Is a Nitrox Analyzer worth the money?

[Downing]

+1 for the Analox O2EII. Compact, easy to use and comes in a Pelican case so it's secure and easy to carry.

I thought it was worth it, but really it comes down to your budget and how often you'll use it.

 

[TSandM]

Although I am not a general fan of Oxycheq (having bought several Raider lights, and been through that nightmare) the Oxycheq analyzers work well, and if you are looking for a budget setup, the El Cheapo is great for DIYers.

Although almost every place from which we get fills has its own analyzer, there can be a problem if the tanks have just been mixed. I have picked up tanks where they have just been topped off with air, and the analysis in the shop is low; we have taken them home and analyzed them a day later, and the analysis is quite different. If you will always be picking up your tanks some time after they are filled, or if the shop always fills from banks or from a membrane system, that may not be an issue. But our shop does partial pressure fills, and adjusts the mix with air or O2 as necessary, and if you pick them up immediately after they are filled, the analyses can be quite off, but settle later to precisely what you want.

 

[Sonic04GT]

I may just go ahead and grab it as a late Christmas gift to myself

Can get it at Divers Direct for $260+tax with a coupon which brings it to the same price as LP, but LP offers a Pelican case And I can even replace my torn Nitrox label with the included one haha

 

[DandyDon]

Do they check for CO with all of their fills? I never saw that as a concern until this thread, and see that analyzers for that exist as well.

I wonder if that's what could have given me headaches and weird feelings in the past. Could have been my mask though as well.

There is never anything wrong with asking to see a compressor, then asking to see the CO monitor. I think Florida may have some stricter regulations so I would hope they do have one in place, but I don't know.

It's sad how many compressors around the diving world are not monitored for CO, all too often owned by people that think that a hot compressor can't produce CO even if the intake air is clean, don't understand CO plumes in still air, etc. Yeah, electric compressors can produce CO too. I test every tank and next trip I will be comparing two testers and comparing in the field.

If you had to chose one or the other, the shop that sells you Nitrox should have an analyzer; I don't know how much drift they can incur, but if you calibrate with air - how far off could it be. Finding a shop or Op with a CO analyzer is still rare and being over a few ppm is bad.

I am looking for a CO tester, do you know of any that are simple to use please?

**I'm also looking for a CO tester.

The answer may not be that simple, but it's worth the trouble. This newest one out seems the most promising to me EII CO Carbon Monoxide Analyzer: Analox - Looking after the air you breathe. and Scubatoys has them discounted to $290 but the best CO sensors can drift, requiring bump-testing in time and maybe calibration. Analox came into this game swinging hard to get it ready for the public as fast as they did, but some of the details are still in development. They do fully intend for the sport diver himself to be able to calibrate at home, if he doesn't want to send it in for that service - and at popular request they are working on changing from 50 ppm cal-gas to 10 ppm. It's just not a done deal yet, and like many - they are closed for the holiday, opening in a week. Hope to have the rest of the story very soon...

 

[leabre]

I've had various shops analyzers go bad on me and had to use my own, or theirs would be misplaced, or whatever. You can never really know which one is bad if numbers are off but if I calibrate to air and then expect a 32% fill and have something very close to it, I believe it. But when a reading is off by +/- 10% or something I know it's wrong.