New to Nitrox - Do I need to buy an O2 Analyzer?

[Lorenzoid]

As you know from the class, nitrox can kill you quite quickly at depth. Buy one. Don't ever trust anyone to test your tanks for you. Especially at resorts, which may be more casual with fill procedures.

Kind of surprised you'd ask, as the course makes the risk quite clear how suddenly toxicity can occur. I have a healthy fear of too much O2....

I didn't get the impression that the OP is asking whether to personally analyze his tanks--I suspect he's aware of the need to do that. My understanding is that he's asking whether he needs to buy his own analyzer or whether he can expect to be able to use the analyzer at the resort, liveaboard, or other dive operator whose tanks he's using. Having been to many such resorts, liveaboards, dive shops, etc., I have yet to find one that does not have an analyzer right there for customers to use when they pick up their tanks.

 

[kafkaland]

I will buy one and test every tank, including air tanks, as soon as there is a single device that can do both, O2 and CO, in one package. Right now, I'm just using the O2 analyzer on the boat or at the shop for nitrox, and don't do anything for air.

 

[kombiguy]

If you don't trust them to analyze the content of your tanks, why would you trust that their analyzer is correct? I always bring mine if there's a chance of diving nitrox. At about 100 bucks for the kit it's inexpensive insurance.

 

[Roatan Joe]

Kind of surprised you'd ask, as the course makes the risk quite clear how suddenly toxicity can occur...

He asked about the need to buy his own personal analyzer. Not sure how this statement helps..

As others mentioned, most EANx providers provide an analyzer for divers use to personally verify the contents. Personally owning an analyzer has a few benefits that have already been mentioned in this thread, but failing to buy one for personal use doesn't mean the OP is reckless or going to die from O2 toxicity.

I teach the Enriched Air Specialty and use Nitrox on occassion, BUT I don't own my own personal analyzer. If I had unlimited funds, then sure. But for me personally I have other uses for that money and use EANx provider's analyzers instead. So far I'm still alive, I think.....

If you don't trust them to analyze the content of your tanks, why would you trust that their analyzer is correct? I always bring mine if there's a chance of diving nitrox. At about 100 bucks for the kit it's inexpensive insurance.

Lots of people buy unneeded insurance too..

If the analyzer is correctly calibrated to air @ 20.9%, it should be measuring enriched air accurately too. Additionally, all of them are mechanical devices and could fail, regardless if it's personally owned or not..

Again, if the OP wants one then go for it. But it certainly isn't required or even needed, unless there isn't an analyzer available for you to verify your tank's contents. Also, don't forget, if you buy one there are ongoing costs related to ownership. The sensors have to be replaced from time to time.

 

[Lorenzoid]

If you don't trust them to analyze the content of your tanks, why would you trust that their analyzer is correct? I always bring mine if there's a chance of diving nitrox. At about 100 bucks for the kit it's inexpensive insurance.

I'm not sure who you're addressing, but as far as I'm concerned, it's not that I don't trust the dive op to analyze my tanks--it's that the established protocol says that the diver is to analyze his own tanks.

What leads you to believe a dive shop's analyzer might be less accurate than a privately owned one? As you know, most (or all?) analyzers have a calibration function that you can use to maximize accuracy. You calibrate, and you analyze your tank.

Go ahead and bring your analyzer to Bonaire and have it stolen out of your truck while parked by a remote dive site. I, and the other thousands of divers there, will be using the analyzer provided by whichever dive op we're picking up our tanks at.

By the way, I'm not saying that owning one's own analyzer is NOT a good idea. For some types of diving, it's near essential to have your own analyzer. There have been times when I have done some shore diving with tanks that I picked up days earlier, and I know it's prudent to analyze every tank on the day it's going to be used, if not right before setting out on the dive. But those times have been rare for me. For the most part, I'm a vacation diver who dives at resorts and on boats where just about every diver picks up tanks and analyzes them using the shop's analyzer right before boarding the boat.

 

[DiveNav]

you can purchase the that connects to your snartphone. It's compact, costs around $200. I don't know the brand, but just google it. ...

That would be our Nitroxbuddy Smartphone Oxygen Analyzer

 

[MrChen]

If you don't trust them to analyze the content of your tanks, why would you trust that their analyzer is correct? I always bring mine if there's a chance of diving nitrox. At about 100 bucks for the kit it's inexpensive insurance.

Why? Because humans make mistakes. I've asked for fills to specific ratings and received values a few percentage points off. Depending on the dive, I have them fix it. Each shop I get fills from has an air tank for calibration under the analyzer.

 

[Bagster]

My understanding is that, at depths up to 60', for most divers, nitrox offers practically no benefit, as air available in a single tank will run out before the no deco limit is reached on air.

So, when a new OW certified diver goes straight to nitrox, are we to assume that they plan to dive deeper than 18m/60ft?

 

[tbone1004]

not necessarily, it's easier on your body, if you are doing multiple repetitive dives, have a history of getting narc'd or bent, have many boxes checked that give you an increased risk of bending, there are plenty of advantages to diving Nitrox. We don't certify non nitrox divers, they get the Naui Nitrox Diver card, because it doesn't take us hardly any more time and it is no extra dives outside of open water.

Integrated CO and O2 analyzers aren't going to happen, requires two different sensors, so while you could build one and get fancy with flow restrictors to get each sensor a happy amount of air volume, having two sensors is pretty easy. I'd advocate owning a CO sensor over an O2 sensor personally if you're only going to have one. Can't say I've ever seen a shop that offers nitrox not having an analyzer, so there's also that.... If you're diving from shops that don't have one regularly, i.e. 10+ times a year, it's worth owning your own, if you are mixing your own, you obviously need one, but for most recreational and even tech divers, owning an O2 sensor just isn't worth the hassle. I just use the shops O2 sensor whenever I get mine filled, works just fine.

 

[a-marshal]

I bought one .. huge waste of money .. after something close to 300 Nitrox dives I've used it twice. I haven't even bothered to pack it in the last two years.

OOoops I guess i should have used this as an opportunity to try and sell the thing...ah well