PADI Nitrox Course Question

[oly5050user]

Still need O2 cleaning after hydro. Many hydro facilities may reuse water , and it gets dirty. No assurances that tank is clean. We need to be sure it is clean , so we tumble with to remove any flash rust and cleaning solution. Very tedious labor intensive.

 

[oly5050user]

Just once every 5 years....not so bad. Hard to see why a hydro test necessarily destroys O2 cleanliness, anyway.

No assurances that water used during hydro process is clean. Many hydro facilities reuse water . Hydro facilities I have seen are not clean places. Usually dirty,dusty. Tank out of control of dive shop, so no idea what it was exposed to. Better safe than sorry.

 

[oly5050user]

Haven't needed that either. But I get my hydros done at an actual dive shop that does it in house rather than send it to a fire safety company, so they probably are using the right treatments the first time.

If the dive shop is not charging you for 02 cleaning I would say it is not O2 clean. Hydro here cost about $35. Visual adds another $15. O2 cleaning $50. So works out to $100 to do complete job. "Probably using right treatment first time" is not the same as being absolutely sure it is clean.

 

[Manatee Diver]

If the dive shop is not charging you for 02 cleaning I would say it is not O2 clean. Hydro here cost about $35. Visual adds another $15. O2 cleaning $50. So works out to $100 to do complete job. "Probably using right treatment first time" is not the same as being absolutely sure it is clean.

Or because they are one of the few shops that does hydros in house they set themselves apart and make sure that their process (by using clean water) doesn't affect the O2 clean status. It is their butts on the line if the tank lights up during a partial pressure fill.

Around here the prices are:
$47 with tax for hydro + vis + fill (air or EAN) + nitrox sticker (if desired or needed)
I don't remember what vis go for but it is likely less than $20 with fill.
O2 cleaning if needed is $30

 

[jgttrey]

Don't forget you need to O2 clean and service the tank valve as well, using O2 compatible parts. It isn't just the cylinder. I get it done when the cylinders get hydro'd and clean and service the valves myself.

So long as you're careful about where you get your fills and stick with air from a shop that has appropriate filtration for to get to hyper clean modified Grade E, I don't do anything in between the hydros. Some tech-oriented shops don't pump any plain Grade E air, just the hyper filtered stuff. Some shops will do EAN21 (though a bit of a misnomer as it isn't actually "enriched") but charge for a nitrox fill.

 

[Manatee Diver]

So long as you're careful about where you get your fills and stick with air from a shop that has appropriate filtration for to get to hyper clean modified Grade E, I don't do anything in between the hydros. Some tech-oriented shops don't pump any plain Grade E air, just the hyper filtered stuff. Some shops will do EAN21 (though a bit of a misnomer as it isn't actually "enriched") but charge for a nitrox fill.

I would be surprised to find a shop that does nitrox that doesn't pump their normal air at hyper filtered status. Having a completely separate compressor for just filling your nitrox banks or customer nitrox tanks is a really expensive investment for very little profit.

 

[jgttrey]

I agree in general but I know of at least one.