Omega II/CDX5 O2 cleaning

[Jimmer]

Do I really need to order an O2 safe service kit for these regs? Or can I just take a list of the appropriate size o-rings to my o-ring supplier here at work and get those one in Viton and be good to go?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Jimmer]

Bump.

 

[Thalassamania]

If your running 40% or less and the regs are basically, clean it should be fine. If you want to run higher than that, good luck, there are several plastic and rubber parts in the second stage that can't be swapped out. Some folks worry about using pilots with anything except air, maybe the oxycheck folks can give us some guidance there.

 

[Jimmer]

Well the O2 in the second stage I'm not overly worried about. I was told by several people, including Cerich when he was still with Oceanic if memory serves me, that they can be O2 cleaned same as any other second stage. I'm just curious whether or not I can get away without ordering the special O2 service kit for them.

 

[Thalassamania]

Cerich

He'd know.

 

[Jimmer]

While thinking about the O2 cleaning issue with my various regs, I got to wondering how "close" to O2 clean they come from the factory, ie. when assembled at the factory, are they assembled with Viton or Buna rings, and do you use silicone or Christolube at initial assembly?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[Doug Krause]

Sorry Jimmer, I missed this one until I saw your post this morning. O2 cleaning kits are not available.

To answer your second question - The CDX-5 First Stage is built with mostly buna o-rings, although we do use Christo-Lube exclusively. Back when we produced Nitrox-specific regs in addition to our "standard" product line, we found that the Nitrox regs consistently out-performed the standard regs, ultimately due to Christo-Lube being used, so we have stuck with it.

 

[cerich]

Just a quick point, BUNA orings are not a cause for oxygen "problems"per say, they just degrade (crack and then turn to dust) quickly in oxygen rich enviornments.
The lubricant and any containments are what can really cause issues.

 

[Jimmer]

Thanks for the replys guys. So if I have my head wrapped around this one (us mechanical engineers tend to understand metals better than polymers ) the only issue with BUNA is possible premature degradation in the oxygen rich environment? In which case, my O-ring supplier here has just sent me 250 Viton "samples" D) in various sizes, so I'll tear these 2 Omega/CDX5's down, clean the hell out of them and rebuild them with the Viton, since they were free anyway, and Christolube, and be good to go for my advanced Nitrox/Deco course. Thanks Doug and Cerich for both of your help. Can't wait to get my course underway.

Jim

 

[Doug Krause]

Of course, I'll have to point out at this point that as an Oceanic representative, I cannot condone the use of our products with greater than 40% as our service procedures and operating manuals state.

Have a great time.