Source for MS & AC
- Thread starter Hoosier
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Surface Tension
Contributor
You might already know of Lawrence Factor but if not, here you go.
http://www.lawrence-factor.com/
I have no affiliation with them, they are just the closet to me here in Florida. I'm not sure where you are, but I think there are some similar suppliers on the left coast.
Their 13X isn't to expensive so I'm not sure if you could save much more by finding it from a more direct source than them.
Activated carbon is so widely used in other industries you would think there are plenty of sources out there for it. I think the issue then becomes are you using the right AC for the job of producing breathing air. I guess that's why I'd rather leave it to L.F.
Glad to hear you're going through so much media; must be because you're doing so much diving! Wish I had that problem but the weather has be bad this winter......
http://www.lawrence-factor.com/
I have no affiliation with them, they are just the closet to me here in Florida. I'm not sure where you are, but I think there are some similar suppliers on the left coast.
Their 13X isn't to expensive so I'm not sure if you could save much more by finding it from a more direct source than them.
Activated carbon is so widely used in other industries you would think there are plenty of sources out there for it. I think the issue then becomes are you using the right AC for the job of producing breathing air. I guess that's why I'd rather leave it to L.F.
Glad to hear you're going through so much media; must be because you're doing so much diving! Wish I had that problem but the weather has be bad this winter......
Slipstrm
Contributor
Here is where I get my 13X
http://store.ecompressedair.com/detail.aspx?id=27025
Here is where I get my AC
http://www.scubacompressor.com/shop/index.php/cPath/42?osCsid=0190f0a30ebe32746444447ee001c7e6
http://store.ecompressedair.com/detail.aspx?id=27025
Here is where I get my AC
http://www.scubacompressor.com/shop/index.php/cPath/42?osCsid=0190f0a30ebe32746444447ee001c7e6
pescador775
Contributor
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I bought a 5 gal pail of charcoal on EBay for 30 bucks. The guy had two tons for sale. Activated charcoal of almost any stripe will work, if unused. There are two parameters to consider, mesh size and moisture content. For example, mesh sizes run 8 X 12 or 4 X 10, etc. These correspond to something called "standard mesh sizes" which carry a single index number like "12". I think Bauer sells 8 X 12 or something close to it. You are looking for granular charcoal with a particle size of anywhere from 1/4 inch to 1/8 inch. The smaller size is better. I believe moisture for commercial AC runs 4%. Anyway, the charcoal which I bought had been sitting in a shed exposed to air. So, when I need a couple quarts of the stuff I heat it in an oven at about 300F, not too long as heat could change the character of the adsorbent.
I'm still using the stuff my dealer gave me with the compressor. But here's a source:
http://www.scubacompressor.com/
I'll be hitting them up for pads soon, I threw some out before I discovered they're washable.
In winter I get ~25 hrs from the PO chamber, but I hope you're changing it more often than that in the summer - I only get ~9-10 hours then.
http://www.scubacompressor.com/
I'll be hitting them up for pads soon, I threw some out before I discovered they're washable.
In winter I get ~25 hrs from the PO chamber, but I hope you're changing it more often than that in the summer - I only get ~9-10 hours then.
captain
Contributor
Any store that sells aquarium supplies has activated charcoal. 13X seive can be regenerated in an oven.
Surface Tension
Contributor
Yup, when I was using a PO, here in florida I would get less than ten hours. I typically used a correction factor of 0.5.
captain:
How do you know when its got too much oily crap in it?
Surface Tension
Contributor
I agree, for the price of the dessicant, and as little of it as I use, it's good piece of mind just to buy new.
OP
Hoosier
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There was a good post by Oxyhacker on TDS. I don't think there is much saving considering an electric cost and time cost, even and a risk factor....
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I was talking to Mike Casey at Lawrence Factor the other day, and the subject came up of whether it was possible to reactivate 13X the way you can reactivate silica gel. He said it was done routinely in certain industrial applications, but at 600F while flowing dry gas over it. But, he added, if one wanted to experiment, there is an easy test to tell if 13x is any good - just dump about a tablespoon of it in the palm of your hand, and pour about half as much water on it. If you can hold on to it, it's no good.
I had some unused but very old 13x on hand, and some half-used stuff I had for some reason saved, so I tried it with both of them. The half-used stuff got quite warm but not painfully so, and the new/old stuff after a second or two got too hot to hold. So I put the used stuff on a tray in the over at 400F for 30 minutes, let it cool, and tried again. When I added the water it popped and crackled like rice crispies when the milk hits, and almost instantly got so hot I had to fling it into the sink. So it appears significant rejeuvenation of 13x is possible at home oven temperatures.
Just for fun I left some of the new/old stuff uncovered and repeated the test later - after 3 days it barely got noticably warm. This is a good reminder of how important proper care and handling of media and cartridges is!
The reactivation trick is of questionable use. 13x is cheap enough enough, and air quality crucial enough, that you'd have to be nuts to make a regular practice of trying to reuse it. And there is the question of what happens to the other, bad things the 13x may have also absorbed, like hydrocarbons, that are not so easily expunged.
The test, though, is good to know, for us bulk packers. It's useful anytime you find yourself with a bottle of unused 13x that has been on the shelf a bit too long, and are pondering whether to use it or not. It's also informative to test the spent 13X when you change your media, to get a feeling for how used-up it was when you replaced it. Actually, it is easy enough that it is probably worth doing everytime you charge the stack, even with new stuff, to verify its quality.
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I was talking to Mike Casey at Lawrence Factor the other day, and the subject came up of whether it was possible to reactivate 13X the way you can reactivate silica gel. He said it was done routinely in certain industrial applications, but at 600F while flowing dry gas over it. But, he added, if one wanted to experiment, there is an easy test to tell if 13x is any good - just dump about a tablespoon of it in the palm of your hand, and pour about half as much water on it. If you can hold on to it, it's no good.
I had some unused but very old 13x on hand, and some half-used stuff I had for some reason saved, so I tried it with both of them. The half-used stuff got quite warm but not painfully so, and the new/old stuff after a second or two got too hot to hold. So I put the used stuff on a tray in the over at 400F for 30 minutes, let it cool, and tried again. When I added the water it popped and crackled like rice crispies when the milk hits, and almost instantly got so hot I had to fling it into the sink. So it appears significant rejeuvenation of 13x is possible at home oven temperatures.
Just for fun I left some of the new/old stuff uncovered and repeated the test later - after 3 days it barely got noticably warm. This is a good reminder of how important proper care and handling of media and cartridges is!
The reactivation trick is of questionable use. 13x is cheap enough enough, and air quality crucial enough, that you'd have to be nuts to make a regular practice of trying to reuse it. And there is the question of what happens to the other, bad things the 13x may have also absorbed, like hydrocarbons, that are not so easily expunged.
The test, though, is good to know, for us bulk packers. It's useful anytime you find yourself with a bottle of unused 13x that has been on the shelf a bit too long, and are pondering whether to use it or not. It's also informative to test the spent 13X when you change your media, to get a feeling for how used-up it was when you replaced it. Actually, it is easy enough that it is probably worth doing everytime you charge the stack, even with new stuff, to verify its quality.
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