Analyzers ?

[LiteHedded]

Here's a novel idea....use a calculator. You can verify it's He coming out the fill whip if the analyzer reads ZERO % o2. From there it's a matter of topping off with air or o2 to get your desired fill.

it could be argon.
like for real. ask aj.

 

[TechBlue]

Here's a novel idea....use a calculator. You can verify it's He coming out the fill whip if the analyzer reads ZERO % o2. From there it's a matter of topping off with air or o2 to get your desired fill.

Not going to do you much good to test a fill from a LDS

 

[ucfdiver]

it could be argon.
like for real. ask aj.

What shop did that? (please post a name -- that's dangerous!)

 

[ianr33]

If I were to analyze for one gas there is no certainty of the percentage and type of the other remaining gases . I would suspect the mixture is close to the fillers estimate but I would not bet my life on it.

Do you use a nitrogen analyzer?

I dont have a He analyzer,dont see the need for one. 5% error on o2 content could kill you on a deep dive. 5% error in He makes no difference.

 

[rjack321]

it could be argon.
like for real. ask aj.

Argon, Helium, and Nirtogen use the same CGA 580 inert gas valve. It can happen at the shop or way back at the gas supplier.

All that said, you are not going to mistake a 21-O2/35-He fill with a 21-O2/35-Ar fill. One breath at the surface and you'll know someting is very wrong. For one you'll talk like James Earl Jones instead of like the chipmunks.

 

[PfcAJ]

It was a long time ago. An argon bottle and a helium bottle got mixed up, and the helium analysis was off by a quite a bit. Thinking nothing of it (mixing error), the divers went on a dive at Little River. The drop down the chimney to 90 or 100 (whatever it was at the time) magnified the effects of the argon narcosis. One diver ended up on the 3rd's long hose (who had good gas) and the other was able to exit, however highly impaired.

I was diving with 32% with another team, and when I surfaced, I found two of my friends still in their drysuits sitting in the car on o2 with pounding headaches and feeling generally awful.

Moral of the story: ANALYZE YOUR GAS. If its off (a few % is no biggie), then investigate and find out why.

This is another reason why standard gases and definite mixing protocols are a plus. You know x% oh He topped with 32% = appropriate gas (or x%He plus y% o2 plus air). Same thing every time. If something is awry on the analysis, tracking down the culprit is much easier. Record the amount of helium added (in psi) and the amount of o2 added (in psi), as well as the top off gas, on a piece of tape on the cylinder.

Luckily, no one was hurt on that dive. However, on something a little deeper, the outcome might not have been so good.

 

[PfcAJ]

Argon, Helium, and Nirtogen use the same CGA 580 inert gas valve. It can happen at the shop or way back at the gas supplier.

All that said, you are not going to mistake a 21-O2/35-He fill with a 21-O2/35-Ar fill. One breath at the surface and you'll know someting is very wrong. For one you'll talk like James Earl Jones instead of like the chipmunks.

Yup. But a 21/20/15 fill might do you in. The above story had some helium and some argon in the mix. I forget what it was (one of those "best mix" things), but a little Ar goes a long way at depth.

 

[TSandM]

I use the shop's He analyzer. I don't dive it often enough to make owning one a reasonable thing. I don't blend my own He.

 

[LiteHedded]

luckily everywhere I get trimix fills from has a helium analyzer.
and I analyze my gas EVERY time

always know what's in your tanks every time.
i mark mine with fill pressures, gas percentages, the fill date and the initials of who did the analyzing

even then if it's been sitting a while I'll analyze it again before diving it.

 

[PfcAJ]

Stop it, lol, we all know you got awesome stickers!