roakey
June 27th, 2002, 12:43 AM
They’re dozens of ways to build a mixing whip, thought I’d post my solution since I was writing this up for someone else. This is a pretty deluxe solution, costing around $500-$600, $300 of which is in the digital pressure gauge.
All part numbers listed are Western Enterprises part numbers which your local welding shop should carry or at least have cross references for. The analog gauge shown isn’t a WE gauge, but the WE number should be able to get you an equivalent. The only two non-WE part numbers are the DIN fill whip end (always put a DIN fill whip end and put a DIN-Yoke adapter on it to fill Yoke cylinders, it’s a far cleaner solution) and the PSI-Tronix digital gauge.
See Northeast Scuba Supply - Online Catalog - Gas Stuff (http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/gas_stuff/fill_whip_ends.html) for the fill whip end.
See Northeast Scuba Supply - Online Catalog - Gas Stuff (http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/gas_stuff/psi_tronix.html) for the gauge, though you might want to see if NESS could order a 5000-PSI full-scale gauge instead of their normal 10,000-PSI gauge.
See the picture at the end of this post while referring to the part numbers below.
62 is the nut that attaches the nipple to the bulk O2 cylinder.
63-SF* is the nipple with filter that terminates in a ¼ NPT male fitting. *Actually a 66-SF or 69-SF will work just fine too, whatever the welding shop can get. The –SF postfix means that the nipple has a filter on it. The above two parts will connect the whip to a “CGA-540” valve.
BST-4HP is a street T
G-2-4000 is a 4000 PSI gauge that will tell you the bulk cylinder pressure. This runs about $20.
SS-130M is a metering valve, otherwise known as a needle valve. This is one of the big-ticket items in the whip, costing about $60.
CV-4M is a check valve. I HIGHLY recommend you put one of these in your full whip to avoid back flushing the SCUBA cylinder contents into your bulk cylinder. Cost about $20.
BST-4HP is another street T
PG-5000 is the PSI-Tronix digital gauge that will read the SCUBA cylinder pressure. NESS part number 80. This gauge costs $300.
PF-4-36 is a 36” long whip that goes to the SCUBA cylinder. It feeds down to reduce stress on the whip. The other side of this whip comes in from the right side of the picture. This is another big ticket item at about $70
B-4HP is a male-to-male connector that attached the whip to the fill whip end.
001 039 (NESS part number) is the DIN fitting. NESS now carries a far more inexpensive fitting than when I bought one, about $40. If you’re going to fill cylinders with Yoke valves, just get this part http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/regulators/images/dintoy_1.jpg which is a standard DIN-reg-to-Yoke adapter from NESS.
Part 415 at the top fits on an inert gas cylinder connection (Helium or Argon) and converts it to a Oxygen connection so this whip can be attached to it. It’s a “CGA-580 to CGA-540” adapter. Costs less than $10.
All the small parts where I didn’t list prices cost on the order of a buck or two.
I’m currently in the process of building a manifold that’ll allow me to mix He and O2 without moving the whip around. However, I decided to make this whip simply attach to the manifold so I still have a portable, stand-alone whip that I can take on the road with me if necessary. I'll post something on that when I'm finished.
Roak
Ps. For a picture of the whip in action see: http://www.underctek.com/open/boards/O2manifold.jpg. This has two additional parts to cascade multiple cylinders, WE T-62 (CGA-540 coupler T, about $15) and WE P-63 (CGA-540 pigtail, about $20)
For an overall picture: Look Here (http://www.underctek.com/open/boards/mix%20whip.jpg). The whip in this picture is 48” long, which is too long.
All part numbers listed are Western Enterprises part numbers which your local welding shop should carry or at least have cross references for. The analog gauge shown isn’t a WE gauge, but the WE number should be able to get you an equivalent. The only two non-WE part numbers are the DIN fill whip end (always put a DIN fill whip end and put a DIN-Yoke adapter on it to fill Yoke cylinders, it’s a far cleaner solution) and the PSI-Tronix digital gauge.
See Northeast Scuba Supply - Online Catalog - Gas Stuff (http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/gas_stuff/fill_whip_ends.html) for the fill whip end.
See Northeast Scuba Supply - Online Catalog - Gas Stuff (http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/gas_stuff/psi_tronix.html) for the gauge, though you might want to see if NESS could order a 5000-PSI full-scale gauge instead of their normal 10,000-PSI gauge.
See the picture at the end of this post while referring to the part numbers below.
62 is the nut that attaches the nipple to the bulk O2 cylinder.
63-SF* is the nipple with filter that terminates in a ¼ NPT male fitting. *Actually a 66-SF or 69-SF will work just fine too, whatever the welding shop can get. The –SF postfix means that the nipple has a filter on it. The above two parts will connect the whip to a “CGA-540” valve.
BST-4HP is a street T
G-2-4000 is a 4000 PSI gauge that will tell you the bulk cylinder pressure. This runs about $20.
SS-130M is a metering valve, otherwise known as a needle valve. This is one of the big-ticket items in the whip, costing about $60.
CV-4M is a check valve. I HIGHLY recommend you put one of these in your full whip to avoid back flushing the SCUBA cylinder contents into your bulk cylinder. Cost about $20.
BST-4HP is another street T
PG-5000 is the PSI-Tronix digital gauge that will read the SCUBA cylinder pressure. NESS part number 80. This gauge costs $300.
PF-4-36 is a 36” long whip that goes to the SCUBA cylinder. It feeds down to reduce stress on the whip. The other side of this whip comes in from the right side of the picture. This is another big ticket item at about $70
B-4HP is a male-to-male connector that attached the whip to the fill whip end.
001 039 (NESS part number) is the DIN fitting. NESS now carries a far more inexpensive fitting than when I bought one, about $40. If you’re going to fill cylinders with Yoke valves, just get this part http://www.northeastscubasupply.com/regulators/images/dintoy_1.jpg which is a standard DIN-reg-to-Yoke adapter from NESS.
Part 415 at the top fits on an inert gas cylinder connection (Helium or Argon) and converts it to a Oxygen connection so this whip can be attached to it. It’s a “CGA-580 to CGA-540” adapter. Costs less than $10.
All the small parts where I didn’t list prices cost on the order of a buck or two.
I’m currently in the process of building a manifold that’ll allow me to mix He and O2 without moving the whip around. However, I decided to make this whip simply attach to the manifold so I still have a portable, stand-alone whip that I can take on the road with me if necessary. I'll post something on that when I'm finished.
Roak
Ps. For a picture of the whip in action see: http://www.underctek.com/open/boards/O2manifold.jpg. This has two additional parts to cascade multiple cylinders, WE T-62 (CGA-540 coupler T, about $15) and WE P-63 (CGA-540 pigtail, about $20)
For an overall picture: Look Here (http://www.underctek.com/open/boards/mix%20whip.jpg). The whip in this picture is 48” long, which is too long.