aHeavyD
Contributor
It can if you find them for a good deal, it's very addictive. You most always get your money back on the tanks.
home fill station
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It can if you find them for a good deal, it's very addictive. You most always get your money back on the tanks.
scubasteve59
Registered
Your setup is awesome!
For comparision sakes of what can be done at home: attached is a picture of my "home fill station" at .5 CFM. I made it last year from the original 1957 Popular Mechanics plans for converting surplus Cornelius R300's to scuba compressor. The R300's were used in B27 during WWII and Korea to preload hydraulics. Works! Fill time for my 72CF steel is 2 hours.:cool2:
For comparision sakes of what can be done at home: attached is a picture of my "home fill station" at .5 CFM. I made it last year from the original 1957 Popular Mechanics plans for converting surplus Cornelius R300's to scuba compressor. The R300's were used in B27 during WWII and Korea to preload hydraulics. Works! Fill time for my 72CF steel is 2 hours.:cool2:
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w ripley
Contributor
I second going with a well-known brand, and with a brand that has a repair shop within a reasonable driving distance. I have an off-brand with the sole distributor several states away. It's worked OK, but there have been times it would have been nice just to call int he pros and let them figure out what was wrong (and fix it).
I would add to the posts above that you need to know if you are going to fill for OC or CC. I set up my rig when diving OC, so have lots of storage bottles to fill lots of BIG, EMPTY tanks quickly. Now with a RB, most of that set up is overkill. Today the only real volume I need is to drive my Haskel.
I went with the small-volume compressor & large-storage capacity. My compressor is self-bleeding and will turn itself off when the storage tanks reach a pre-set pressure. That's good for those late nights when you can fill for the next day and go to bed and let the compressor refill its banks and cut itself off.
Be careful of thinking you're going to be filling your friends tanks, as the fun of filling will quickly become another chore. If you charge for your time and bare costs, you open the door to liability should someone get hurt while diving your mix.
I don't know about the rest, but it's a PITA for me to swap out O2 & HE bottles, as my local gas supplier won't deliver and pickup bottles on "residential" streets. Between what I pay for the annual bottle leases for O2 & HE + what I'm charged for swapping out my empty bottles for filled ones, you have to dive a lot to see any significant cost savings.
Expected volume is an important consideration, as volume at the compressor and at the storage end = $$$. Actually, if you started with a well-known brand that delivers a large CFM, you could bypass the storage-tank costs until you knew more about what your fills needs actually are.
I went the home station way for convenience and because I couldn't get good fills from the LDS. That was over 10 years ago. I've probably broken even, but that's not the reason I did it.
Good luck.
I would add to the posts above that you need to know if you are going to fill for OC or CC. I set up my rig when diving OC, so have lots of storage bottles to fill lots of BIG, EMPTY tanks quickly. Now with a RB, most of that set up is overkill. Today the only real volume I need is to drive my Haskel.
I went with the small-volume compressor & large-storage capacity. My compressor is self-bleeding and will turn itself off when the storage tanks reach a pre-set pressure. That's good for those late nights when you can fill for the next day and go to bed and let the compressor refill its banks and cut itself off.
Be careful of thinking you're going to be filling your friends tanks, as the fun of filling will quickly become another chore. If you charge for your time and bare costs, you open the door to liability should someone get hurt while diving your mix.
I don't know about the rest, but it's a PITA for me to swap out O2 & HE bottles, as my local gas supplier won't deliver and pickup bottles on "residential" streets. Between what I pay for the annual bottle leases for O2 & HE + what I'm charged for swapping out my empty bottles for filled ones, you have to dive a lot to see any significant cost savings.
Expected volume is an important consideration, as volume at the compressor and at the storage end = $$$. Actually, if you started with a well-known brand that delivers a large CFM, you could bypass the storage-tank costs until you knew more about what your fills needs actually are.
I went the home station way for convenience and because I couldn't get good fills from the LDS. That was over 10 years ago. I've probably broken even, but that's not the reason I did it.
Good luck.
frogman62
Contributor
The compressor issue is always a contradiction in options.
I have sold converted military compressor for over 40 years --90 % Kidde 4 stage units. In the last 3 years I have sold over 75 units to Divers, Paint ball and HP air gunners. The Kidde's are getting scarce but still showing up and I have lots of parts for them since I have purchased over 1000 surplus ones over 40 years.
Look at my web site <sheldensportinggoods.com> and follow my customers on Scubaboard , compressor_team and yellow forum. I have 2.4, 4.2 and 6 CFM models available for very competitive prices and a warranty that no one ever matches. If the compressor fails in the 1st 6 months, I repair it at no cost except shipping of the bare compressor head and turn around is 48 hours. If it fails after 6 months and you are the original owner, repair is guaranteed for no more than $250 plus shipping.
Jim Shelden
I have sold converted military compressor for over 40 years --90 % Kidde 4 stage units. In the last 3 years I have sold over 75 units to Divers, Paint ball and HP air gunners. The Kidde's are getting scarce but still showing up and I have lots of parts for them since I have purchased over 1000 surplus ones over 40 years.
Look at my web site <sheldensportinggoods.com> and follow my customers on Scubaboard , compressor_team and yellow forum. I have 2.4, 4.2 and 6 CFM models available for very competitive prices and a warranty that no one ever matches. If the compressor fails in the 1st 6 months, I repair it at no cost except shipping of the bare compressor head and turn around is 48 hours. If it fails after 6 months and you are the original owner, repair is guaranteed for no more than $250 plus shipping.
Jim Shelden
That is a very impressive and professional looking installation!!
scubapeter
Contributor
I use a Bauer Capitano II with a P0 Primary Filter and a Lawrence Factor Portable Hyper filter as a secondary. This and a small four cylinder cascade system is all you should ever need unless you are servicing a large number of other divers. I can only speak to the quality of Bauer compressors, but they are top notch imho.
sealark
Contributor
Don't listen to all those nay Sayers. Here's my system a Bauer K14-85 8 CFM comp. 2 300 Cu/Ft Aviators o2 Bottles an air bottle for a surge tank. The bottle in behind compressor is the last stage water separator. Been using this for 30 years I fill about 250 bottles of air and nitrox a year. Also I keep records of every Nitrox fill and have a homemade analyzer. Before you start get the Oxygen hackers handbook worth it's weight in gold. PS I am a retired Navy Diver that's where I got the splitting and mixing experience. However the OX Handbook is what will tell you everything you need to know. Just make sure you understand the dangers of working with Oxygen and partial pressure filling.
mkgriesinger
Registered
I like your setup. Do you still have instructions? How much did it cost to build? The size is perfect for my small condo!
Tristan.ak
Contributor
In doing your own home system you must have patience and you can find deals. I found this Loaded Bauer VT9 with only 237 hours with all the bells and whistles for 4000.00, The booster, most the tanks, the master regulators and a bunch of fittings all on e-bay. You need to search around and don't jump on it but watch it. If it is not too high make a bid. Or if the item doesn't sell and the bidding is over then make an offer to them. This is how I got most my items. Just watch the item. When it didn't sell I went back to my e-bay account looked at my watch this item folder and all the info is still there. Then make a offer. But you must have patience if youre looking for deals. It took me 6 months to find the compressor. One year of looking for the booster. But I got a brand new 13000 dollar booster for 4000 dollars; it came from a hospital that posted it on e-bay. I was there backup pump for an oxygen chamber. It was a killer deal. I got most my bank tanks from 75 dollars up to 200. also call around hydro shops also about tanks you can get good deals from them. I picked up 6 3500's for 75 each with fresh hydros, O2 cleaned and painted from a hydro shop.
Compressors pop up all the time due to most fire departments are upgrading to 6000 psi systems. Most fire department compressors will have all the options also
Oh under 11 CFM you can take a three phase motor and purchase a sinle phase 220 for it. That's due to they are 10 hp or less.
This is my home system for me and a few friends.
I pooped when the pictures loaded.
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