What is a good Gas (Nitrox) Analyzer?

[mdax]

I've got an o2 and co testing units. While most of my regular shops provide it there are times i leave without testing, pick up more tanks or find i need to analyze on site.
The cost of the analyzers is minimal compared to the cost of having a bad tank.

[rhwestfall]

there are times i leave without testing

I'd say the shop is somewhat 'irresponsible". Around here, Your tank is logged in (numbers on the tank recorded in a book). That log is then updated with the mix placed in it by the "tech". When you pick it up, you test it, calculate and list the MOD (on tank and in log), and sign it out.........

No need for your own unit......

[Blue Sparkle]

When you pick it up [at the shop], you test it, calculate and list the MOD (on tank and in log), and sign it out.........

No need for your own unit......

As a diver who hopes to be getting tanks of her own before too long, I have a question:

What if you were to have tanks filled and tested at the shop, and then didn't dive them right away (or some variation on this theme). Wouldn't you want to be able to test them yourself just before diving them, just to double-check and be sure? Or do you trust what's on the label and call it good?

[Jax]

I get my tanks topped off all the time. I use my analyzer all the time. I also second-check the fills I get. My analyzer is known, the sensor age is known.

[Cali_Alli]

... I also second-check the fills I get. My analyzer is known, the sensor age is known.

My thoughts exactly... Taking my nitrox class in a week and already bought my analyzer (Analox). I'm very distrustful of other people's equipment

[Oldbear]

In my “Original Post” I posed the question what was a good O² Analyzer to purchase. The majority of responses I received back was the Analox O2EII Nitrox Analyzer. And this is what I purchased.

I have seen now where this thread has migrated to the topic of whether or not a personal analyzer is necessary. Well here is my two cents worth of opinions.

As a teenager my father gave me some good advice that I actually listen to, “Trust everyone, but ALWAYS cut the deck.” Anytime you enter a human element into an equation there is going to be “human error” as some point in time. The virtual act of filling bottles, adjusting mixtures properly and then transposing the actual data to both written data logs and data labels on the bottles is skewed with human interactions…thus inherent to human errors. The simple act of having and maintaining my own O² analyzer far out weights cost of its purchase and replacement parts, or the consequences of diving with a bad/mis-labled tank. Do I trust the dive shops’ integrity, absolutely; but I am still going to cut the deck and test the bottles myself.

I just did six Nitrox dives in Fujairah, U.A.E. a few days ago and based on my analyses the gas mixtures that were listed on the bottles and what the analyzers indicated were very close (and within dive table tolerances), but were not exactly the same. Now the dive operator did provide their own Analox O2EII Nitrox Analyzer for customer use and when compared between theirs and my new one, the readings were the same.

My take away from these 6 dives is:
Did the operator provide six Nitrox tanks that were safe to dive with…absolutely. Did I “independently” confirm this…Yeppers.

I know we normally take air (20.9 O²) tanks for granted, but with mixed gas tanks, I rather be on the side of precaution than on the side of error…especially when I could have prevented it. There is always time to do it safely.


~Me~

[Pullmyfinger]

As a diver who hopes to be getting tanks of her own before too long, I have a question:

What if you were to have tanks filled and tested at the shop, and then didn't dive them right away (or some variation on this theme). Wouldn't you want to be able to test them yourself just before diving them, just to double-check and be sure? Or do you trust what's on the label and call it good?

You have hit the nail, right on the head!
This is exactly why I own my own......I always analyze the tank, pre-dive.

-Mitch

[Pullmyfinger]

My thoughts exactly... Taking my nitrox class in a week and already bought my analyzer (Analox). I'm very distrustful of other people's equipment

Same here, I bought my analyzer before I took the first nitrox class.

-Mitch

[SlicerDicer]

I actually did exactly what JeffW suggested. I was about to plunk down some $$ for the Analox. But then i realized that every tank fill i get......that every dive shop i would use.....will have an analyzer and i can check it before i roll out the door. If a shop doesn't have an analyzer.....i probably should not be using that shop!

WARNING
Very high flows may pressurise the sensor and inaccurate readings or sensor damage will result

Straight from the manual.. Do you trust that some idiot before you did not damage the sensor? Most places use analox sensors that do not have metered flow rates. This can easy result in damage to the sensor and inaccurate readings... Its only as good as the previous user remember that.

[Oldbear]

WARNING
Very high flows may pressurise the sensor and inaccurate readings or sensor damage will result

Straight from the manual.. Do you trust that some idiot before you did not damage the sensor? Most places use analox sensors that do not have metered flow rates. This can easy result in damage to the sensor and inaccurate readings... Its only as good as the previous user remember that.

This is one of the reasons why I purchased my own...I know exactly who has used it last (me and only me) and when & how.