EAN32 fill require O2 clean tank or not

eelnoraa · Jun 19, 2011

As title says. Assuming the shop use continuous bland.

The reason I ask is I got two different response from two dive shops nearby.

rongoodman · Jun 19, 2011

No reason at all that I can think of, other than the shop trying to sell you an O2 cleaning.

snowmaker · Jun 19, 2011

No not with continuos blending. Only reason would be in the used partial blending.

MXGratefulDiver · Jun 19, 2011

As others have stated, unless you're putting O2 concentrations above 40% in the cylinder, they don't require O2 cleaning.

One thing that really irritates me ... shops that insist that when you purchase a new cylinder, you have to get it "specially prepared" for nitrox use.

I recently had a student show up for a class with a pair of Worthington (XS Scuba) HP100's he bought from a local scuba shop. Not only did they insist that he needed to have them VIP'ed before they could fill them (for $20 per tank) ... but they then put an "air only" sticker on the tanks and told him it would cost extra to have them "nitrox prepared".

Bloody blatant ripoff ... the cylinders come from the factory already VIP'ed and nitrox ready.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Rhone Man · Jun 19, 2011

NWGratefulDiver:
Bloody blatant ripoff ... the cylinders come from the factory already VIP'ed and nitrox ready.

... Bob (Grateful Diver)

Yes it is irritating. Happily you can buy Nitrox VIP stickers online.

eelnoraa · Jun 19, 2011

I only intend to use ean32, no more at thus moment. Where to buy "nitrox" VIP sticker?

hypertech · Jun 19, 2011

The percentage of O2 in the blend isn't the issue its how its filled. If the gas goes into the tank as 32%, then there is no reason to get it O2 cleaned.

If you buy 22% and they put that extra 1% in as pure O2 (partial pressure blending), then you need O2 clean tanks.

So, if they have a bank of 32% or something like that you are fine. I did run into one shop that would not VIP a tank with a nitrox sticker on it unless they also O2 cleaned it because they claimed someone might try and partial pressure fill it and therefore they must do this to nitrox tanks. I didn't know better at the time, but I do now. Shops selling that sort of line are just trying to get more money from you.

aquaregia · Jun 19, 2011

O2 cleaning is required for partial pressure and not required for banked EAN32. While they oughtn't occur, there are failure conditions in continuous blending that would allow the cylinder to see >40% oxygen. Individual risk tolerances would account for the differences.

Bamboo Reef, Aquarius 2 and Any Water Sports all bank 32% nitrox. The first two charge by volume, the last by tank. I buy my nitrox banked to avoid the wait and avoid the hassle of maintaining O2 clean cylinders.

scubadiveilat · Jun 19, 2011

If your tank is Enriched Air certified with the proper stickers, decal, certification of service is up to date. Nothing else needs to be done. If you filled it previously and not have used the Enriched air for over a month than an empty and refresh needs to be done to clear the unused air. And fill it with new air. Apart from that nothing else.

So long as your tank' markings are up to date too.

iztok · Jun 19, 2011

scubadiveilat:
If you filled it previously and not have used the Enriched air for over a month than an empty and refresh needs to be done to clear the unused air.

Huh? Can you explain that? I've had tanks sitting for months and since they were clean gas in it was just fine.

EAN32 fill require O2 clean tank or not

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