Fill Station

[gitterdun]

Doh... double post...

edit...

As far as the neighbours.. we don't really have an issue. We were surprised at how quiet the compressor was, when the garage door was shut. You can barely hear it from the end of the driveway. When the door is open, you can hear it, but it's no louder than hearing someone's central vac. We do try to make sure it's off by 11pm though.

 

[Wormil]

Doh... double post...

edit...

As far as the neighbours.. we don't really have an issue. We were surprised at how quiet the compressor was, when the garage door was shut. You can barely hear it from the end of the driveway. When the door is open, you can hear it, but it's no louder than hearing someone's central vac. We do try to make sure it's off by 11pm though.

Which compressor? How many cfm?

 

[Cave Diver]

I found out last week that the NOAA office in Miami has a Masterline booster that they have no need for, don't know how to use, and want to get rid of. With FEMA throwing money around after 9/11, many fire departments in the United States got new 6,000 PSI air fill systems. There is currently a glut of 4500 PSI machines on the used market. I've been buying cascade bottles in the $100 range.

These prices aren't available everywhere, you have to really dig for them. You have to be patient and wait for deals to come along, and you have to get the word out that you are in the market, and you have to have a little cash available (that your wife doesn't care if you spend) so you can close a deal when you see one. I would not consider a going out of business dive shop to be a source of bottles or pumps, they are trying to squeeze as much out of their assetts as they can. If I wanted my own pump, I'd wander around fire stations in rural areas until I found one. Again, the more mechanical you are, the better deal you will find. Be sure to study up on what is available, you will be hard pressed to find parts for the old military surplus Worthington and Ingersoll-Rand pumps, but anything with a Bauer, Mako, or Eagle sticker on it should be OK to have parts availability for a while at least.

That's exactly how my buddy ended up with a compressor. Friend of a friend told him about a rural fire dept that got a FEMA grant and upgraded their compressor. He picked up a deal on a lightly used compressor that had 3 explosion liners.

About the neighbors. Can't help you there, boss. I have friends who keep their fill stations in industrial buildings or warehouses owned by their friends. There are a few reasons for this, the major one being that most compressor motors are 3 phase, and it is rare indeed that a house has 3 phase service. I have the only house I've ever heard of that has 3 phase power, and I don't use it for anything but air conditioning. another is that insurance inspectors don't usually care if an industrial facility has an industrial process, but your homeowners carrier might just give a damn when you blow the roof off the garage.

I can't recall if my buddy got another motor or got a 3 phase converter to make it work. But as long as he doesn't decide to run it excessively early or late, there hasn't been any neighbor issues where he lives. If you go used though, you've got to factor that extra expense of 3 phase conversion into the cost equation.

 

[Cave Diver]

Dave, are you thinking of making this fill station a continuous blending station for nitrox/trimix, or are you planning on doing partial pressure blending and just using the compressor for air topping?

 

[rjack321]

For home users a stick is VASTLY less expensive than a booster. And lets you use pretty much all of the supply bottle too.

The only thing it can't handle is HP O2 fills. A cascade certainly helps, I use 4x 125cf bottles so I always have full-ish ones. The partially used ones get CBed into 32% for either recreational use or trimix topoffs.

 

[dannobee]

For home users a stick is VASTLY less expensive than a booster. And lets you use pretty much all of the supply bottle too.

The only thing it can't handle is HP O2 fills. A cascade certainly helps, I use 4x 125cf bottles so I always have full-ish ones. The partially used ones get CBed into 32% for either recreational use or trimix topoffs.

Don't forget Argon fills.

I CB 32%, use standard He mix gases, and still boost He and Ar, and O2.

The booster is one of those things that you don't need right away, but just keep an eye out for one. It comes in handy when you need to adjust a mix or don't want to waste any gas.

 

[Wookie]

Don't forget Argon fills.

I CB 32%, use standard He mix gases, and still boost He and Ar, and O2.

The booster is one of those things that you don't need right away, but just keep an eye out for one. It comes in handy when you need to adjust a mix or don't want to waste any gas.

And, non-O2 clean or ready boosters are a dime a dozen on the used market. You will be able to boost your He and your Ar. Don't try to sneak a little O2 through it, however. Just don't. Really. Put the thought right out of your mind. It will explode. Really.

 

[rjack321]

And, non-O2 clean or ready boosters are a dime a dozen on the used market. You will be able to boost your He and your Ar. Don't try to sneak a little O2 through it, however. Just don't. Really. Put the thought right out of your mind. It will explode. Really.

I have a home built booster made out of a double acting hydraulic cylinder driven by HP gas that I use for argon (only). Takes a fair bit of drive gas when the supply pressure's low but it works great. IIRC it cost me about $175 to build with a good chnuk of that being the DIN fitting and hoses.

Check out the oxyhacker booster book for ideas.

 

[coldsmoke]

I found a bauer capitano for $500. It was older but barely used. I have had a little unexpected maintenance (maybe caused by me), but the regular stuff costs about $100 per season (not counting periodic overhauls).

I average around 70 dives per season (this year is starting out slooowww :depressedso that's a base cost of around $1.40 something. Of course there are other costs, but I don't fill for a profit so I have never really calculated them. I'm sure the biggest cost is the labor, but I top the cascade when I am unpacking from a dive or while tinkering.

Local fills are $8 for air - I think, and nitrox is generally unavailable.

I cb and bank nitrox 32 and pp blend 50% and trimix with 32 tops. 100% O2 is just decanted for as much pressure as I can get ~ 2000 psi.

For me, even though there is savings in the fills the biggest benefit is just like everyone else has mentioned. - Having what you want, when you want it.

Hunter

 

[netmage]

I would estimate that it would be used by 4 people weekly and for 2 weeks out of the year it would be used to fill about 20 tanks a day.

The reason we were considering it was the ease of having what we want, when we want. The start-up cost is pretty steep though, and we'd be self funding the project.

Dave,
Your 2 week 20 tanks a day requirement is going to push compressor sizing into dive shop sizing - negating much in the way of portability.

Looking at some specs...
On a low end 3.5CFM unit you'll be running it for ~6-11 hours a day depending on your tank size....

5cfm - 4 to 8 hours...
8.4CFM - 2 to 5 hours...

I still think your best bet is to get trained and try to work out an arrangement w/ a shop (Dan or Chris come to mind) to use their facilities on your schedule. Your talking about $500+ worth of yearly repeat business...

PS - I have the oxyhacker books - your welcome to check them out for 10 wings......