Tell me what y'all think about this idea...

[GearHead]

SeaJay once bubbled...
Another question... The last post of mine here in this thread is not mine. I did not place it, yet it sits there with my name on it. WTF?? How did that happen?

By chance, is the password you posted in the BP/Wings thread for that movie site the same as your password here? If so, you might wanna change it, before someone does it for you.

And be a little more careful, man. Next you'll be telling us where you do your banking and what your login is!

 

[MikeFerrara]

I guess everyone gets everything cheaper than I do.

True I didn't build my stuff from peices but I have a couple grand in my mix controler, O2 whip and He whip alone. Both whips are SS with quick disconnects and their own valve so you can plug different whips into the controller with out draining the whip. The controller is a gauge, flow restrictor, check valve and valve. More frills than you need at home maybe but I just get it turn key from Global.

My Hyper filter system ran me about 1500 I think.

I get O2 in 337 cu ft bottles for about $30 plus the lease costs.

 

[Genesis]

That's EXPENSIVE for the gas.

I'd do some shopping Mike....

QDs are nice, but on my O2 whip I want as few adiabatic heating points as possible. I need the hose (teflon core, SS braided with SS fittings), needle valve (brass Swagelock), nut and nipple (Western parts), and the "T"s for the gauges (contents and tank; again, brass Swagelock parts) and actual tank fill adapter (in my case, DIN-style with bleeder)

I don't need a lot of other stuff on the whip. QDs would be nice, but they're potential heating points, and they have O-rings in them as well (fuel.)

I DO have them on my compressor setup, as it makes it much easier to "safe" the hyperfilter and yet leave the stack pressurized, which saves me considerable startup time and cartridge life (the stack holds about 6 cubes of air @ 3000 psi!)

Buying a whip from Global sounds like an idea, but by God, do they mark things up...

 

[Dan Gibson]

Genesis,

What quick connects are you using? I was looking at Swagelok. They are the full flow bodies and stems in brass.

B-QF4-S-4PM Stem
B-QF4-B-4PM Body

I would only be using quick connects because I will only have one whip. I intend to make this system like the Halcyon multiwhip that utilizes quick connects and hand-tight nut and nipple assemblies (I am lazy), except that mine will have a needle valve and both a supply tank gauge and the $115 Cole Palmer digital gauge.

I won't have much need for anything other than pp mixing of O2 and He.

 

[Genesis]

They're potential ignition points (adiabatic heating and O-rings - not a good combination!!)

I don't have any on my O2 whip for that reason; then again, I don't need a He whip right now

On my AIR system I do; I got them from a place in California (http://www.scubacompressor.com/merchant2/merchant.mv?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=SC&Category_Code=HPQCF); the fittings themselves are Parkers.

Swagelock has good stuff, but good lord, are they proud of it... I used their needle valve and a handful of brass fittings from them on my O2 whip, but for air stuff they're way expensive.

 

[Dan Gibson]

Thanks for the link, but man are those expensive.

Swagelok sells them for less, but they're still not very cheap. I do agree you add a potential ignition point. I'm not sure how significant it is if you are careful. Makes me wonder why Halcyon chose this setup. I know it keeps the cost down, but at what price? The thing that bothers me the most about their whip is the lack of a needle valve. I realize it has a check valve and that will help control the flow some, but I really think the needle valve is necessary when using O2.

I think I may just decide to get the old wrench out and use a 540 to 580 adaptor and keep the 580 nut and nipple assembly on the whip.

 

[Genesis]

a proper needle valve.

Yes, its expensive. So is an O2 fire.

If Halcyon isn't including one on their O2 whip they are, IMHO, selling something that is grossly unsafe. A line valve is NOT adequate for O2, and neither is using the tank valve (on either the supply or destination cylinder) for that purpose. None of those are intended as metering devices. I also disagree with using QDs on an Oxygen whip. They're fine for air or inert gasses (e.g helium) but there are real issues with using them in O2 service; no thanks on this guy's gear.

The other advantage of using a proper needle valve is that due to adiabatic expansion the valve and surrounding materials will get COLD when in use. This is GOOD - lack of heat is a positive attribute when dealing with pure O2.

 

[MikeFerrara]

Genesis once bubbled...
That's EXPENSIVE for the gas.

I'd do some shopping Mike....

QDs are nice, but on my O2 whip I want as few adiabatic heating points as possible. I need the hose (teflon core, SS braided with SS fittings), needle valve (brass Swagelock), nut and nipple (Western parts), and the "T"s for the gauges (contents and tank; again, brass Swagelock parts) and actual tank fill adapter (in my case, DIN-style with bleeder)

I don't need a lot of other stuff on the whip. QDs would be nice, but they're potential heating points, and they have O-rings in them as well (fuel.)

I DO have them on my compressor setup, as it makes it much easier to "safe" the hyperfilter and yet leave the stack pressurized, which saves me considerable startup time and cartridge life (the stack holds about 6 cubes of air @ 3000 psi!)

Buying a whip from Global sounds like an idea, but by God, do they mark things up...

I have bought gas from every supplier in the area and that's as good as it gets. I pay $80 for the same amount of helium.

The Global stuff is expensive but I haven't the time to sit in the john for a while, LOL, never mind shoping for components and building whips.

I won't argue that a QD could? be a problem but global supplies equipment to lots of people and it works. The big advantage is that I can close off the O2 whip, disconnect it from the controller and snap on the whip from the hyper filter using the gauge throughout. I also don't need to close off the O2 bottle and drain the whip.

 

[Genesis]

in my case I keep the O2 bottle on the other side of work area, intentionally, from the compressor and air, so in my case it doesn't matter.

I put the O2 in the bottles, safe the supply bottle, store the whip, and then top the cylinders with air. Never the two meet, and never the two sets of equipment meet each other's gas either.

I can see that this kind of setup might not work too well in a shop where volume and speed is a consideration, but neither is much of one for me....

 

[Dan Gibson]

Take a look at this site:

http://www.halcyon.net/acc/hoses.shtml#gasfill

I don't see a needle valve or line valve mentioned. I guess one should note that many people fill helium first and then the O2. That should offer some type of buffer since the O2 is immediately diluted by the helium, but it doesn't seem right when you only are mixing nitrox.

Genesis once bubbled...
If Halcyon isn't including one on their O2 whip they are, IMHO, selling something that is grossly unsafe. A line valve is NOT adequate for O2, and neither is using the tank valve (on either the supply or destination cylinder) for that purpose. None of those are intended as metering devices. {/B]