Question Poseidon and nitrox
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Yes, all of the more recent Cyklon, Jetream and Xstream first stages, have been prepped for nitrox use, at the very least; and some — the Xstream "Duration," for pure O2 (for CCR use).
"Starting with serial number 1500001, Xstream Deep is manufactured to be nitrox ready out of the box. This means that all nitrile o-rings have been replaced with EPDN and / or viton o-rings and only oxygen compatible lubricants have been used during manufacturing. If the nitrox ready status is to be maintained after servicing, only service kit marked with EAN40 and oxygen compatible lubricant may be used."
Previous models can be used in a similar manner (≤ 40%, etc) with “O2-safe” versions of the service kits, after serious O2 cleaning, right back to the old Cyklon 300s (a couple of which I use with nitrox) . . .
The key is the first stage supplying your Cyklon or Jetstream.
While the XStream first stage is milled with lubricants that are oxygen compatible, earlier 2960 & 3960's would have to be oxygen cleaned, which can be a challenge if there is silicone in their past.
Lots of folks do it, and we don't hear of many fires or smoke traces in the regs, but Poseidon doesn't officially approve of it. Then there are the o-rings. Unless you source your orings yourself, only the o-rings ending in -57 are Viton, if you want Viton on the HP side.
It's complicated.
While the XStream first stage is milled with lubricants that are oxygen compatible, earlier 2960 & 3960's would have to be oxygen cleaned, which can be a challenge if there is silicone in their past.
Lots of folks do it, and we don't hear of many fires or smoke traces in the regs, but Poseidon doesn't officially approve of it. Then there are the o-rings. Unless you source your orings yourself, only the o-rings ending in -57 are Viton, if you want Viton on the HP side.
It's complicated.
Oddly enough, when we were first experimenting with various percentages / concentrations of nitrox, in the late eighties / early nineties, I don't recall that any of us were terribly preoccupied with the nature of stock nitrile o-rings or even —yikes — silicone lubricants; nor were many of those who first adopted nitrox when the various agencies finally “approved” of its recreational use, and just used whatever regulators they had on hand, for EAN fills.
It was a bit late in the game when we even swapped out silicone and nitrile for Christo-Lube and viton for the very few -- three -- o-rings in the Cyklon 300 first stages; and I don’t even recall when I first saw a “nitrox-ready” regulator.
The inimitable Vance Harlow, in his 1999 Scuba Regulator Maintenance and Repair:
“The latest gimmick is the dedicated nitrox regulator. These are generally a slightly modified versions of one of the manufacturer's standard air regulators, only with bold yellow and green color schemes, and (one assumes) 02-compatible o-rings and grease inside.
“The joke is, as NOAA and most of the tech agencies agree, regular air regulators are perfectly suitable for use with mixes of 40% or less, and there is absolutely no reason to use a specially prepped regulator for nitrox mixes in the range used for recreational diving. Since most of the manufacturers making these items state that they are for use only with mixes below 40% (or in some cases 36%), one has to wonder what the purpose is.
“A secondary irony is that many of the same manufacturers who are pushing nitrox regulators have also gone over to using 02-safe lubes exclusively on all their regulators, and, in some cases, the same o-rings, so, even if you accept the dubious claim that nitrox can't be used with old fashioned lubes, many newer "air" regulators are actually nitrox ready . . . More likely, it's that the regulator manufacturers are salivating at the prospect of doubling their potential market by selling every diver two complete sets of gear, one for nitrox, and one for air -- and betting that the diving market may just be stupid enough to fall for it. Nitrox fins, anyone?"
It was a bit late in the game when we even swapped out silicone and nitrile for Christo-Lube and viton for the very few -- three -- o-rings in the Cyklon 300 first stages; and I don’t even recall when I first saw a “nitrox-ready” regulator.
The inimitable Vance Harlow, in his 1999 Scuba Regulator Maintenance and Repair:
“The latest gimmick is the dedicated nitrox regulator. These are generally a slightly modified versions of one of the manufacturer's standard air regulators, only with bold yellow and green color schemes, and (one assumes) 02-compatible o-rings and grease inside.
“The joke is, as NOAA and most of the tech agencies agree, regular air regulators are perfectly suitable for use with mixes of 40% or less, and there is absolutely no reason to use a specially prepped regulator for nitrox mixes in the range used for recreational diving. Since most of the manufacturers making these items state that they are for use only with mixes below 40% (or in some cases 36%), one has to wonder what the purpose is.
“A secondary irony is that many of the same manufacturers who are pushing nitrox regulators have also gone over to using 02-safe lubes exclusively on all their regulators, and, in some cases, the same o-rings, so, even if you accept the dubious claim that nitrox can't be used with old fashioned lubes, many newer "air" regulators are actually nitrox ready . . . More likely, it's that the regulator manufacturers are salivating at the prospect of doubling their potential market by selling every diver two complete sets of gear, one for nitrox, and one for air -- and betting that the diving market may just be stupid enough to fall for it. Nitrox fins, anyone?"
No argument there, @Bigbella !
We are a country of laws.
Hence, Viton.
And yet, my JJ-CCR is filled with Nitrile orings whose canister regularly sees 100% O2.
Still, the problem remains. There are not a few components that will autoignite above 1500psi in 100% oxygen at very modest temperatures.
Add Normalization of Deviance, which is to say, sloppy technique that hasn't killed them yet, and you have one of the cases of regulator fire. IMO, it's 80% accumulated hydrocarbons and fast tank opening. When you add adiabatic heating to a system not specifically designed for oxygen, there is plenty that will burn, from Viton to nylon to titanium.
We are a country of laws.
Hence, Viton.
And yet, my JJ-CCR is filled with Nitrile orings whose canister regularly sees 100% O2.
Still, the problem remains. There are not a few components that will autoignite above 1500psi in 100% oxygen at very modest temperatures.
Add Normalization of Deviance, which is to say, sloppy technique that hasn't killed them yet, and you have one of the cases of regulator fire. IMO, it's 80% accumulated hydrocarbons and fast tank opening. When you add adiabatic heating to a system not specifically designed for oxygen, there is plenty that will burn, from Viton to nylon to titanium.
If there was ever to be a memoir of life in Baja in the late nineteen-eighties to the early nineties, you've generously provided its title: Normalization of Deviance -- from obtaining O2, a dodgy trans-fill whip (which was constructed in house), and tanks from a half-assed welding shop in El Centenario, which really looked like something out of Mad Max, back then, still an ejido (sort of a state-run commune -- and has since become an expat retirement enclave) with the desert and a few shotgun shacks on one side and even a couple of smoldering wrecks off of a steep gravel shoulder, on the seaside.
And then there was the welder's wall of shame, with a couple of old industrial regulators -- thankfully, not his, or so he said -- cratered, on one side, from oxygen fires, melted like a candle, and a blackened halved tank used as a bell. His technique for cleaning older regulators was a full disassembly, followed by vigorous hand-cleaning, down to the use of cotton swabs, first with 99.9% isopropyl alcohol to remove old lube and detritus, followed by either Fabuloso or SImple Green; serial rinsing; and the slowest opening of any valves that you've ever seen.
Still have all of my fingers and the webbing between my toes . . .
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