Is it worth it to blend your own?

[AfterDark]

Yeah, the dives I do on air are free as I get it filled at a fire station on the way to or from work by a mate who works there.
If I was only diving air I would never bother with my own setup, but with trimix dives it's a very different game

It all comes down to what can and can't afforded and/or how much someone can justify spending on themselves when others also depend on the same income. Time and timing also has as much do with it as cost.
Which is why IMO it's a convenience, but I get your point on the nitrox and the trimix. It does however add to the cost of the setup. Which makes the break even point further away.

I have a compressor that fills one tank at a time with 21% but that's all I need, I only use one tank at a time anyway. Even when I dive IDs I still only use one at a time.

 

[rjack321]

Buy anything scuba to "save money" usually doesn't.

Just as one example, my cost per cf of helium is about double what I would pay at a shop per cf because I don't buy the volume at all. In fact I haven't bought helium in 18 months. But the nearest shop filling mix right now is an hour away plus a toll bridge.

$12K is a rough ballpark of my fill station costs - assembled over the last 15 years.

 

[jale]

Hi
And all.you guys using booster and no compressor, how do you drive your booster?

 

[rjack321]

For someone doing 50 local dives, half f which would be technical dives with an unknown number being on helium, would it make sense to have your own blending station?

25 dives a year on mix? What kind of volumes are you talking about? Doing 25x 40min dive on 25/25 with 15 mins of deco when you are 20mins from a shop selling helium for $1.35/cf - probably not worth it.

25x 15/55 dives with 104s, a stage and 2 deco gases when the nearest shop is a 2 hour drive each way - that's a different animal

 

[rjack321]

Hi
And all.you guys using booster and no compressor, how do you drive your booster?

Shop compressor with triple separators, extra filtration, and a giant air drier.

 

[Jeremy Williams]

Hi
And all.you guys using booster and no compressor, how do you drive your booster?

I use scuba air tanks. You don’t need that much drive gas to fill 3L tanks.

 

[tbone1004]

If I was doing it at home instead of on a boat where it is an absolute necessity it would be harder to justify for that few dives even if buddies helped defray costs by buying fills from me.

I figured 300 to 400 dives a year per person into my cost breakdown.

$10 for compressor/4 year average service life@ 1000+ fills per year
$2k per year for fuel, consumables and 02

So call it $5k a year for 1000+ fills mixed between air and nitrox.

Why are you only getting a 4 year service life out of that compressor? Are you saying that between rebuilds, or before you get another one? Something is wrong if service life is that short.

Hi
And all.you guys using booster and no compressor, how do you drive your booster?

Shop compressor with proper filtration.
This is the filter package that I use. It spits out grade D air. Doesn't convert CO to CO2 is basically the only difference between D and E. Cost was roughly $400 but it takes care of everything I need and the power tools are much happier to boot. The first two stages have auto drains on them as well which is quite helpful since it is very humid down here. It's obviously not as dry as something that has active cooling on it to knock moisture down to 0, but, but it does more than enough to meet the specs from Haskel.
350 SERIES Modular Clean Air Package 1/4, 3/8, 1/2

 

[100days-a-year]

Rebuilt, but 4 years on a boat working in salt air means rebuilds will be more than just occasional pistons, rings and a few valves. And that's with a good compressor built for marine use by someone whose done it for 30 years, a typical home compressor would be broke from corrosion in much less. It helps corrosion a little if you have interior space in your engine room, but that opens a can of worms with filtration and heat. They are in use often 4 hours+ per day at around 8 to 10cfm.

 

[HKGuns]

One final thought. haveing your own station means you get to the dive site with 3050 in an al80 and not 2750 form a hot fill.

I guess my shop owner deserves a big bear hug then, as he is famous for his excellent fills. I suppose I am truly blessed to have such a great person running my LDS.

I refer to them as “<insert dive store owners name here> fills” and I usually walk into the water with 3600+ in my HP80’s.

I have tried to help him out during this pandemic as I knew he was struggling. I pulled ahead my dry suit purchase to give him some extra business.

 

[Basking Ridge Diver]

I only blend Nitrox - I rent an O2 250cf low pressure tank for under $30 for less than a month.

I use my tanks down to as low as they go - I trans-whip from the O2 into my tanks. I then go to my fire house and fill my tanks slowly with air. Using a blending formula I know the O2 content and when they cool I use my CooTwo to measure. Very easy - economical (about $0.12 per cubic foot) and as far as I am concerned if you are not in a hurry - very safe. I dont squeeze every cu ft out of the O2 tank but I am not worried about it. I am not putting O2 under pressure with a booster - just slow fill into my tanks. The leanest I can get a tank currently is 64% O2 using this method - I dont need 100% doing the dives I am doing.

I have not tried for TriMix - Helium is too expensive for me right now.
YMMV - but it works great for me.