I think I have over $200 invested in my CB system. I did put 2 O2 regulators in series to better maintain pressure from full to empty on the oxygen tank.
Net benefits and true cost of owning a compressor.
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I think I have over $200 invested in my CB system. I did put 2 O2 regulators in series to better maintain pressure from full to empty on the oxygen tank.
clownfishsydney
Contributor
I really cannot figure out a number of people have posted that it is not worth it to have your own compressor. I have had one now for 14.5 years. As of yesterday we have done 3,921 fills. The cost of these, including electricity, maintenance and consumables, is AU$1.84 per fill (say US$2.10 or so). This includes totally writing off the compressor, but considering I could sell it for over AU$2,000 now, the real cost is cheaper.
As long as you do a lot of dives, or there are two of you or you get a few friends together, you will get your money back quite quickly.
We also do Nitrox fills, I made an oxygen stick. The total cost of this including oxygen reglator was less than AU$150. The above cost does not reflect the oxygen used (I do not do Nitrox fills for our shore diving), but it would be about an extra AU$2.50 or so (I have never actually costed it).
In addition, we do not need to go out of our way after a dive to get fills, nor do we have to wait around while the tanks are filled. We simply put the compressor on while we wash the dive gear and boat. By the time we have finished doing this, the tanks are normally filled as well.
In our dive club of 160 members, we have a total of 21 compresssors, mostly Bauer Junior IIs, but some other Bauers and a couple of Coltris.
As long as you do a lot of dives, or there are two of you or you get a few friends together, you will get your money back quite quickly.
We also do Nitrox fills, I made an oxygen stick. The total cost of this including oxygen reglator was less than AU$150. The above cost does not reflect the oxygen used (I do not do Nitrox fills for our shore diving), but it would be about an extra AU$2.50 or so (I have never actually costed it).
In addition, we do not need to go out of our way after a dive to get fills, nor do we have to wait around while the tanks are filled. We simply put the compressor on while we wash the dive gear and boat. By the time we have finished doing this, the tanks are normally filled as well.
In our dive club of 160 members, we have a total of 21 compresssors, mostly Bauer Junior IIs, but some other Bauers and a couple of Coltris.
Was hoping clownfish would chime in! It's totally worth it if you dive frequently (~100 per year); and as Tobin mentioned, especially so if you dive nitrox or mixed gasses.
I've done this twice. Back in 2008, some friends and I started a dive club on a remote island in Alaska. We spent $6000 on an 8 CFM compressor, threw all the AL80s we could find into a huge pile, and offered unlimited air fills to our members for $120 a year. We initially had around 10 members, and that easily covered the operating costs of the compressor + VIP and hydro for the co-op cylinders. 8 years later, the dive club has closer to two dozen members and is doing quite well.
I moved back to the mainland in 2012 and spent a couple years slumming it with local dive shop fills, then went back to doing it myself. This is my current setup, with an Airetex 45 and all sorts of goodies. It works very well for supporting one diver and the occasional buddy.
I go through about 8000 CF of 32% nitrox a year, in addition to argon, trimix, deco gas, and air for shop tools. I do biannual OCA tests, there's plenty of filtration, and I have inline moisture, CO, helium and oxygen sensors. I also built a pretty snazzy Arduino-controlled blending stick.
I ran the numbers extensively before I bought the compressor, and I've kept diligent track of my costs. Everything included (filters, oil, testing, electricity, O2, maintenance kitty, etc), puts me at $.10 cents per CF for 32% and $.07 for air. Other gasses vary based on supplier cost (and I'm in Alaska, so they're a bit high) - O2 is $.26 per CF, helium is $1.45 per CF, and argon is $.50 per CF. I own 8 supply bottles and don't pay leasing costs.
In the end, fills work out to about half of what the local "tech" shop charges. Most of the costs are spread out over the year, so unless it's a month where I need to swap supply cylinders (especially helium, OUCH!), it's not so bad.
There are other significant benefits that others have mentioned. Stopping by every week for fills took 2 hours (most of it spent in traffic), and it was a chore that I dreaded. I've experienced every fill station/dive shop complaint in the book, but the worst was putting up with the awful customer service on a weekly basis. Access to the shop/dive boat was frequently used as a threat against customers who complained, and there was no hope of improvement.
Getting away from all of that was probably the single best thing I've done for myself, and I have far more diving opportunities now. Taking care of my own gas fills isn't just convenient, I've found it to be liberating and a great stress reliever!
You're right that the costs can be highly variable, but you could get up and running for $4k + $500 per year in operating costs. For that, you'd easily be able to fill about 10,000 CF of air. Add $400 to the initial and yearly costs if you also want to do nitrox.
My total time commitment is less than the 2 hours per week I spent going to the dive shop, and I can run the compressor on my schedule. I take care of my dive gear at the same time, so the additional time to deal with the compressor isn't really significant.
Hope that helps,
-B
I've done this twice. Back in 2008, some friends and I started a dive club on a remote island in Alaska. We spent $6000 on an 8 CFM compressor, threw all the AL80s we could find into a huge pile, and offered unlimited air fills to our members for $120 a year. We initially had around 10 members, and that easily covered the operating costs of the compressor + VIP and hydro for the co-op cylinders. 8 years later, the dive club has closer to two dozen members and is doing quite well.
I moved back to the mainland in 2012 and spent a couple years slumming it with local dive shop fills, then went back to doing it myself. This is my current setup, with an Airetex 45 and all sorts of goodies. It works very well for supporting one diver and the occasional buddy.
I go through about 8000 CF of 32% nitrox a year, in addition to argon, trimix, deco gas, and air for shop tools. I do biannual OCA tests, there's plenty of filtration, and I have inline moisture, CO, helium and oxygen sensors. I also built a pretty snazzy Arduino-controlled blending stick.
I ran the numbers extensively before I bought the compressor, and I've kept diligent track of my costs. Everything included (filters, oil, testing, electricity, O2, maintenance kitty, etc), puts me at $.10 cents per CF for 32% and $.07 for air. Other gasses vary based on supplier cost (and I'm in Alaska, so they're a bit high) - O2 is $.26 per CF, helium is $1.45 per CF, and argon is $.50 per CF. I own 8 supply bottles and don't pay leasing costs.
In the end, fills work out to about half of what the local "tech" shop charges. Most of the costs are spread out over the year, so unless it's a month where I need to swap supply cylinders (especially helium, OUCH!), it's not so bad.
There are other significant benefits that others have mentioned. Stopping by every week for fills took 2 hours (most of it spent in traffic), and it was a chore that I dreaded. I've experienced every fill station/dive shop complaint in the book, but the worst was putting up with the awful customer service on a weekly basis. Access to the shop/dive boat was frequently used as a threat against customers who complained, and there was no hope of improvement.
Getting away from all of that was probably the single best thing I've done for myself, and I have far more diving opportunities now. Taking care of my own gas fills isn't just convenient, I've found it to be liberating and a great stress reliever!
You're right that the costs can be highly variable, but you could get up and running for $4k + $500 per year in operating costs. For that, you'd easily be able to fill about 10,000 CF of air. Add $400 to the initial and yearly costs if you also want to do nitrox.
My total time commitment is less than the 2 hours per week I spent going to the dive shop, and I can run the compressor on my schedule. I take care of my dive gear at the same time, so the additional time to deal with the compressor isn't really significant.
Hope that helps,
-B
I did this for 2yrs until my local O2 supplier doubled my yearly cylinder rental cost and made it cost prohibitive to do so for my local clients. I run a W31 Alkin with a setup straight from the Vance and Harlow book. I sent samples out 4 times per year for analysis and both my blends and compressed air were on par with Amigos. My mixing stick and accessories are setting idle now so if anyone is interested in them please send me an E-mail.
100days-a-year
Contributor
Compressor+02+diesel to power compressor+filters+analyzers+misc gauges and fittings/number of fills in expected service life=less than $2 US per fill split about 30/70 nitrox air.
Other considerations are...
1.Buying,filling,transporting,storing and maintaining 30 tanks per trip per diver.
2.The weight and bulk of those tanks on a 33' boat would be a PITA.
3.Losing the ability to blend mixes for the specific depth we are in.
Other considerations are...
1.Buying,filling,transporting,storing and maintaining 30 tanks per trip per diver.
2.The weight and bulk of those tanks on a 33' boat would be a PITA.
3.Losing the ability to blend mixes for the specific depth we are in.
dreamdive
Contributor
Totally worth it even with rebreather tanks! As a matter of fact, some of our clients even got our gas powered one for convenience and freedom from being hassled. Who wants to wait at a dive shop for fills? I think for people who live quite a few miles away from any fill station, having your own also makes a big difference.
We have ours in the garage. It's so small and neatly tucked away. Peter or I fill tanks while cleaning gear or whatever. I love our fill station!
We have ours in the garage. It's so small and neatly tucked away. Peter or I fill tanks while cleaning gear or whatever. I love our fill station!
Which compressor would you recommend under these assumptions: 1 diver, say 100 dives/year @ 2 x HP100 per dive, initially air would do just fine, maybe eventually Nitrox (not sure yet if I want to mess with oxygen), but in any case it should be good for filling tanks that are often used for partial pressure blending. Electric preferred (I'd rather not keep fuel around). Noise is a concern, I have neighbors.
I have 2 compressors. 1 a rix 6 with a gas motor on it and long snorkel to run up wind. goes in the dive trailer. filters last forever so long as yo have a good pack pressure reg on the output on the final water separator. and best with another on the output of the filter unit. My cost benefit comes from not having to drive up to 100 miles to get a fill. I blend at home and with the high humidity the dry O2 does not become a problem with the compressor if I CB. normally I PP blend.
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