IR Type 30 10T2

[KD8NPB]

Well, I recently joined the industry at my local dive shop.

However, the proprietor of the establishment does not know much about the equipment he works with. Long story short, the shop has been around since 1956, and I wouldn't be surprised if the equipment is just as old. So, I'm looking on my own time for more information.

We have our compressor housed in a 20 ft shipping container.
The compressor is an Ingersoll-Rand Type 30 10T2, 3500 psi rated on the plate and has 921 hours on the meter.
LP cascade is about 20 T-cylinders
HP cascade is about 8 slightly shorter, but still, welding sized cylinders.

I'm looking for any and all information on this compressor.
Manual?
Specifications?
Hourly service intervals?

Most important of all:
Can this older compressor design be made clean enough for partial pressure nitrox fills?

 

[divingtactics]

Most important of all:​

Can this older compressor design be made clean enough for partial pressure nitrox fills?

PP Nitrox fills only require OCA (Oxygen Clean Air), so providing you have an adequate filtration system, which is changed regularly and tested at the required intervals, then you will be able to add OCA to a cylinder which has 100% oxygen in it to make a nitrox blend. If you need additional filtration, I'd suggest talking with Mike Casey at Lawrence Factor, he is the filtration guru in the USA.​

 

[KD8NPB]

Most important of all:​

Can this older compressor design be made clean enough for partial pressure nitrox fills?

PP Nitrox fills only require OCA (Oxygen Clean Air), so providing you have an adequate filtration system, which is changed regularly and tested at the required intervals, then you will be able to add OCA to a cylinder which has 100% oxygen in it to make a nitrox blend. If you need additional filtration, I'd suggest talking with Mike Casey at Lawrence Factor, he is the filtration guru in the USA.​

Our filtration appears to be somewhat minimal. It looks like we had a large filter setup (probably 6 tubes, about 8 feet long and 6 inches in diameter), but that setup is currently tagged out and bypassed in favor of two smaller filters between the compressor and the manifold for the banks.

The whole compressor is coated in a film of oil and the air intake draws from within the compressor shack.

We've never had a problem with our air supply, it produces no smell or taste and people happily dive deep with it. But, at the same time, I would be a happier man if we made some minor improvements to the setup to try and get it from "barely passing Grade E" to the "IANTD Oxygen clean" standard.

I've already sourced out a gas supplier.
Also a related question:

I know there are those who dive with welding gas, but as a shop, is 99.6% "Zero Grade" sufficient? For the time being, we are only interested in sub-40% Nitrox, although if this little pet project of mine goes through, I would like to add a helium bank as well since we will pretty much have the equipment to properly decant it.

T-cylinders in my area are $0.30/day rental and $24 for 330 cf of Zero Grade.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

A few points.
Its not necessarily the size of the filter, it is how frequently it is changed. One important factor is cooling. Filters will be much more effective if they are kept cool. The colder the better. This will help moisture and oil vapor condense. What type of moisture traps does the unit have? Without the traps functioning and draining properly, the filters will deplete very quickly.

I would recomend piping the intake to the outside of the container, ensuring that you are using an adequate size of tubing.

Its odd that cylinder rentals are by the day. However, .30 is pretty high, at least in this area. Most gas suppliers will offer medical or diving grade o2. There are many threads on what is best, but imho they all are fine, BUT if you are running a shop, it would be more diligent to use med or diving grade. Fwiw, my linde med o2 bottles only say >99%.

One of the more important factors with running a compressor is oil changes. If it has been running all that time with mineral oil, dont bother switching to synthetic, as there are more risks than rewards.

You should be keeping a log of all the maintenance that is done to the compressor, because trying to remember what was done when, while running a shop will be overwealming.

Learn all that you can about the unit.

 

[captain]

You might try these folks.

http://oemaircompressor.com/ok-10t2.aspx

 

[KD8NPB]

A few points.
1.) Its not necessarily the size of the filter, it is how frequently it is changed. One important factor is cooling. Filters will be much more effective if they are kept cool. The colder the better. This will help moisture and oil vapor condense. What type of moisture traps does the unit have? Without the traps functioning and draining properly, the filters will deplete very quickly.

2.) I would recomend piping the intake to the outside of the container, ensuring that you are using an adequate size of tubing.

3.) Its odd that cylinder rentals are by the day. However, .30 is pretty high, at least in this area. Most gas suppliers will offer medical or diving grade o2. There are many threads on what is best, but imho they all are fine, BUT if you are running a shop, it would be more diligent to use med or diving grade. Fwiw, my linde med o2 bottles only say >99%.

4.) One of the more important factors with running a compressor is oil changes. If it has been running all that time with mineral oil, dont bother switching to synthetic, as there are more risks than rewards.

5.) You should be keeping a log of all the maintenance that is done to the compressor, because trying to remember what was done when, while running a shop will be overwealming.

Learn all that you can about the unit.

1.) Best I can tell, we change it every 12 months. We fill about 75 AL80s a week from ~500 psi to ~3100 psi. It has an automated drain on it, although I've never seen it work, nor have I noticed a moisture puddle below it. They're two canister type units on the wall. I'll bring my camera and get a picture of them on thursday. The labels are worn off, but there were also 2 x 1 gallon "ice cream pails" out there of dessicant.

2.) Currently, it has a 3 ft piece of 2" pipe in the intake. On top is an old carburetor hat filter with a regular automotive air filter. We replace that every 12 months as well. My project I'm taking on this winter is to move the intake up, outside the container into its own box, sticking out of the container where it can get plenty of fresh air.

3.) They only rent T-cylinders, but smaller cylinders are available to buy. There is one other local gas supplier, I'm going to call them as well. To be honest though, what size gas bottle makes the most sense? If we went through with this, my best guess is we would probably do about 6 nitrox fills a week, although this number will get bigger once I get more into my tech training.

4.) Oil changes are performed with Ingersoll-Rand oil. No idea how often or of the specifics... All I know, is that there's two jugs of IR oil with the compressor.

5.) I doubt we have a log. If we don't, I will get one started, ASAP. Unfortunately, the dive shop owner is only at the shop for 6 months out of the year. He's a fairly old school PADI diver, certified in the late 70s I believe? He is not a fan of nitrox, so it is entirely me pushing for it. He also is not into tech diving, so again, this is me pushing for it. I'm basically being pseudo put in command to run the shop. I would really like to turn the shop around and see about expanding our business horizons.

You might try these folks.

http://oemaircompressor.com/ok-10t2.aspx

Thanks! I emailed them about a manual.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Best I can tell, we change it every 12 months. We fill about 75 AL80s a week from ~500 psi to ~3100 psi. It has an automated drain on it, although I've never seen it work, nor have I noticed a moisture puddle below it. They're two canister type units on the wall. I'll bring my camera and get a picture of them on thursday. The labels are worn off, but there were also 2 x 1 gallon "ice cream pails" out there of dessicant.

That sounds like its way too long between changes. Phone lawrence factor and talk to them about filtration options. They will have charts, telling how often filters should be changed at given temperatures.

The desiccant, what is it labelled as? Is there activated carbon?

2.) Currently, it has a 3 ft piece of 2" pipe in the intake. On top is an old carburetor hat filter with a regular automotive air filter. We replace that every 12 months as well. My project I'm taking on this winter is to move the intake up, outside the container into its own box, sticking out of the container where it can get plenty of fresh air.

3.) They only rent T-cylinders, but smaller cylinders are available to buy. There is one other local gas supplier, I'm going to call them as well. To be honest though, what size gas bottle makes the most sense? If we went through with this, my best guess is we would probably do about 6 nitrox fills a week, although this number will get bigger once I get more into my tech training.

T cylinders are your best bet. In north america, it is hard to find higher peessure o2 than the 2700 psi that comes in a T.

If you are going to be pp blending nitrox, you will want at least 2 o2 bottles.

4.) Oil changes are performed with Ingersoll-Rand oil. No idea how often or of the specifics... All I know, is that there's two jugs of IR oil with the compressor.

Look at the jug of oil. It may say iso 100 or iso 150. That is referring to the viscosity. Iso 100 is Sae 30. Iso 150 is sae 40. If it does show one of those specs, it isnt necessary to use ir brand oil. Just be certain that you do not use a detergent oil such as engine oil. It must be non detergent.

Yiu will want to change the oil based on hours. A year is also too long for a mineral oil in a heavily used compressor. Make sure that your hour meter is working and accurate.

5.) I doubt we have a log. If we don't, I will get one started, ASAP. Unfortunately, the dive shop owner is only at the shop for 6 months out of the year. He's a fairly old school PADI diver, certified in the late 70s I believe? He is not a fan of nitrox, so it is entirely me pushing for it. He also is not into tech diving, so again, this is me pushing for it. I'm basically being pseudo put in command to run the shop. I would really like to turn the shop around and see about expanding our business horizons.



Thanks! I emailed them about a manual.

 

[KD8NPB]

More statistics:
We change the oil approximately yearly. We use Anderol 500, which is an ISO 100:
Anderol 500

Filtration, I'm still unsure about. They appear to be some "fill it yourself" 10" or 12" canisters of activated carbon and either MS13X or oldschool Silica. I don't think these meet our gas consumption needs without frequent changing...not when they're cooking in 95-105F weather inside a 20 ft shipping container. I've made it a habit to do my cascade fills at the start and end of a shift.

I did find a guy on the other side of the state liquidating some fire department stuff. He has a fairly large Lawrence Factor purifier tower for sale, unsure of price though. It may make a nice addition as an "OCA" station.

 

[KD8NPB]

Well, I convinced him to let me do some maintenance!

We now have fresh filter media. Each canister holds about 1 quart of media. The first one has Activated Alumina, the second one has Activated Carbon. The AA canister had quite a bit of sediment and rust flake in it..the old alumina at the bottom was the worst looking, although the top looked kinda fresh still. Should alumina be changed BEFORE it starts to look awful? The AC canister was clean, no rust flake, just nice looking pellets.

Also, I cleaned the whole compressor off with Dawn soap. It took a lot of scrubbing. Turns out I misread the tag, it's a Type 30 15T4X15 (15 cfm), 3500 psi rated. We have switched to Anderol 1000 oil in it. I went ahead and changed that as well...at 100 hours, it still looked kinda orange, just a bit darker than the fresh stuff.

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Where is the rust coming from? 100 hours doesnt sound too bad for synthetic oil. You will need to make sure that the separators are functioning properly.