How much to make tank nitrox ready?

[jon1]

I am considering buying an aluminum 80 tank for myself. My LDS will sell me one for $200 with 10 free air fills. This seems like a good price as it will cost a ton for leisure pro to ship one.

My question is what needs to be done to a brand new tank besides putting the stickers on to make a tank ready for nitrox? How much would all of this cost?

Thanks

Jon

 

[txapacheguy]

These guys seem to be about the same price and offer free shipping,

Aluminum SCUBA Tanks - Dive Gear Express

but with the 10 free fills, I would support the LDS. That is the breaking point most likely on the next bottle I buy if its bought new...

 

[Garth]

These guys seem to be about the same price and offer free shipping,

Aluminum SCUBA Tanks - Dive Gear Express

but with the 10 free fills, I would support the LDS. That is the breaking point most likely on the next bottle I buy if its bought new...

I would definitely buy from LDS if I could get a oxygen clean aluminum 80 for $200 and ten air fills. The fact is that my LDS charges $240 for an al40 so I went the divegearexpress way when I bought my cylinder. I love divegearexpress! Saved me almost a hundred dollars.

I would hate to hear how much they want for an aluminum 80 oxygen cleaned.

 

[mike_s]

I am considering buying an aluminum 80 tank for myself. My LDS will sell me one for $200 with 10 free air fills. This seems like a good price as it will cost a ton for leisure pro to ship one.

My question is what needs to be done to a brand new tank besides putting the stickers on to make a tank ready for nitrox? How much would all of this cost?

Thanks

Jon

How to make it ready for Nitrox fills? all depends on how your shop fills Nitrox tanks.


Most every new tank today is "factory ready" for pre-blended mixes up to 40% EAN. (pre blended meaning blending stick, membrane system, or banked, etc).

However, if your shop does "Partial Pressure Blending", you'll need to have it O2 cleaned as they do it by first mixing in 100% O2 and then topping it off with "O2 clean air". They'll charge you a fee to O2 clean the tank and valve and your visual sticker will denote it's been cleaned for o2 service (over 40%).

What else is needed? those big nitrox bands are not any legal requirement, but some shop owners don't seem to know this. (or maybe it's that they like the 100% markup they charge on them). In theory they are for people who are stupid enough to use someone else tank without knowing what gas blend is in it. But if they aren't willing to check a gas mix, then the Nitrox band typically won't help them.


Hope that helps... first thing you need to do is find out what your LDS does wher eyou will get the fills. and then go from there.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

.....What else is needed? those big nitrox bands are not any legal requirement, but some shop owners don't seem to know this. (or maybe it's that they like the 100% markup they charge on them). In theory they are for people who are stupid enough to use someone else tank without knowing what gas blend is in it. But if they aren't willing to check a gas mix, then the Nitrox band typically won't help them......

VIP are not a legal requirement either. Still a good idea!

How many people check o2 on a rental tank or a boat supplied tank when it does not have one of those stupid stickers?

Although they are over-priced, they do serve as a reminder to check the gas and to label the tank with date/o2/mod.

 

[Superlyte27]

Our Luxfers w/valves come O2 clean from the factory. Yours should too. Don't let some goober try to sell you something you already got.

 

[mike_s]

VIP are not a legal requirement either. Still a good idea!

Very true. there is not a legal requirement for them.

How many people check o2 on a rental tank or a boat supplied tank when it does not have one of those stupid stickers?
.

Actually, if I got to an "away" LDS at the beach, etc and they are partial pressure blending, they never check my tank to see if it's o2 clean most of the time anyway. (not that I think that's a good practice of theirs).

Our Luxfers w/valves come O2 clean from the factory. Yours should too. Don't let some goober try to sell you something you already got.

The valves come sealed in a bag from the factory. (and not on the tank).

but I wouldn't trust a tank that comes from the factory saying it's clean. The last 4 I got were supposed to be "o2 clean from the factory" and were absolutely FILTHY inside. So I don't trust them one bit.

 

[Superlyte27]

Very true. there is not a legal requirement for them.



Actually, if I got to an "away" LDS at the beach, etc and they are partial pressure blending, they never check my tank to see if it's o2 clean most of the time anyway. (not that I think that's a good practice of theirs).



The valves come sealed in a bag from the factory. (and not on the tank).

but I wouldn't trust a tank that comes from the factory saying it's clean. The last 4 I got were supposed to be "o2 clean from the factory" and were absolutely FILTHY inside. So I don't trust them one bit.

Not sure where you are getting them from. We have it in writing from our supplier. We're selling about 15-30 a month, we PP blend, we haven't blown up yet.

And I didn't say the valves were in the tank. They don't come in the tank. But, our valves come with the tank. We have plenty of shops around that sell a tank for 160'ish, sell the valve for 40'ish, sell a VIP for 15'ish, it's all BS. The tank doesn't need a VIP, an O2 Clean, or a Valve, it comes with all of that. We're selling Aluminum 80's for $160 and are doing quite well with it.

 

[jon1]

They do partial pressure blending for the Nitrox.

 

[GrumpyOldGuy]

Well, the price of $200 with 10 fills is still very good. I doubt that you would be able to do better on-line by the time shipping and a VIP is added.

While the tank should come O2 clean and be ready for PPB (except for the price of a sticker), in the end it is really up to the local shop. If they sell the tank, the are more likely to accept it as O2 clean rather than a tank from an unknown vendor.

In your location (OK) you may not have too many alternatives anyway.