First Fill Whip

[kidspot]

Umm... no. It doesn't cost me half $40.
I don't think I better say anymore.
I'll just go count my blessings.

hmm - I think I agree - say no more

Should I even mention that regular unleaded gasoline is now at $2.94/gallon?

oh well, the price of living on Maui...

Aloha, Tim

 

[Snowbear]

Ouch!! And I've been whining about $2.25 a gallon making it expensive to run the generator :11:

ABO is $58 here. I figured out that by buying the tanks, they would pay for themselves in less than 3 years vs leasing. AirGas has a good owner exchange policy here. I take the tanks in and exchange for full ones. They take care of maintenance and hydro on the tanks. He on the other hand.... Owie!!! For both though, it's still way cheaper than as well as more convenient and reliable than buying Nitrox or Mix from the dive shops.

 

[kidspot]

yup - still a lot cheaper ... if I needed to dive Nitrox actually had the boat operator ask for a Nitrox card yesterday when we were boarding - I told him if it made him feel better I'd rip the labels off (they were the only DIN tanks onboard, so no possibility of a mix-up with someone else) He decided to call PADI and ask what his liability was and was told that if the customer provided their own tanks he was not liable. whew - almost thought I was going to have to stay behind...

Our Airgas store said I could buy the tanks but it would take them a month to fill them... so I think I'll just turn in the current tank that I've got and when ready for the next one go pick it up instead...

Helium is $175 for a 280cf 1800 psi tank here ... so nearly 3x the cost ... Helps me understand why trimix is so expensive everywhere. Also makes me grateful my diving is pretty shallow for now -

 

[ericrd]

Looks like some great work - How did you get the gauges O2 clean - was it needed at all ?

Eric

Well I finally finished assembling my first fill whip based on Vance Harlow's Oxygen Hackers companion ( http://www.airspeedpress.com ) and would appreciate any comments/critiques etc..

 

[kidspot]

umm - they were new and didn't show any signs of grease etc.. I did put the connection end in the ultrasonic bath, but that was just for any potential surface residue - none showed up in the rinse water, so I was satisfied. I'm trying to avoid ignition sources more than the fuel side of things - so I fill at 40psi/min. Which is tough to get on single tanks... the doubles were simple to keep really low. Not to say I didn't clean everything, but as I get fills which are not "guaranteed" hydrocarbon free (after 50 fills, my tanks were still spotless inside when I went to O2 clean them again...) I am more careful about the third side of the fire triangle... no ignition sources/heat build up.

Aloha, Tim

 

[roakey]

Tim, here's basically my version of the same whip:

http://www.scubaboard.com/showthread.php?t=11290

Note you can turn some of those T's sideways and use less parts...

A concern, those Ts look like low-pressure parts, not HP parts -- HP parts are typically rounded in cross-section (see my pictures) and yours are square, which I've only seen as LP parts...

Roak

 

[kidspot]

Thanks Roak,

Originally I had the T's reduced, but not using a quick disconnect on my large gauge it would not fit next to the other gauge, so I moved it away by using an elbow. With the QD in place it can go back now, I'd just forgotten - so thanks for the reminder

The brass fittings were all rated at 5000psi IIR - I just ordered off of specs, and couldn't see them - I'll double check though since that would be a bad part to "blow"

btw - nice write up on yours.

Aloha, Tim

 

[kidspot]

OLD THREAD REVIVAL WARNING

Just updating the thread as I finally got around to making some changes to this project (including changing out the low pressure fittings Roakey pointed out) and a few other things like adding an orifice on a QD to the CGA540 nipple and a digital gauge - parts list is available here: Aloha Shore Divers

full size image available here: http://www.alohashoredivers.com/projects/fillwhip/fill_whip_new_1.jpg

Much better than the old one, cost about double, but fortunately I was able to use some of the more expensive parts from the old one again.

Aloha, Tim