Discuss: gas analyzer before second Shearwater?

[Jcp2]

Now I know what I want for Christmas. A DIY O2 analyzer.

 

[Marie13]

I agree with Cuzza that if you are getting fills at the shop, dropping empties at the shop, and picking up the fulls, the shops analyzer is sufficient.

OTOH, I also believe that practically no one does this except a very few. Folks expect to be met at the boat with their tanks, and it is incumbent on the diver to analyze his or her own gas. I do not lend out my 1000$ analyzer on the boat. So every diver should have their own analyzer for the gas they dive.

And who needs 2 computers?

Great Lakes diving is very different from that in FL. Even for recreational dives. It’s rare for people to NOT bring their own tanks to the boat. There are no boat compressors that I know of. You analyze at the shop where you’re getting your tanks filled or where you’re renting tanks. It’s definitely an eye opener for people used to diving in FL.

 

[Wookie]

Great Lakes diving is very different from that in FL. Even for recreational dives. It’s rare for people to NOT bring their own tanks to the boat. There are no boat compressors that I know of. You analyze at the shop where you’re getting your tanks filled or where you’re renting tanks. It’s definitely an eye opener for people used to diving in FL.

Happily corrected. As stated, if folks use the shop analyzer, that is sufficient.

A reputable shop will require an analysis when picked up anyway.

 

[Marie13]

An O2 analyzer is inexpensive insurance that you will know what you're breathing before you get in the water. Just because you analyzed and labeled a bottle at the shop does not mean you won't screw up later; a friend of mine died in 2001 because he misread a gas analysis label from a bottle he had filled six months earlier.

Breathing too much (or too little) oxygen is what causes fatalities, it's always a good idea to at least verify the oxygen content before you put a reg on the bottle, and a simple analyzer isn't that expensive. And while I personally own a fancy schmancy trimix analyzer, I'm in the camp that you can simply use an O2 analyzer for your final verification even if you're diving trimix.

Here's why:

There should be at least two times you analyze your gas.

1. When it's filled at the shop. If you're getting a trimix fill, you'll do your initial analysis using their trimix analyzer and label the contents accordingly (and don't forget to write it in the shop log!!!)

2. Before you put a regulator on the cylinder when you're preparing to go diving. This is the VERIFICATION of what you expect to have. You should already have an idea of what is in the cylinder (because you analyzed and labeled it at the shop in step 1). If the O2 % is close to/similar to what your label says, your helium content is going to be pretty darn close. If your O2 % is wildly off, YOU HAVE A PROBLEM THAT NEEDS FIXING. While a trimix analyzer would allow you to figure out what gas you have in your cylinders, the odds of you being able to fix the mix at your house are probably NIL for the majority of us, so you're going to be headed to the shop anyway.

O2 analyzer's aren't that expensive. If you have a little bit of soldering ability, an El Cheapo DIY O2 Analyzer kit can be purchased for $110. That includes a sensor.

OxyCheq - EL Cheapo II Analyzer Kit

If you're truly cheap, you can use a voltmeter, calculator, and O2 cell to analyze your gas -- I did this for the first three years I was cavediving. But a good voltmeter, calculator and cell is probably more expensive than the el cheapo.

I’ll definitely be talking with my instructor about what’s better to get, but good food for thought.

1. DRIS doesn’t let you out of the shop until you have analyzed your tanks, labeled them, and signed the log. Period.

2. Another plus for my distinctive dwarf (HP80) doubles. I know of no one else locally with them. People actually know me by my doubles. So there is no way mine would get mixed up with anyone else’s.

 

[CuzzA]

Great Lakes diving is very different from that in FL. Even for recreational dives. It’s rare for people to NOT bring their own tanks to the boat. There are no boat compressors that I know of. You analyze at the shop where you’re getting your tanks filled or where you’re renting tanks. It’s definitely an eye opener for people used to diving in FL.

I would have to disagree with Wookie. Florida is a really big state. I can't say what the locals do in the Keys, but I imagine, given that Florida has the most private boat ownership, the longest coastline, and has the second most number of divers behind California in the country, most people go to a shop for fills or rent tanks and dive from either their boat, a friend's boat or a charter. This has been my experience outside of Key Largo. Even still, for a taste of how many private boat owners and divers there are that put the shop compressors into overdrive, just head to the Keys for mini season.

Not to mention all the shop fills that take place in Cave Country.

 

[NothingClever]

Man....one ounce of the shop responsibility and accountability you guys are describing would be like gold here on the south Red Sea. It’s high adventure here....you can’t take anything for granted. One can expect to show up to a shop selling recreational EANx and be told they don’t have an analyzer. And a log? That’s what you put on a fire, right? It only gets worse if you’re diving more complex gases/mixes. I never go to the shop without my analyzer and I make dive buddies use mine to check their deco tins in spite of the fact that I check them upon pick up.

 

[Marie13]

Man....one ounce of that level of shop responsibility and accountability here on the south Red Sea would be like gold. It’s high adventure here....you can’t take anything for granted.

Look where you are. I have to say that the amount of BS I hear about diving overseas doesn’t inspire me to go there.

 

[NothingClever]

Look where you are. I have to say that the amount of BS I hear about diving overseas doesn’t inspire me to go there.

I think Egypt is a little tidier. Haven’t run up there to dive yet. Have a LOB in February (I think). If not, I have a daily boat back up plan.

 

[DeepSeaExplorer]

Great Lakes diving is very different from that in FL. Even for recreational dives. It’s rare for people to NOT bring their own tanks to the boat. There are no boat compressors that I know of. You analyze at the shop where you’re getting your tanks filled or where you’re renting tanks. It’s definitely an eye opener for people used to diving in FL.

It’s been my experience in Florida that divers either do their own mixing at the shop or at least supervise the filling. (Especially true back before HE analyzers were even available.) I don’t think I’ve ever done a drop-off for a Trimix fill.

I almost always bring my own tanks, unless it doesn’t make sense, like tanks are included in the price. For shallow reef dives, I’ll use anything.

 

[Marie13]

Was at DRIS today and chatted with my instructor (he also works full time in the shop). He suggested a Trimix analyzer would be a good idea. He reminded me I often get air fills at a shop by my office. If I’m taking partially used Trimix tanks to get topped off with air, I’ll need my own analyzer - unless I decide to always get fills at DRIS.