Nitrox, What's involved?

[TerryTat]

Is it true that you have to have your gear (Reg, tanks, etc,) cleaned before you use nitrox if they have been used previously with air?

Thanks, Terry

 

[Kim]

First off - to use nitrox you should do a course first as there are a few little details that you need to know.
To answer your question though:
Your tanks need to be cleaned but up to EAN40 (40% Oxygen) your regs don't. Higher oxygen percentages need another (advanced) course and clean everything.

 

[voop]

Not in general. Most gear can be used (unless specified by the manufacturer) for nitrox with up to 40% O2.

All this is learned in a basic Nitrox-course, which is very highly reccomended for diving with Nitrox. It's not complicated, but there are a few things which are vital to know.

Cheers,

 

[TerryTat]

Thanks! I know about the course. I was just wondering about the added cost if I did do it. I'm interested, just not interested in spending another small fortune. How commen is it to go over 40 percent?

 

[voop]

<40% suffices for most rec-diving. Remenber: the depth you can go to decreases as the O2-percentage increases. This is one reason why special training is required (to calculate that depth a given Nitrox-mix can allow you to go...) for Nitrox.

>40% is common for diving with accelerated deco, i.e. a branch of tech-diving. This kind of diving, typically, requires a substantial investement in time, training and gear anyways....O2-cleaning of gear is not the heavy part on that budget.

 

[Otter]

Depending on where you get your air and/or nitrox fills, you might or might not need to get your tank & valve O2 cleaned. Worst case would be a dedicated tank. Taking the class (which I teach will help you understand the whys.

 

[OE2X]

Depending on where you get your air and/or nitrox fills, you might or might not need to get your tank & valve O2 cleaned. Worst case would be a dedicated tank. Taking the class (which I teach will help you understand the whys.

I have never heard that you might not need to get you tank cleaned if it has had anything less than hyper filtered air pumped into it. Can you explain? I've also heard that not all new tanks are Nitrox ready from the factory.

The only time you will be going on a mix over 40% is if you are doing deco and you will be switching to a deco bottle. For all recreational dives you will have to stay under 40%. Depending on how deep you like to dive will figure into the percentage you use. On the conservative side 32% will allow you go to 110' MOD and stay at 1.4 If you want to go deeper then lower your O2 %

If you don't own tanks make sure you check with you LDS to see if they rent Nitrox dedicated tanks. If you own some already you will more than likely need to get them O2 cleaned unless you have only been using hyper air. Also be aware most shops charge more for Nitrox fills than air.

 

[paulwlee]

I have never heard that you might not need to get you tank cleaned if it has had anything less than hyper filtered air pumped into it. Can you explain?

Some shops bank pre-mixed Nitrox. Since you don't need special treatment (in most cases) unless the equipment comes into contact with over 50% O2, you can fill a non-cleaned tank with pre-mixed Nitrox.

The reason you need to have the Nitrox tanks O2 cleaned in most cases is because most shops do partial pressure blending for Nitrox: fill tank with some pure oxygen, and then top off with air. (the reason partial pressure blending is most common is because you need only minimal investment to do so, compared to other methods)

 

[Xman]

I have never heard that you might not need to get you tank cleaned if it has had anything less than hyper filtered air pumped into it. Can you explain? I've also heard that not all new tanks are Nitrox ready from the factory.

As mentioned above, if you ONLY get Nitrox fills from Banked Nitrox, or membrane Nitrox fills. If your gear will never be exposed to more than 40% O2, then it should be fine. unfortunately, most shops fill by first filling the tank with the O2 component of the mix, then topping up with air to reach the desired EANx. This means that initially your tank is and valve are exposed to 100% O2 and need to be suitably cleaned.

 

[OE2X]

Good points about the banking. The shops I use - all blend... Still you should verify with the shops that you use, what their protocalls are.