Is it worth it to blend your own?

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CAPTAIN SINBAD

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Location
Woodbridge VA
# of dives
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I will soon have a garage space. I was wondering if it would be worth to it to get a compressor fill your own air as well as to get O2 and Helium and mix your own nitrox and trimix? While this subject has been discussed before, economic changes have happened. Can anyone give me an idea of how much would a trimix mixing set up cost at its cheapest and what exactly would I need to purchase?

For someone doing 50 local dives, half f which would be technical dives with an unknown number being on helium, would it make sense to have your own blending station?

The idea of gas mixing is appealing to me just for the heck of it. I like compressor noise and the smell and everything that goes with it. The question is, at what level or frequency of fills does it get financially rewarding? I was wondering if my own limited diving would justify the costs or would I have to supply fills to other divers in the area to justify the fills?
 
If you can afford it, why not? From a convenience standpoint, It would be amazing.

I significantly cut down my local diving because I had enough of dealing with getting fills locally. The one shop that would do same day fills for me declined to continue doing so. The rest...I had to drive an hour to a shop, drop off tanks, drive an hour home, and repeat the process on another day to pick them up.

You just have to decide how much the convenience is worth to you. If you’re looking at it strictly from a dollars and cents standpoint...It’s likely going to take you years to break even (vs. what you’d pay for fills locally).

That and you can make sure that it’s done right. Ex. I had one tank fill that was 10% rich (asked for 30% O2 and got 40%).
 
The one shop that would do same day fills for me declined to continue doing so. The rest...I had to drive an hour to a shop, drop off tanks, drive an hour home, and repeat the process on another day to pick them up.

I guess I need to hug my LDS owner next time I am in the store. I get banked 32% fills while I wait.
 
I guess I need to hug my LDS owner next time I am in the store. I get banked 32% fills while I wait.

Lol. Yeah...for a year or so...I’d drop off my tanks, run errands for a few hours, and go back and get them when I got a call that they were done. It was great while it lasted.
 
I’m not sure it’s worth it to own a compressor for me personally. The effort and cost is too much even though the convenience is substantial. I’ve looked at it multiple times and just can’t justify it.

I think this is an often unsung advantage of rebreather diving compared to open circuit. I don’t have a compressor but I do have a booster, O2 bottle, and Helium bottle. I can get ‘OCA’ air fills easily enough and this setup allows me to support myself without needing a technical dive shop. No dive shop near me does routine Trimix fills anyway... But my point is that filling 3L bottles for rebreather diving is pretty fast and easy without a compressor. I have something like $4000 in my booster setup (It’s a mini sport from Haskell) with whips and drive gas regulator and adapters and gauges and pelican cases and everything. This may seem like ‘most of the way to a compressor’ from a cost perspective but I can carry the whole thing in two small cases and put it in my car and drive away. I think it’s a better capability for me than having a compressor.
 
The answer IMO is no, it's a convenience. Making clean breathable compressed air costs more than it's worth.

That being stated, I do really like having my own compressor. As far as nitrox is concerned for me it's a non-starter, but my guess it's the same, increased cost but oh so nice to have your own gas.

If traveling costs to and from the LDS are considerable then someday a long time in the future with a little luck, lots of TLC for the system, and lots of diving, a diver might break even, but not likely.
 
I’m not sure it’s worth it to own a compressor for me personally. The effort and cost is too much even though the convenience is substantial. I’ve looked at it multiple times and just can’t justify it.

I think this is an often unsung advantage of rebreather diving compared to open circuit. I don’t have a compressor but I do have a booster, O2 bottle, and Helium bottle. I can get ‘OCA’ air fills easily enough and this setup allows me to support myself without needing a technical dive shop. No dive shop near me does routine Trimix fills anyway... But my point is that filling 3L bottles for rebreather diving is pretty fast and easy without a compressor. I have something like $4000 in my booster setup (It’s a mini sport from Haskell) with whips and drive gas regulator and adapters and gauges and pelican cases and everything. This may seem like ‘most of the way to a compressor’ from a cost perspective but I can carry the whole thing in two small cases and put it in my car and drive away. I think it’s a better capability for me than having a compressor.

The cost of rebreather training, cost of the rebreather and the continued cost of rebreather maintenance is quite expensive even when compared to an OC diver owning a compressor. I don't think in 50 plus years of OC diving I've spent the cost of a rebreather and training yet.
 
It's a tough call and really depends on the diving you do, the quantity of it, the types of fills you need, the distance and attitudes of local shops, and a bunch of other stuff.

Compressors quickly become money pits. Fittings aren't cheap. You'll eventually want bank bottles, different adapters, quick connects, mixing stick, etc. Then there is maintenance. That said, for OC if you are mixing a lot of trimix the savings can add up quickly. Of course you are eventually gonna want a booster.

I had an option recently to pick up a small compressor at a very good price but decided, as a rebreather diver, that my money would better serve me going toward a booster. 1 set of doubles filled with trimix will top me off all season, maybe two. I go through a lot of O2. A booster allows me to do my own fills quickly and on short notice.
 
But my point is that filling 3L bottles for rebreather diving is pretty fast and easy without a compressor. I have something like $4000 in my booster setup (It’s a mini sport from Haskell) with whips and drive gas regulator and adapters and gauges and pelican cases and everything.
Which Pelican case are you using for the Haskel mini and hoses and are you happy with the setup?
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

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