To use argon bottle or not?

[TrimixToo]

Back to the original question...when I did trimix training in the St Lawrence river it was about 75F for our dives to 200'. Thinking it was warm enough, I chose to inflate with back gas with something like 18/38. I was shivering when I got to the 20' stop after the second dive in a dry suit with insulation that was more than adequate for the water temperature. Extending the stop did not, of course, make me one bit less miserable. I plumbed in a deco bottle (EAN40 or EAN50, I think) for the rest of the training and I was toasty. I got an inflation bottle when I got home. YMMV, but I won't do that again.

 

[boulderjohn]

I was trained from the very beginning to use an argon bottle, with argon, air, or airgon ( argon topped off with air) whenever I was diving trimix. A couple of years ago, I was on a dive boat heading out to sea, and I heard a couple of people talking about the silliness of argon bottles--just use back gas, they said. I did not comment--just listened.

A couple of years ago I had to fly to a dive trip so I could do my internship for becoming a trimix instructor. I had to plan what I could bring on the flight and what I could borrow while there. I asked about my argon bottle, and the instructor told me not to worry about it. Just use backgas, he said. In fact, no one in the entire trip used an argon bottle.

Last year I went away to Florida for my annual two month trip and realized I had accidentally left my argon bottle home. I decicded to go without it, and I was fine, even on some deeper dives with hefty helium mixes.

That was in Florida, though, where the coldest temperatures I reached were in the very low 70s, and where my longest dives were no more than 2 hours. When I am diving in the cooler temperatures in my local region, I still use the argon bottle, but I fill it with air.

 

[Jared0425]

Back to the original question...when I did trimix training in the St Lawrence river it was about 75F for our dives to 200'.

Were you doing the Jodrey? I remember hitting a thermocline on the Jodrey and Keystrom that dropped the water temp from 74 to about 62. It was really weird to have a thermocline in the river there.

 

[RainPilot]

We were not allowed to use lip balm in the cockpit when using an oxygen mask as the feeling of your lips spontaneously igniting was unpleasant to say the least. Couple of mustaches lost before we learned that lesson.

Rubber seals, whatever skin lotion etc you may have on your body, assorted zipper lubricants and so forth, combined with O2 saturated undergarments doesn't fill me with confidence. Might even make a post dive cigarette a special event.

 

[TrimixToo]

Were you doing the Jodrey? I remember hitting a thermocline on the Jodrey and Keystrom that dropped the water temp from 74 to about 62. It was really weird to have a thermocline in the river there.

Yes, but there was no thermocline at the time.

 

[wedivebc]

DO NOT use helium as suit inflation. The conductivity of even a small (25%) amount of helium will make you feel like you're in a 3mil shorty, trust me.
As far as inflation bottles when I was working in a dive shop I inspected lots of tanks, The inflation tanks were the worst. Divers would run out of inflation gas but keep diving. Water would infiltrate the bottle which would go unnoticed until next annual vis then the bottle would have to be thrown out due to corrosion and pitting.
I use my leanest, non helium bailout bottle for suit inflation. That is usually 32% or 50% on a trimix dive. It takes about 2cuft out of an 80 to handle suit inflation.

For those who worry about the risk of static spark igniting in enriched O2 environment, static electricity seldom occurs in moist atmosphere and any drysuit I've ever owned was pretty moist inside during a dive.

 

[LiteHedded]

I've poured water out of my al6 on multiple occasions. Fresh water tho. It's still going strong

 

[RainPilot]

DO NOT use helium as suit inflation. The conductivity of even a small (25%) amount of helium will make you feel like you're in a 3mil shorty, trust me.
As far as inflation bottles when I was working in a dive shop I inspected lots of tanks, The inflation tanks were the worst. Divers would run out of inflation gas but keep diving. Water would infiltrate the bottle which would go unnoticed until next annual vis then the bottle would have to be thrown out due to corrosion and pitting.
I use my leanest, non helium bailout bottle for suit inflation. That is usually 32% or 50% on a trimix dive. It takes about 2cuft out of an 80 to handle suit inflation.

For those who worry about the risk of static spark igniting in enriched O2 environment, static electricity seldom occurs in moist atmosphere and any drysuit I've ever owned was pretty moist inside during a dive.

Consider getting one of those valve things to ... reduce moisture.