Nitrox users-- do you own an O2 analyzer/meter?

[MaxBottomtime]

Another point is that you don't know when the last time the O2 sensor was changed in someone else's analyzer. Dive shops and liveaboards likely use their analyzers a lot, requiring the sensor to be exchanged more often than your own. It's always wise to have a second opinion when it's your own life at stake.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

What would all the divers on that boat, you too, have done if you had not had a meter? We are told in class to NEVER trust what's on the lable. How could that dive op charge for nitrox and not have an analyzer? That is a real safety issue.

If I had not had my analyzer we would have been forced to trust the labels already on the tank, it turned out that the tanks were labeled to within the 1% variable of an analyzer so we would have been just fine. Earlier on that trip I got tanks that were as much as 10% off from what I analyzed them to be.

The fact that the boat operator did not have an alalyzer available was discussed and even brought up in a thread elsewhere on this board. It has been dealt with and I am told that that operator has purchased and maintains at least one working analyzer on each of their boats. So at least that siutuation has been put to rest. It does however highlight that you should have an analyzer of your own if you are diving NITROX.

Don't forget it is a good idea to analyze any gas you get from a shop that fills NITROX. Fill Express in south eastern Florida is an excellent example of a quality shop that does this. I was renting some tanks (NITROX) and another diver in my group was diving on air, when we went to pick up the tanks my friend was surprised to see that the shop made available for his use an analyzer to verify that his tanks were indeed filled with normal air. He is not a NITROX trained diver so he was confused and did not know how to use the analyzer so the shop employee showed him how to use the analyzer to verify his fill. The shop employee also took the time to politely explain that mistakes can happen and they always try to verify every tank that goes out the door. At Fill Express they had two analyzers available for customer use plus I had my own. By the way the NITROX fills I got from them were within the 1% variable so they were indeed what I had requested.

Mark Vlahos

 

[fdog]

I trust my analyzer. Nobody else's.

My life is worth it.

All the best, James

 

[StSomewhere]

Oxtox is not something you want to mess if the mix is too hot, nor is DCS if you dive to the NDL with a mix that is colder than you thought.

This is what worries me, all the right calculations with the wrong inputs giving you a bad output. I was taught to check the tank when its picked up, but rental tanks and tanks on boats have this funny way of all looking alike, it wouldn't be too hard to imagine a scenario where tanks got switched, stickers or no.

I don't have one yet, but I'm going to put together one of the DIY analyzers before the new season rolls around in the spring.

Though I admit I'm paranoid enough to want a CO2 analyzer too...

 

[WaterDawg]

I dont have an analyzer, I wish I did but my shop analyzes the tanks right in front of you before you get them. Maybe Ill get one sometime this year.

 

[opiniongirl]

Wow...

Facilities and divers are placing themselves in pretty major danger of not adhering to standards regarding EANx fill logs..

By standards, divers should be analyzing their own mixes, and matching it up with the gas blenders tag of contents. Enriched air fill logs should be signed and filled out by divers, including this information.

Absolutely divers should be analyzing their own air, and stores also should make available the service records of the analyzer. No personal analyzation = no EANx, in my opinion.

I do have an analyzer, and use it mainly for teaching, but I sure as heck don't trust anyone in their blending (not even myself) that I would feel even remotely comfortable diving a mix without personal verification.

 

[No Fish]

There are plenty of good reasons to own and use an analyser.... Ohhh, I forgot mine.... well there was supposed to be one here......... Hmmm the battery is dead............ The boat should have one..., Hey the sticker is right - isn't it?...... Sure - it's air - just ignore that old sticker - the tank is good to 180.......:hanged:

The way I figure it, if you are certified for EANX, you should be responsible enough to follow the rules. Simple as that. I wish I had a buck for every time someone needed mine.....

 

[pt40fathoms]

If you took the Nitrox course just so you can dive Nitrox on a vacation once a year....maybe. Then I would say the investment in an analyzer would be questionable. I too would say the Nitrox course itself would be questionable, but that is for another discussion.

If you dive Nitrox, you should have your own analyzer.

A really good one cost about $350 cdn, but you can get some from discount retailers (online, I know bad word) for as low as $175.00 cdn. I purchased an Analox, because it does not require a flow meter, and is water and shock "resistant". (nothing is water and shock proof). Let face it, it will be used at or near water, and often on the deck of a boat where it will be dropped. So getting one that needs to be babied just did not make sense.

If you dive Nitrox buy an analyzer, don't question it, just do it!

 

[JS1scuba]

As a new nitrox diver, one of the questions I've got is how valuable having your own oxygen meter is. Is it important or even useful to have one for live aboards, local diving, and other vacations? Seems like a lot of money that could be spent other places

TIA!

I bought my first nitrox analyzer in 1989. Since then I have purchased probably 5 more just cause I am a technojunkie. Add in there that having taught more nitrox divers than I can remember and have written just a few books on the subject there is only ONE way to know what you have and that is with your own analyzer.

Sure the dive ops may have one, and may have a reasonably new sensor and you may be familiar with it. But ..... when you have your own you have your own. At this moment I am in La Paz Mexico with a group. most of us are diving nitrox, most of us all whip out our own analyzers to analyze our own tanks.

That said now for the promotion. We are the distributors for OXYSpy the simplest and most reliable unit on the market. No flow meter needed. 2 year sensor / 1000 cycle sensor, auto calibrate and MOD display. ...... check it out. We also have simpler units that require calibration and flow meters ....... find them on our website.

The only way to know what's in YOUR tank is to analyze it!

Dive On ........

 

[FloppyFoot]

Wow, guys, thanks for all the great responses! Sounds like I need to do some research, especially if you're going to be diving places other than your reliable LDS that you know has an analyzer and you can verify results yourself with it.

Saving the money with a DIY kit sounds awefully tempting. I'm no electrical engineer, but I'm pretty handy. Are they as reliable as the ready-bought models?

FloppyFoot aka Charlie