Which O2 Analyzer?

[rrunyan]

My wife and I are going to Cozumel next month. We want to take our own analyzer with us to check our nitrox fills. The question is which one?

Requirements:

Accurate
Cheap (or at least not expensive)
Small (to carry in the reg bag)

Thanks!

Ron R.

 

[MechDiver]

My wife and I are going to Cozumel next month. We want to take our own analyzer with us to check our nitrox fills. The question is which one?

Requirements:

Accurate
Cheap (or at least not expensive)
Small (to carry in the reg bag)

Thanks!

Ron R.

Look at www.oxycheq.com

 

[JWJ]

My wife and I are going to Cozumel next month. We want to take our own analyzer with us to check our nitrox fills. The question is which one?

Requirements:

Accurate
Cheap (or at least not expensive)
Small (to carry in the reg bag)

Thanks!

Ron R.

Ron
I'm a store owner & instructor using, blending & teaching Nitrox. I use the MiniOx, the OxyCheq Explorer and more recently the MaxTec Max O2. My customers using the Maxtec have been very pleased; reliability, small size, easy to use. The model we sell is all setup, ready to go, plugs into your LPI hose.

John Johnston

 

[Aeolus]

Look at www.oxycheq.com

I just ordered one from them. It is supposed to be delivered on Monday 8/16. I have been told that it will take about three hours to build it. They have a good reputation for quality and accuracy. The price is reasonable $100. I plan to take it to Roatan in Sept.

 

[MechDiver]

I just ordered one from them. It is supposed to be delivered on Monday 8/16. I have been told that it will take about three hours to build it. They have a good reputation for quality and accuracy. The price is reasonable $100. I plan to take it to Roatan in Sept.

Patrick has excellent products IMO. I have the Expedition and we use one of his He analyzers in our fill station.

Don't burn yourself

MD

 

[Aeolus]

I finished the analyser on Tuesday Aug. 28. It seems to work just fine. When I check it against a known source, it was off by 0.3%. That could have been caused by the low flow rate in the calibration gas. I am happy with it so far. I will try it out further when I go to Fantasy Island Beach Resort on Roatan on the 18th of Sept.

 

[jerrynuss]

I have several analyzers and they are all accurate and work well. But my favorite is the Amoxtec Analox O2EII. It is compact and does not have any additional devices like adapters, fitting, hoses, flow reducers, cords. It is self contained and works with yoke and DIN valves. Just put it up to a valve and get a reading. It has a display lock so when the reading is reached push the button and lock the display for labeling. What sold me on the unit is it is very impact resistant, floats and has a waterproof membrane protecting the sensor. On a dive boat my friend had his out and and he was letting people on the boat use it while we were docked. A diver dropped it and it bounced off the deck and went overboard. A mad scramble ensued and we picked it out of the water where it was floating. We dried it off and checked the sensor and there was no damage. He told me it was supposed to float and was water proof. Well I was impressed so I bought one myself and now I have a dealership for them. They are not the least expensive but they are are the best I have seen. For reference I have a vandagraph, the Analox O2EII, a couple of El Cheapo home built units, an OMS, and a Ceramatec MaxO2. It has user replaceable batteries and user replaceable sensor.

 

[fdog]

Another vote for the Analox O2EII.

Very convenient, especially for cylinders already on a boat...the Expedition faces the wrong way.

Also, it has held span cal very well.

All the best, James

 

[JeffW]

I have the MaxTec Handi which I like a lot. I got it to take on my frequent dive trips to the Carribean. With a flow restrictor device that hooks up to my AirII low pressure inflator hose, it is very easy to get good repeatable readings.

When the 02 sensor expired after about 1 year I decided not to replace the sensor. The sensors last only about 1 year no matter how frequently they are used. I decided that I didn't need to take the analyzer on trips anymore. Every location that I went to had an analyzer to use. Which makes sense, of course. If they are providing nitrox they must have an analyzer for you to use. I never found any significant difference between the readings on my personal analyzer and the dive operator's analyzer.

So for me personally, I didn't find the trouble and expense of maintaining my own analyzer worth it.

 

[jerrynuss]

That is interesting because I have found some significant differences. One trip I was running an advanced nitrox class and had the shop get the cylinders set up and on the boat. When we arrived in the morning the cylinders were all labeled and students started setting their gear up. I stopped them and made sure they analyzed. We wanted ean36 in the cylinders. When they were analyzed most of them were on target but we found one that had ean48 in it and one had ean21 or air. Now this would have been a real problem on both accounts. Luckily we found the problem and fixed it. So always analyze and label your on cylinders.

A fill station should have acouple of analyzer, the agencies I am affiliated require it. But that doesn't always happen. I had some friends go through a nitrox class and they went on vaction to a dive resort and expected to be diving nitrox. Well the analyzer at that resort on the island was not working so they could not get nitrox.

The analox analyzer I sell has a 3 year warranty on the sensor and the expected life is five years. It has a waterproof membrane so water can not get to the sensor and ruin it. A replacement sensor is $80 so divide that by the minimum 3 years and it is only 26 dollars a year then break that down by the number of dives or the chance a place won't have a functioning analyzer and owning one is pretty cheap insurance.

I have several analyzers like I said further up the thread this is because I teach nitrox and need them for that and I bought several of them used off ebay and they work fine but they are not handy like the analox. That is the one I reach for, no adapters or fitting or hoses so nothing for me to lose or forget.

No matter what brand it is a good idea to own one that is accurate reliable and simple to operate. As in everything don't depend on others too much.