, and I certainly appreciate the consequences if I calibrate my own EII CO incorrectly. But I also said many of us, if provided with adequate instructions, would most likely be easily competent enough to perform our own calibrations, and doing so would be advantageous in several ways.

Still seems to me that Analox could comfortably take the middle ground in this and make the cal kits available, with the caveat that anyone unsure of their abilities should go the service center route.

If anyone else wants to provide feedback to Analox regarding this decision, contact Mr Hockney at joshua.hockney@analox.biz.

 

[Patti Analox]

Hi Critical Mass,

I believe there has been a bit of miscommunication regarding the calibration options for the EIICO. Let me state, for the record, end users who wish to calibrate the EIICO themselves will indeed be able to purchase the calibration kit at Homepage: Analox - Looking after the air you breathe.. We are finalizing this procedure and kit availability and will post an announcement shortly. If anyone has questions, please feel free to contact me directly at patt@analox.net or call my office at 877 723-3247.

 

[CriticalMass]

Let me state, for the record, end users who wish to calibrate the EIICO themselves will indeed be able to purchase the calibration kit at Analox - Looking after the air you breathe.. We are finalizing this procedure and kit availability and will post an announcement shortly.

Wow. That's great news, Patti. I'll pass it along to Josh! (Kidding, just kidding )

I'll be standing by for the announcement, ready to place my cal kit order.

 

[manus]

Dear all,
hope to bring back to life this discussion. Hopefully some of you are still there....

I have been closely following the CO analysers market and the SB discussions for a while, having experienced the air of a 'doubtful' liveaboard in the Maldives (many of you know to which boat I am referring to... :devious

So I am really excited about this new Analox product !
I am definitely interested in buying the EIICO, but I have few questions, or for Patti or for any of you using the analyser:

1) the manual says the bump test needs to be done every time before a measurement. But in several threads Patti recommends to bump test the unit just before leaving for holiday. Can you confirm the last one is the right procedure ? I guess it is not possible to carry on flights the bump gas tank.

2) When should I be alarmed and refuse the tank, at a measurement just different from 0 ? at 5ppm ? I think I saw it in some Dandy Don posts, but I can't find it anymore.....

3) Why the units on the European market costs almost the double of the US market ??? Patti, do you plan to present the EIICO to some European diving shows, with some more convenient prices ?

Thanks and safe diving !

 

[DandyDon]

Dear all,
hope to bring back to life this discussion. Hopefully some of you are still there....

I have been closely following the CO analysers market and the SB discussions for a while, having experienced the air of a 'doubtful' liveaboard in the Maldives (many of you know to which boat I am referring to... :devious

So I am really excited about this new Analox product !
I am definitely interested in buying the EIICO, but I have few questions, or for Patti or for any of you using the analyser:

While we wait on Patti to post, I'll offer my opinions, for whatever they're worth...

1) the manual says the bump test needs to be done every time before a measurement. But in several threads Patti recommends to bump test the unit just before leaving for holiday. Can you confirm the last one is the right procedure ? I guess it is not possible to carry on flights the bump gas tank.

No, I don't think you could carry the bump gas on a plane, but I am not certain. We take small cans of pressurized toiletries on planes. Nonetheless, a bump test or calibration before a dive trip should suffice. I am ordering 10 ppm and 50 ppm elsewhere for testing and home calibration both. You might look into local sources.

I think the sensor has a 6% annual drift so if you did not calibrate for a year, it might read 15 ppm as 14 or 16 - close enough to get excited. I'd calibrate twice a year I think.

2) When should I be alarmed and refuse the tank, at a measurement just different from 0 ? at 5ppm ? I think I saw it in some Dandy Don posts, but I can't find it anymore.....

Maximum levels allowed by countries that have such standards for scuba air range from 5 to 15 ppm, some at 3. Knowing what you have is the important step. Refusing to dive at certain levels is your call. The complication of CO is that not only does 20 ppm have a much harsher effect at depth, it binds to your blood so that this becomes more dangerous as the partial pressure of oxygen decrease on ascent.

3) Why the units on the European market costs almost the double of the US market ??? Patti, do you plan to present the EIICO to some European diving shows, with some more convenient prices ?

Thanks and safe diving !

Patti is in the US headquarters in California. Have you checked the UK site?