Request: Compressor setup for dummies

[rhwestfall]

Couple dive clubs in this region have compressors...

From there you need a training program.

Plenty of other logistics...

 

[Tracy]

@wdeutsch Hadn't even thought of that.

One thing I had thought of was essentially a co-op. As someone commented above, a small but well built compressor, well maintained, can break even or save money if it sees sufficient use. Thus, this leads to the notion of, well, if I and say, twenty other local divers pooled our resources, we could easily buy an excellent compressor setup, and between the lot of us, get more than our money's worth in savings. Of course, I don't know twenty other divers IRL, much less ones I'd want to co-own a compressor with, but the idea is there. Has anyone on here ever done anything of that sort?

Partnerships only seem to work well when all of the other partners are dead.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@Tracy Remind me never to co-own a compressor with you...On an unrelated note, why does this tank you filled me taste like pennies?

 

[Tracy]

@Tracy Remind me never to co-own a compressor with you...On an unrelated note, why does this tank you filled me taste like pennies?

You definitely won't. I co-owned an oxygen booster for about 10 years. I learned my lesson.

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@Tracy Yeah, realistically I tend to avoid any sort of co-ownership on principle. I'll make exceptions here and there, but only if I'm willing to write off either my stake in the venture or my relationship with its members going in. Otherwise, it's just not worth it.

 

[BRT]

No, shops do not sell air with a profit.

Air fills are a convenience to keep customers coming in the shop so that, while waiting for their fills, they will buy fluff and tchotchke, which are sold at a profit.

I have a small compressor and have experience with the costs. That being said I am a friend of a guy who fills tanks in Cozumel. I understand that his labor costs are low, but I suspect his filter and oil and parts costs are high. I know for a fact that his electricity costs are high. I am astounded how cheap fills are there. Yet he seems to do well and keeps expanding. He has no dive shop, sells no dive equipment, doesn't teach classes. Just sells air fills and rents tanks.

 

[BRT]

The best write up from a starting-from-nothing perspective that I know of is probably again @clownfishsydney’s website:

Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site

This documented the process by which he purchased his compressor, now a quarter of a century ago! It also documents every last little thing that was done to that compressor during that quarter of a century, including a full accounting of all expenses.

Obviously, the actual costs he paid back then bear no resemblance to what you would pay today. But my guess is that 25 years from now the numbers would work out similarly, though larger, of course. Like I said, what makes it work for him is the fact that he did over 300 dives a year using fills from that compressor. You actually do save costs when you can amortize everything over thousands of dives.

So why couldn’t @Wookie do the same with his thousands of dives per year? Because Wookie needed them filled quickly, so he had to buy a much larger and more expensive compressor, with higher operating costs, and therefore higher costs per fill.

By the way, the other website that’s great for compressor knowledge is Scuba Engineer’s:

Bauer Compressors - Scuba Engineer

Bauer Servicing Information All compressor servicing manuals archived on this page are Copyright of the BAUER COMP Holding AG, Munich, Germany. Click HERE

scubaengineer.com

The problem is, while this site has a tremendous amount of information, it’s not organized in a way that allows you to start from nothing. But once you have a general overview, this contains a wealth of additional detailed information.

Do you really think large compressors have higher per tank costs than small ones? I've never seen a fill shop put in a whole bunch of small ones to save money.

 

[Wookie]

I have a small compressor and have experience with the costs. That being said I am a friend of a guy who fills tanks in Cozumel. I understand that his labor costs are low, but I suspect his filter and oil and parts costs are high. I know for a fact that his electricity costs are high. I am astounded how cheap fills are there. Yet he seems to do well and keeps expanding. He has no dive shop, sells no dive equipment, doesn't teach classes. Just sells air fills and rents tanks.

I’d guess their liability insurance is not too high either, which is a significant expense in a USA dive shop

 

[clownfishsydney]

The best write up from a starting-from-nothing perspective that I know of is probably again @clownfishsydney’s website:

Michael McFadyen's Scuba Diving Web Site

This documented the process by which he purchased his compressor, now a quarter of a century ago! It also documents every last little thing that was done to that compressor during that quarter of a century, including a full accounting of all expenses.

Obviously, the actual costs he paid back then bear no resemblance to what you would pay today. But my guess is that 25 years from now the numbers would work out similarly, though larger, of course. Like I said, what makes it work for him is the fact that he did over 300 dives a year using fills from that compressor. You actually do save costs when you can amortize everything over thousands of dives.

So why couldn’t @Wookie do the same with his thousands of dives per year? Because Wookie needed them filled quickly, so he had to buy a much larger and more expensive compressor, with higher operating costs, and therefore higher costs per fill.

By the way, the other website that’s great for compressor knowledge is Scuba Engineer’s:

Bauer Compressors - Scuba Engineer

Bauer Servicing Information All compressor servicing manuals archived on this page are Copyright of the BAUER COMP Holding AG, Munich, Germany. Click HERE

scubaengineer.com

The problem is, while this site has a tremendous amount of information, it’s not organized in a way that allows you to start from nothing. But once you have a general overview, this contains a wealth of additional detailed information.

And remember my costs in the article are Australian dollars, so for US dollars, multiple by 0.63. Makes it even cheaper. Over 23.3 years, 5,280 fills, the cost per fill taking everything into account (electricity, oil, filter materials, parts and total write-down of cost) is AU$1.54 (US$0.98). So anyone who says you cannot save money on airfills is telling a lot of BS.

I also do Nitrox fills (well most are for the past 15 years) but I have never calculated the oxygen cost into the equation as the cost per fill would depend on the % of each fill (I do various % from 26 to 32% as well as deco mixes).

 

[SouthernSharktoothDiver]

@clownfishsydney So let me ask you, since you seem to be the guy for this sort of thing. Is it possible to save money on fills, or even break even, filling say, 50 tanks a year? It seems like it isn't, but I figure if anyone would know a way, you seem like the guy.