o2 cleaning every year

[bigtim6656]

Nice simple question that needs a nice simple YES or NO.

I am looking at some steel tanks, I was going to get new, but found two different deals on used tanks, both well worth the money. Both deals are o2 cleaned one running trimix, the other nitrox unsure of %.

Ok given your tank as always used high quality air or nitrox, and their is nothing to lead anyone to think other wise. Would a o2 cleaning be required every year or so many years. I ask because of course the o2 cleaning ant cheap, and I want to know if I will need to get them done before filling with nitrox. Will be doing my nitrox course in a week or two

 

[Hallmac]

Nice simple question that needs a nice simple YES or NO.

Will be doing my nitrox course in a week or two

Unfortunately, what you believe is a simple question is not so simple.

In theory, and if you control all aspects, then the answer would be no it is not necessary.

In real life, contamination can happen easy enough. The real problem comes, not from what you do, but from what one or two knuckleheads have done in the past. Thus the facility that will supply your fills will dictate what schedule they demand for cleaning before they will fill.

As in life, what your wallet demands will always be ignored!

 

[oxyhacker]

Find a shop that continuous mixes or banks premix nitrox and you won't need O2 cleaned tanks. Otherwise, most shops are going to want to see proof that the tank was cleaned within the last year before they PP mix nitrox in one.

A year for the interval is pretty arbitrary, but as good as any. Since the real danger with O2 safe tanks is the slow build up of contaminants, rather than one catastrophic event, regular cleaning makes good sense.

If the cost is the problem, you may be able to do it yourself following the directions in most mix manuals, though some shops don't like the idea of customers DIYing so its probably a good idea to check first. If you do decide to DIY, remember the valve is every bit as critical, and maybe more, than the tank, and must be cleaned and relubed with O2-safe lube when the tank is done.

 

[bigtim6656]

Not so much the money, more trying to figure if I want to buy one of the two different used tanks for sale, one 1 double set of 119s the other 4 100s, the prices are good, but with vis due on all of them, hydro within a year though 2 out of the 4 set are due SOON, a o2 cleaning the savings go from enough to justify going used to justifying going new and not worring about it. I found a shop that is in line with scubatoys and everyone else, called fill express(ftlauderdale) and theirs come new o2 ready for that price. Now if I can just get them to give me the 10% off Scubatoys would(forum member) I would be good to go,

The odd thing is one local shop in key largo told me they do partial pressure fills and their is no requirement for a o2 cleaning when using less then 40% which seems odd to me, though their the only tech shop in key largo, well the only one I have found

Find a shop that continuous mixes or banks premix nitrox and you won't need O2 cleaned tanks. Otherwise, most shops are going to want to see proof that the tank was cleaned within the last year before they PP mix nitrox in one.

A year for the interval is pretty arbitrary, but as good as any. Since the real danger with O2 safe tanks is the slow build up of contaminants, rather than one catastrophic event, regular cleaning makes good sense.

If the cost is the problem, you may be able to do it yourself following the directions in most mix manuals, though some shops don't like the idea of customers DIYing so its probably a good idea to check first. If you do decide to DIY, remember the valve is every bit as critical, and maybe more, than the tank, and must be cleaned and relubed with O2-safe lube when the tank is done.

 

[bigtim6656]

I know but my reasoning for wording it that way was that seems every post I read had a if this happens and if that happens, I was mainly wanting the basic yes or no, which you gave. The double set I was looking at is setup for trimix and only filled at fill express, so there is little worry about a issue with the cleaning not being good now, though still like you said it comes down to the shop you use, Guess I will be keep to the premix shops and calling ahead before I travel. Not I have a issue wiht doing the o2cleaning, better safe then dead, I do not want the crap it removes in my tank to begin with, just I do not want a o2 cleaning every other week when I travel up the florida coast and use a diff shop.

Unfortunately, what you believe is a simple question is not so simple.

In theory, and if you control all aspects, then the answer would be no it is not necessary.

In real life, contamination can happen easy enough. The real problem comes, not from what you do, but from what one or two knuckleheads have done in the past. Thus the facility that will supply your fills will dictate what schedule they demand for cleaning before they will fill.

As in life, what your wallet demands will always be ignored!

 

[ajduplessis]

Cleaning O2 kit on a regular basis is not going to do any harm (except for cost). You need to consider risks/benefits and decide what you are comfortable with. I did a blending/cleaning course to help me drive down the overall costs of O2 cleaning, and more importantly giving me the knowledge and understanding of the risks and associated filling processes.

In short, understand the O2 cleaning philosophy/process and do whatever you feel comfortable with. Only you can take responsibility for your actions.

 

[herbdb]

Here is another newbie question on tank maintenance. Does an annual vis invalidate the O2 clean status or is it a fresh start?

 

[muddiver]

The annual visual inspection should not un-clean a cylinder and it's valve if the technician doing the inspection knows how to keep every thing clean. If you go to Bubba's garage for a VIP, than you might have a problem.

The valve is the main location at issue when you are talking oxygen. That is where the tight spots and turns are that can cause heating during gas passage. The cylinder is less likely to be an issue because it will not get hot enough to cause any ignition.

So, long story short, no, because one would have to disassemble the valve to contaminate the interior of the valve, or one would have to smear a hydrocarbon lube on the valve and cylinder when re-assembling them to cause a problem.

 

[Wookie]

On my liveaboard we O2 clean every cylinder (except the doubles) every year. 70 something cylinders. We also rebuild every valve and O2 clean it every year (except the doubles). We control our fill station, and every bit of gas we pump is O2 compatible. The upside for me is that when I hot fill someone's rebreather bottle of O2 to 3342 PSI, I feel safe doing it right out on the deck in front of everyone. The downside is, of course, cost. Learn to O2 clean your own cylinders and valves and you'll have something to do on those cold Miami nights.

 

[oxyhacker]

Not as easy a question to answer as it might seem since there is no set of "official" rules covering O2 cleaning for scuba. The various tech and tank insepction agencies all have their rules and guidelines, but they disagree with each other, and are in no way binding. Also, these rules often tend to be much more conservative than what is actually being done in the the real world. So in the end it is the guy who is filling (or not filling) your tank who makes the rules.

In this case, you'd think a trained visual inspector could open a tank without contaminating it, but I suspect most of the agencies would say that once a tank is opened or completely depressurized, it is no longer O2-clean, due to the possibility that contaminants may have found their way into the tank. So if O2 clean status is important to you it makes sense to do both the visual and cleaning at the same time.

Here is another newbie question on tank maintenance. Does an annual vis invalidate the O2 clean status or is it a fresh start?