MikeFerrara:
During the time I owned a shop I had insurance with 2 different companies. I went from pumping just air to pumping trimix, O2 and argon and it never had any effect on the cost of insurance.
Over the last few years I have worked for several shops in the N/E and all the owners have told me their insurance changes once they start pumping nitrox/mixed gases. I was the manager of a dive shop and I saw the increases the shop insurance would be charged if we were to start pumping Nitrox, the increase was significant.
The fill log pretty much takes care of this.
True.
The VIP sticker takes care of this. Of course the only way to know how safe it is to pump O2 into a tank is to have full time control of the tank.
How does the one who sold you the tank know any more about who else fills it and how the tank is maintained?
If the LDS knows the customer then they are more comfortable dealing with that customer than a complete stranger. That's only human nature, people fear the unknown.
When a strange diver walked into your shop and asked for a 38% fill how did you react?
Again this has not been my experience. What insurance company charges more if you sell nitrox. I had shop insurance with both Vicencia & Buckaly and Marsh and my premiums were uneffected by selling mixed gasses.
How about the general shop insurance for having a compressor on premises? Then add the presence of bottled O2 and the fire dept regulations that entails? Then the need for fire containment? And the requirements for fill station/operator safty? Etc.....
It can be almost impossible to cost-justify the cost of any fill station in an area where you don't sell lots of gas.
According to what I have seen that is mostly the case. And that's the point. Nitrox fills cost even more to produce and in general that cost is NOT passed on to the consumer.
A couple of things here though. What is a nitrox compressor? I have a great fill station, I'm a blender and a blending instructor but I don't know what a nitrox compressor is.
Now your being picky. Would this do?
An air compressor capable of producing high quality breathable air as defined by local code in relation to the presence of moisture, hydrocarbon and contaminent content of the gas. Said device to be used in conjunction with a system capable of changing the oxygen content of a gas mix by any recognised method.
The phrase "Nitrox Compresor" is a convenient description, that's all.
No need to clean a tank (beyond what would be required for air) that is only going to be exposed to mixes below 40%.
I believe there are many threads discussing this very topic. I won't labor the point.
Also Grade E air doesn't cut it. What most agencies call for is modified grade E.
I stand corrected. But if you put fully synthetic oil in a grade E compressor you get GEmod. There is NO hydrocarbon content. (Providing the compressor has not been run with std oil of course)
As for me, I'm the owner and principal instructor of a diver training school, a PADI MSDT, a certified gas blender and cylinder inspector. I am trained as a reg tech for several manufacturers and I have been a commercial diver trained for deep saturation habitat diving. Finally, I like cats.
My post was an attempt to point out several items that were not previously raised. I hope I accomplished that.
Regards,
Paul.
