Nitrox, and not O2 clean tanks

[Mark Vlahos]

I am located in Orange County close to South Coast Plaza. I would rather breathe Nitrox than Air. My cylinders are presently cleaned for Oxygen Service as is appropriate for partial pressure blending of Nitrox. It is getting close to the time to get the doubles inspected and cleaned, not that big a deal on its own, but maintaining clean cylinders can be problematic on dive boats.

I am looking for a dive shop that either banks premixed Nitrox or uses a membrane or similar system for filling Nitrox, this will mean that I don't need to maintain my cylinders to Oxygen Service standards. I usually dive standard mixes so 32% is my most common and 36% is used from time to time. It is also a bit of a pain to drop the cylinders off and come back a day or two later to pick them up. A shop that is further away but would require only one trip might actually save me time in the long run.

So, any suggestions for shops in either Orange County or southern parts of Los Angeles County that can solve my problem.

Many thanks,

Mark Vlahos

 

[TrojanCatMan]

Scuba Schools of America, Extreme Scuba, and Pacific Wilderness have 02 clean capabilities (call first to verify). As for boats... I THINK the Lois Ann dive boat (san diego) is also 02. This is all guess work... but something to start from!

 

[riguerin]

For south county, the Scuba Center on Camp Pendleton offers a continuous flow method of blending Nitrox up to 40%. The tanks need to identified as dedicated Nitrox tanks but do not have to be O2 clean. They charge $10 per tank for standard mixes. Since they're on the base, it's a hike from OC. You have to drive down to main gate in Oceanside then drive like 11+ miles into the base. On the plus side, they can fill them while you wait.

 

[CompuDude]

Hey, Mark!

If you insist on hot fills, you'll likely always end up with short fills. Is that what you really want? OTOH, now that I think about it, I think you're diving LP tanks so hot fills may be less of an issue, esp. if you bring them up to 3000psi hot.

Also, so to be clear you want a list of local shops and boats that use membrane or stik systems instead of PP blending, so you don't have to keep your tanks O2 clean anymore?

I know the Peace and the Magician (as you recall from Sunday!) have membrane systems, as does the Lois Ann. I believe the Sea Bass and Pacific Star both have PP blending. There aren't a whole lot of boats out there that have Nitrox at this point, although the numbers are growing. See: http://californiadiveboats.com/

Now, I could be mistaken about this, but you may have already technically blown your O2 clean state if you're talking about the same tanks you used on the Magician. Nitrox pumped from a membrane system is seldom made with the special modified grade E air that you're supposed to use when you put 21% air in O2 clean tanks. Even though it's Nitrox, it's from "dirty" (aka plain old) air, and not usually hyper-filtered.

I know the Nitrox capabillities of most shops near me, but can't really help you with shops behind the Orange Curtain. I'd recommend picking up the phone with a list of local shops nearby (from the local web resource lists like diver.net and ladiver.com) and asking around. That's how I found out about how all the shops near me do their mixes. I have NO interest in maintaining O2 clean tanks...

 

[Red Vette]

Check out Laguna Sea Sports or Beach Cities Scuba (Newport, Huntington and Dana Point?). They should be able to help

 

[riguerin]

Check out Laguna Sea Sports or Beach Cities Scuba (Newport, Huntington and Dana Point?). They should be able to help

Both use partial pressure method ... tanks must be O2 clean.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Hey, Mark!

If you insist on hot fills, you'll likely always end up with short fills. Is that what you really want? OTOH, now that I think about it, I think you're diving LP tanks so hot fills may be less of an issue, esp. if you bring them up to 3000psi hot.

I'm talking about my double E8-130's so a short fill is not usually a problem

Also, so to be clear you want a list of local shops and boats that use membrane or stik systems instead of PP blending, so you don't have to keep your tanks O2 clean anymore?

Yep, that is what I am looking for, and the reason why.

I know the Peace and the Magician (as you recall from Sunday!) have membrane systems, as does the Lois Ann. I believe the Sea Bass and Pacific Star both have PP blending. There aren't a whole lot of boats out there that have Nitrox at this point, although the numbers are growing. See: http://californiadiveboats.com/

Now, I could be mistaken about this, but you may have already technically blown your O2 clean state if you're talking about the same tanks you used on the Magician. Nitrox pumped from a membrane system is seldom made with the special modified grade E air that you're supposed to use when you put 21% air in O2 clean tanks. Even though it's Nitrox, it's from "dirty" (aka plain old) air, and not usually hyper-filtered.

Yes, the fill on the Magician did put normal grade E (not hyperfiltered) Nitrox in to my cylinders, but they are so close to needing an inspection and cleaning that I did so knowingly.

I know the Nitrox capabillities of most shops near me, but can't really help you with shops behind the Orange Curtain. I'd recommend picking up the phone with a list of local shops nearby (from the local web resource lists like diver.net and ladiver.com) and asking around. That's how I found out about how all the shops near me do their mixes. I have NO interest in maintaining O2 clean tanks...

All of the shops in the area seem to partial pressure blend. Beach Cities Scuba Mania used to bank but stopped several months ago. I am familiar with the shops in coastal Orange County, but not up north toward Fullerton or Brea. I also do not really know what is in southern Los Angeles County. These are the areas where my knowledge is lacking, heck, I don't even know where the dive shops are in those areas.

Mark Vlahos

 

[caveseeker7]

If you actually want a clean tank (and very well maintained gear) rather than just the sticker to get fills go to Scuba Schools of America. It's a bit of a drive to Montclair but well worth it. They're an ANDI facility and thus keep a very tight ship. Gas samples get send to the lab and tested regularly, and records are kept and available as required by ANDI. Tolerances are tighter than normal standards. They fill clean air and nitrox (SafeAir®) as well as pure O2. Best shop in SoCal.

 

[riguerin]

Now, I could be mistaken about this, but you may have already technically blown your O2 clean state if you're talking about the same tanks you used on the Magician. Nitrox pumped from a membrane system is seldom made with the special modified grade E air that you're supposed to use when you put 21% air in O2 clean tanks. Even though it's Nitrox, it's from "dirty" (aka plain old) air, and not usually hyper-filtered.

This is good topic for So Cal divers ... and one of the confusing parts about getting Nitrox fills from boats.

Here's an excerpt from the Lois Ann site: "While our nitrox is filtered twice to remove hydrocarbons it should not be considered to be "O2 Clean". We use Grade E Air to supply the membrane which separates nitrogen and oxygen in the air, dumps some of the nitrogen as a waste gas, and then recompresses the remaining oxygen-rich gas (nitrox) into a scuba cylinder."

I don't get it ! They use hydrocarbon filter (Grade E) air in their membrane system but an 02 clean tank is no longer guaranteed to be O2 clean ? What's up with that :huh:

 

[Robert Phillips]

I don't get it ! They use hydrocarbon filter (Grade E) air in their membrane system but an 02 clean tank is no longer guaranteed to be O2 clean ? What's up with that :huh:

L-I-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y!!!