EAN32 usually.. When to use EAN36

[ktomlinson]

There's no need to roll tanks or wait to analyze unless you are mixing trimix.

 

[wspalding]

At the risk of introducing something to actually think about, if most of the dives are in the 30-70' range, why are we talking about 32%? Those dives call for 40%, not 36%. And 40% is not a foreign substance in SoFL.

Most of the charters I am familiar with aren't going to give you the extra bottom time you'd gain with a 40% mix.

 

[deepbludvr]

Since you probably only have the 32% and 36% mix tables from your class (at least that's what I got from my class), a good exercise for you to consider is creating a table with mixes lower and higher than 32% and 36%. Going through the calculations and creating a spreadsheet is good review and creates a nice reference for future dives. I did this a while back to have a table I could reference for planning dives with nitrox for various dive profiles. Just my 2 cents..

 

[sportxlh]

Most of the charters I am familiar with aren't going to give you the extra bottom time you'd gain with a 40% mix.

That is a good point and very true.... most Florida dive ops limit the dive times to 60 minutes on the 60 feet and shallower depths. Now if you're diving off your own boat, 40% might be useful with a big enough tank.

 

[MB]

Most of the charters I am familiar with aren't going to give you the extra bottom time you'd gain with a 40% mix.

So true. But extended bottom time is but one of many reasons to use nitrox. From the question let's assume that this diver is a bit inexperienced and not likely to have a consumption rate that would allow dives beyond 60 minutes at 60'. Nothing wrong or surprising about that! But is that a reason to use a thinner mix? Of course not. A 40% mix still means that, compared with 21% or 32% or whatever, the diver still has substantially less nitrogen in his or her tissues after the dive. And that is reason enough to understand how to use nitrox!

 

[taymag]

Thanks again for the answers. I'm not going to get into any kind of debate here, I was just simply asking a question and received mostly helpful answers. Regardless of clearing it up in the nitrox class book last night, I still am glad I posted this cause I still learned a few things/opinions and that's why I am here in the first place

 

[fdarden]

Here is a shop in South Florida with banked EANx 32, 36, and 40, all for the same price.

Home - Go Dive Florida

At that very same shop you can take a Nitrox class. Please don't take this the wrong way but I strongly recommend that you discontinue all use of Nitrox until you fully understand what you are doing. In this case what you don't know can literally kill you.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[wspalding]

So true. But extended bottom time is but one of many reasons to use nitrox. From the question let's assume that this diver is a bit inexperienced and not likely to have a consumption rate that would allow dives beyond 60 minutes at 60'. Nothing wrong or surprising about that! But is that a reason to use a thinner mix? Of course not. A 40% mix still means that, compared with 21% or 32% or whatever, the diver still has substantially less nitrogen in his or her tissues after the dive. And that is reason enough to understand how to use nitrox!

I agree the reduction in absorbed nitrogen is justification to use EAN as a safety measure, but I think that is gained with the typical 32-34% mix.

 

[MB]

I agree the reduction in absorbed nitrogen is justification to use EAN as a safety measure, but I think that is gained with the typical 32-34% mix.

True, but let's not ignore the obvious reduction in N2 when using 40% instead of 32%.

---------- Post added July 10th, 2014 at 08:59 AM ----------

Thanks again for the answers. I'm not going to get into any kind of debate here, I was just simply asking a question and received mostly helpful answers. Regardless of clearing it up in the nitrox class book last night, I still am glad I posted this cause I still learned a few things/opinions and that's why I am here in the first place

No debate necessary taymag! Nice to hear that you posed the question because you were thinking things over as a result of what you were learning in class! Keep learning. Good dives to you (even if they are on air)!

 

[sportxlh]

Thanks again for the answers. I'm not going to get into any kind of debate here, I was just simply asking a question and received mostly helpful answers. Regardless of clearing it up in the nitrox class book last night, I still am glad I posted this cause I still learned a few things/opinions and that's why I am here in the first place

taymag: enjoy the diving in S. Florida. We all live in such great place to dive as a routine part of our life style. BTW, I'll grab one of my training manuals occasionally just to refresh my memory as well: nothing wrong with that. I recently had a brain fart regarding OTU's and had to re-read my nitrox book as a refresher. It's not normally an issue for me since I'll do two dives on a weekend morning and nothing until the next weekend, but I have a four day trip to the Keys, with mostly deep dives, coming up.