Analyzers ?

[rjack321]

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.

Yeah some He from one supply bottle and some from Ar from another would be bad.

A helium analyzer can't fix stupid. All helium bottles should be tested when they come in the door. A plastic bag on the outlet is an easy ballon squeak test. I only have one argon supply cylinder at home and its physically isolated from the He.

I do use a He analyzer but its more because I continuous blend than because I don't trust my mixing math. You should already "know" what's in your tanks, the analyzer should only be confirmation.

 

[Rainer]

If I get a trimix fill at a shop, I'll analyze both O2 and He.

When I blend myself, I only check O2 (no He analyzer). I'm not too terrible at algebra and a breath on the final mix will confirm the presence of He.

 

[boulderjohn]

As for me, if I am using mixed gases I am usually with a pretty good sized group of people. We share a lot of our resources in order to save some money. For example, a couple of us (including me) have more than one argon bottle, and those who have not gotten to the point of purchasing one yet are welcome to use it. We all own different numbers of stage and deco bottles that get distributed as needed as well. The new people to our group who are just working their way through all this expense use other people's equipment as they slowly accumulate their own.

We bring a shop's O2 analyzer, and we have a couple of others among the group as well. We have one He analyzer to share. I see no need for every single person to have a personal analyzer when there are team resources available.

We are still working on a booster for the group, and that is where our next team $$$ will have to focus.

 

[Mattleycrue76]

As for me, if I am using mixed gases I am usually with a pretty good sized group of people. We share a lot of our resources in order to save some money. For example, a couple of us (including me) have more than one argon bottle, and those who have not gotten to the point of purchasing one yet are welcome to use it. We all own different numbers of stage and deco bottles that get distributed as needed as well. The new people to our group who are just working their way through all this expense use other people's equipment as they slowly accumulate their own.

We bring a shop's O2 analyzer, and we have a couple of others among the group as well. We have one He analyzer to share. I see no need for every single person to have a personal analyzer when there are team resources available.

We are still working on a booster for the group, and that is where our next team $$$ will have to focus.

It works much the same way in the group that I heve been fortunate enough to hang out/dive with. I'm finally getting to the point where I have a few resources of my own to contribute.

 

[ScubaGypsy]

I think it is smart to own an analyzer for every gas that you use . I don't do tri-mix now but would buy a helium analyzer before using the mix from day one.

Actually I've done this as I'm not trimix certified yet. I purchased a portable Teledyne Mixchek Helium/Oxygen Analyzer several years ago. I just did a google search and found it is being listed for $775 on at least one site.

I use this analyzer often to check nitrox mixes as I also use a 6 cu ft air tank for calibration. I've found that this analyzer has proven its worth as I've found much variation as well as broken analyzers at shops. In fact twice I have called out shops to incorrect EAN percentage fills and have ended up receiving free fill cards in return.