How much should an airfill be?

[oldschoolto]

I don't see anyone or any LDS getting rich filling tanks.. I looked at the investment and time to run my own compressor.... I just could not make the numbers and time to workout... I think 5 to 8 dollars a fill is more than fair to get clean/dry air.... Remember this.... If they are not making money than they will close the door.... than you'll find out for sure how expensive running a fill station...:shocked2: I pay with a smile on my face.... A filled tank means I'm going diving and having a good time....

Jim..

 

[JamesK]

Where I dive it is six dollars for an air.

30% nitrox is banked at $.10 a cubic foot.

 

[spectrum]

I don't see anyone or any LDS getting rich filling tanks.. I looked at the investment and time to run my own compressor.... I just could not make the numbers and time to workout... I think 5 to 8 dollars a fill is more than fair to get clean/dry air.... Remember this.... If they are not making money than they will close the door.... than you'll find out for sure how expensive running a fill station...:shocked2: I pay with a smile on my face.... A filled tank means I'm going diving and having a good time....

Jim..

I agree, everyone (divers and shops) needs to realize that compressed air is a product being sold. Yes air is free but compression is value added and proper filling is a service. All of this requires capital and labor. Nothing has happened to make any of this less expensive in fact quite the contrary. Cylinders are bigger, divers are fewer and more retail dollars skip past the shop to online sales. They can't be expected to subsidize compressed air. If anyone has an issue with the typical costs cited try justifying a home system.

By the same standards (at the risk of a hijack) shops need to see it as a product being delivered, a container filled to a pressure at a temperature. Can you imagine the fun if a weights and measures bureau got involved!

Pete

 

[Graeme Tolton]

I charge $8 for a single tank of air, hp or lp. Single nitrox $15. Doubles air $15, doubles nitrox $30.

Most of the tanks i fill are large steel doubles, so i think the price is more than fair. I am an hour from the next fill station and on the way to tobermory, a localish dive destination, where fills cost just a little bit more.

 

[triplecove]

I guess I wish there was some consistency in the pricing and I guess I am just bitter that they dont sell air cards at my fav LDS anymore Damn tank stickers

 

[Graeme Tolton]

If air fill costs are bothering people, its a really good thing we arent talking about helium cost and availability.

 

[flots am]

I was just wondering. Here in New England within 10 miles of me air fills for my many 72cf steels vary from $6.50 and almost 9 bucks ($8.75). At many of the shops its the same price to fill anything under 100cf. Is this the norm around the scuba world? One shop near me is $12.50 to fill any hp tank. Thats $25.00 for a 1/2 day of diving! I am seriously considering buying a compressor but I dont know if I should.

If you include energy, labor, compressor service and amortization of the compressor costs, most shops have no idea what an air fill really costs them, so the price they charge ends up being a guess that's low enough to get customers and maybe high enough to cover costs.

The last time I checked, it cost about $4 to fill a tank, just in energy.

Terry

 

[yarik83]

I have very mixed feelings on this subject. My LDS provides same exact cost fills as I get at the docks and there is no special discount... nothing like that. Only exemption I ever get is if we all travel as a group and I load up a bunch of tanks into my truck for the students. At that point I get free air fill. Challenge is that 99.9% of time even if I get 32%... by time I actually dive it degrades to 25-29% so it is almost impractical. I got to the point where I started filling my tanks at the docks to get mix I want. It actually works out better because I do not have to drive 15 miles each way to the dive shop before diving.

My beef with air fills is no so much with air fills but with nitrox fills. They are expensive with a capital E. $20 for 2 tanks. If it was not for $120 in gas money+$20 in food + $70 for hotel.... it would not bite so much but when you also add $60 for a 2 tank dive x 2 days of diving.... and it adds up really quickly. And worst part... most places I have been to always want to short change you. Pay for 36% and get 33%. Pay for 32% and get 30.5%

Aaaaaaa.

 

[Teller]

Keep in mind that when you buy that a compressor that free air has a cost to it. I figure that my Max air 35 costs about 4.00 just in filter cost plus a few pennies in fuel but a lot in time. I have to sit there and baby sit it while it takes 45 minutes to fill my HP 130 and then run out and drain the filter moister every 8 to 10 minutes. I then have to prorate the cost of the compressor ( $3,500) toward each fill. If I had an option like a dive shop that sold me a air card for 100 per year I would grab 2 and feel Like i was getting a deal.

Free air does not exist, remember that your dive shop pent $10,000 on that fancy compressor and either has to be saving for the next one or pay the mortgage on the current one. I would not think 10 bucks for a properly filled tank is out of line

I dont mind the extra fill time my compressor takes over the fill time at the LDS. I just drain the condensate and grab another beer.

 

[deeper thoughts]

5 dollars a tank here in the Keys with a fill card