nitrox cert?

[spearvero]

so i want to get nitrox certified to increase my amount of time in the water. and i wanted to know what i need to get nitrox certified? anything special? im considering geting my AOW cert. also just to have it. but can certain tanks not be used for nitrox? im on a pretty strict budget. i have the $775 kit from visibility unlimited that they advertise on this website and was wondering if that was ok for nitrox. so do i need to get special tanks and what is required to get cert.?
thanks
jake

 

[sharkattack]

All you need to take is a course. Once certified, you can rent the tanks. If you want your own they just need to be O2 serviced. Regs are fine. Most are compatible up to 40% from the factory. If yours have not been serviced in the past year have them serviced.

 

[crpntr133]

Sometimes tanks need to be O2 cleaned, depends upon how the shop fills them as well as PO2. Partial pressure filling or 40%+ on O2 and then you need it.

 

[sharkattack]

Sometimes tanks need to be O2 cleaned, depends upon how the shop fills them as well as PO2. Partial pressure filling or 40%+ on O2 and then you need it.

The 40% rule does not apply to scuba cylinders. Any cylinders being used with nitrox for the 1st time, should be O2 serviced. Nitrox 101.

 

[rawls]

The 40% rule does not apply to scuba cylinders

Huh??? Yes it does...If you are filling a cylinder with greater than EAN40 you have to have a dedicated cylinder and it needs to be O2 clean (Of course any EAN cylinders should be dedicated). Anytime enriched air tanks are partial pressure filled, regardless of the percentage mix, they have to be O2 clean. And cylinders filled by membrane or premix methods might not have to meet service standards, depending on manufacturer recommendations, local laws, etc...I don't understand where you get the "40% rule doesn't apply to scuba cylinders"...or maybe I am misinterpreting what you are trying to say...

 

[underwasser bolt]

The 40% rule does not apply to scuba cylinders. Any cylinders being used with nitrox for the 1st time, should be O2 serviced. Nitrox 101.

not exactly what i learned in nitrox 101, but maybe i too do not understand what you are saying.

 

[DeepB]

this tank thing also depends on local law. for instance here in austria (ok, chance that he lives in austria is very little, but just for example), is that everything over 21% O2 is treated like 100%O2. what does not only make difference in equipment, but also in transportation. I think this is the same in some other european countrys, which is by the way not far fetched, because some blend nitrox with first putting the O2 in the tank (then its 100%O2 in the tank), and then adding the rest.

but just do your nitrox course, the yourse should clear everything.

Daniel

 

[TheTrickster]

I too have the 'kit' from Visibility Unlimited - if you mean the OceanPro, Alpha8's and the Veo? - Excellent stuff from those guys...!

The Regs are good to 40% O2 - http://www.oceanicww.com/p_regulators_alpha8_specs.html

So equipment wise - you're sorted - no additional equipment needed, unless you fancy buying your own 02 analyser!

Have lots of fun!

 

[The Kraken]

Keep in mind, just because you're diving Nitrox you won't necessarily get more bottom time.

Yes, your NDL will be extended, but your bottom time depends upon your SAC rate and the volume of your tank.

What you will see mostly, unless you have a higher volume tank available to you, will be shortened surface intervals.

Take this scenario:

You have a SAC rate of 0.6 cf/m. and you're diving an Al 80.

On a dive of 60' (square profile with ~ 500 psi residual gas) you will have an NDL on regular air of approximately 55 minutes and with an EAN32 mix you will have an NDL of approximately 81 minutes.

With a SAC rate of 0.6 and diving an Al 80, you will have approximately 32 minutes of breathing gas available.

Just one of those things that many dive shops forget to tell ya when they sell ya a Nitrox course.

the K

 

[spectrum]

so i want to get nitrox certified to increase my amount of time in the water. and i wanted to know what i need to get nitrox certified?
jake

Jake,

You don't have any real info in your profile (hint) but it sounds like you are new to diving. Diving with nitrox will allow you to stay down longer on deeper dives where your NDL (nitrogen loading) causes you to end the dive based on your dive tables and/or computer. If your dives are ending because you are running out of air then it won't do you any good and your dive budget may be better spent on other stuff for now.

The other reason to get nitrox certified even as a new diver is if you have a dive intensive vacation in the foreseeable future where you will be doing a lot of diving for days on end. In that situation table planning may catch up with you even if you are ending dives for low air.

Your regulator & BC will be fine for any recreational blend (up to 40%)

Tanks are a little tricky....
*Renting is easy and sometimes a good option.
*Obviously in a dive trip scenario it's all there waiting for you especially if you book a nitrox package up front.
*Depending on the type of blending being done locally, regulations and shop policy any one of a number of situations will unfold.
*If you need O2 clean cylinders (and odds are you will) then you must always run nitrox and as a minimum nitrox clean air. This can limit where you can fill these cylinders for an "air" dive.
*Some shops insist on a complete bleed down and do the fill from scratch.

Anyhow if you decide that this is the right time to become nitrox certified you will learn all about these details as you take the class and begin to ask around. Other than slightly modified dive planning no other special skills are required.

Pete