Nitrox gear and Air

[bingomt]

I know this might have been answered somewhere else, but I couldn't find it, so please if it has, point me in the right direction. So on to the question: I'm rather new to diving and have a few questions. I know most people (including myself) are using Nitrox and so your equipment needs to be Nirtox compatable. But my question is what happens if you dive somewhere where Nitrox is not available? I would like to bring my own gear with me (except the tank) if I dive out of the country and a lot of the places I go don't offer Nitrox. What do I do in that situation? Will using air really hurt my system?
TIA! :06:

 

[scubamickey]

NO. All regs (Titanium ones aren't recommended for Nitrox) are compatible with 36% and less. But that doesn't mean you can't switch back and forth between Nitrox and Air. That only applies to Tanks.

You'll learn more about that when you take the Nitrox class.

 

[UTdiver]

With normal regs, as long as your are using less than 40% nitrox most regs are capable of handling nitrox. As long as you continue to use 40% or less you can switch back and forth between nitrox and air and should have no issues with the regs. If you buy an O2 clean reg for deco or have your reg O2 cleaned you must you O2 clean Nitrox or air or else you will contaminate your reg and will not be able to use it with nitrox with percentages higher than 40%. Tanks is where things gets more complicated. Depending on the method your LDS uses to create the nitrox you may or may not need an oxygen clean tank. There are essentially three ways to create nitrox. Partial pressure filling, a "stick" mechanism, or a membrane compressor.
Partial pressure filling requires that a certain amount of 100% O2 be placed in the tank and then oxygen clean air is used to top off the tank. depending on the desired mix, different amounts of O2 and OC air are used. Because at some point 100% O2 is placed in the tank the tank must be and must remain O2 clean. That means that unless you are getting oxygen clean air when you get air fill you should not switch back and forth between nitrox and regular grade E air.
The "Stick" method and membrane compressors mix the nitrox before it enters the tank. So as long as you are creating nitrox with less than 40% O2 you can get by without having an O2 clean tank. That means it is more acceptable to switch back and forth between nitrox and regular air.
Thats probably more information than you were asking for but there you go. As long as you are using less than 40% nitrox you will be fine switching back and forth between air and nitrox. Happy diving.

 

[m3830431]

Do a search on NITROX. This has been discussed repeatedly.

 

[jonnythan]

Your gear does not need anything special to operate with Nitrox.

The tank is the only thing to be worried about. Putting air in a Nitrox-clean tank makes it unable to be filled with Nitrox using the partial pressure fill method. That's it. Your regs, your BC, everything else is fine with Nitrox no matter what.

 

[bingomt]

Thanks everyone. I am actually certifited to used air mixes, but my class was shoddy. I don't know the details like this, just how to use it properly. Thanks

 

[cummings66]

I would say that you need to go back over your materials because items like this can be important. My padi book covered all that was said above except for the "stick" method so regardless of how poor the classroom instruction was, your book does have the necessary info in it.

The issue and why I mentioned going over your book is that part of using Nitrox properly is knowing how your equipment is used and in what manner it's maintained to be safe, and what to do in order to use it with Nitrox if it's not been prepared. For what it's worth, most divers around here do not use Nitrox. In fact I know of nobody personally who uses it, although I know of some who have been certified to use it. I wouldn't let it bother you if you don't get to use Nitrox on your trips abroad, it's no big deal.