Do i need a Argon valve ?

[trymixdiver]

I am thinking of using argon with my drysuit. I looked thru the old posts and didnt reall get the info i wanted. heres what i need:

Do i need a special valve for my tank ?

If i use my OMS 45 ( this is the tank i plan on using for argon ) to purge my suit prior to diving what will i need to to do to the tank to be able to get fills, probably from a welding supply shop as the LDS doesnt offer argon.

pls be specific as to any hardware i will need

TMD

 

[Lost Yooper]

If you're looking to get argon from a K-bottle to your tank (a regular k-valve or DIN valve is fine), all you need is a transfill whip. They're relatively easy to build. I'll let others take over from here.

Good luck.

Mike

PS. Check out the books at this site. The Oxygen Hackers Companion is an awesome must-read that covers transfilling of gasses plus a lot more.

http://www.airspeedpress.com/

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by trymixdiver


pls be specific as to any hardware i will need

TMD

Sorry Try,
A welding *supply house* won't transfill your scuba tank with argon....
They stock and sell full bottles....

A welding *shop* probably can't transfill your scuba tank because they won't have a bank of argon cylinders to get you the pressure you need... They generally use one bottle at a time for welding....

So what is a guy to do???

Ebay the 45s....

Take the money and go to the *welding supply house* and buy a customer owned size cylinder of argon $100~150 that can be taken in and exchanged for a full one when empty.... Also buy a cheap argon regulator (in the welding supply house) and run an inflator hose off of it set to 50 lbs or so.... use that to flush your suit.

 

[roakey]

Trymixdiver,

I'm a little confused at your question. Is the 45 to purge your suit at the surface and then you're not diving with an Argon supply, or do you have a "diving" Argon bottle in addition to the 45?

You're not diving with the 45 as your Argon supply, are you?

Assuming you've bought your own bulk tank like Uncle Pug suggested, now you have to transfill into a "surface" 45 and some small (usually 6 or 14cf) cylinder to dive with...

You need a transfill whip to go from a CGA580 (inert gas) connection to a scuba valve.

You can find all sorts of flavors of these whips here:

http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/gas_stuff/fill_whips.html

NESS is an *excellent* shop that I've been ordering from for years, though when I started it was known as "Crazy Johns"

John'll set you up right.

Roak

Ps. I don't mess with a surface and a dive cylinder for Argon. Luxfer's 2015 PSI AL14 holds more than enough Argon for a bunch of surface purges and dives.

 

[trymixdiver]

Roakey

Yes i am just using the 45 to purge my suit before the dive. I havent yet, this is just what i am thinking of doing.

No i dont have an argon bottle i will dive with.

Diving with 45 cubic feet of argon is a tad excess dont you think

i have two OMS 45's just sitting here that i dont use, i am going to use one as an extra O2 tank i can hang off the boat for my 20" stop. My idea was to use this last 45 as an argon bottle to pre purge my suit before i dove, but thats not going to happen with this 45 if they cant fill them like Pug mentioned.

I did just find a shop that will pump Argon $10-12 for a 2640 fill using a 14 cubic foot tank. sounds reasonable if i can dive 2 or 3 times before i need to fill it again.

I could fill this 45 with argon from the scuba shop i found today, think i should use it for that now i can fill it 2640? if not any other ideas on what i can use it for ? i hate to sell it has to have some use.

TMD

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by trymixdiver

I could fill this 45 with argon from the scuba shop i found today, think i should use it for that now i can fill it 2640? if not any other ideas on what i can use it for ? i hate to sell it has to have some use.

TMD

TMD,
Yes... use the 45...if you can get it filled great!!!
Excellent truck/boat bottle for flushing your suit....
No sense using argon if you are not going to pre-purge...
But instead of buying a 14cf I would get two 6cf tanks....
Unless you are doing a lot of up and down stuff you are going to be fine with the 6 for several dives and if need be can trade out for the second 6 if you are doing back to back big dives. The 6 on the waist strap is neat, tidy, and out of the way!

 

[trymixdiver]

I like that idea of two 6 cubic foot bottles. Your saying i can get 2 to 3 dives off 1 of those? That would be perfect, also alot less cumbersome than a 14 cubic foot bottle, and having another bottle is a plus. I can use that 2nd bottle when i travel to tahoe.

are all Al 6 cubic foot tanks the same, or do i need a specific one?

TMD

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by trymixdiver
are all Al 6 cubic foot tanks the same, or do i need a specific one?TMD

TMD,
It depends on how deep you are diving...
For example my partner and I each used 1000 psi off of our 6cf on a recent dive to 120..... and then did the 2nd dive to 120 using another 1000... each one of those includes the gas put into the lift bag...

Three dives?.... well we started with 3000 so theoretically we could have done another ... but practically no I wouldn't do it.

We use Luxfer AL6....

For a really long cave dive maybe the 14 would be better... but for what we do this one is just right.

 

[roakey]

Just keep in mind that unless you can lift Argon, your 6cf bottle will only have about 4 cf in it.

That's the beauty of the 2015PSI AL14, you can actually FILL it!

Note that this is not to discourage you from using the AL6, it's an excellent solution. I just wanted to make you aware of the fill limitation.

Roak

 

[Uncle Pug]

Originally posted by roakey
Just keep in mind that unless you can lift Argon, your 6cf bottle will only have about 4 cf in it.

Good point Roak,
If I were only transfilling I probably would have a 14 too.

TMD indicated that he could get 2640 pumped so I assumed that he could also get 3000 but even 2640 the 6 gives you plenty for two moderate dives.