Home fill station for dummies?

[stuartv]

Oh, and @broncobowsher, you're using the dryer and dessicant to dry the air coming from the shop compressor that is going into the booster?

There is no need for a dryer or filters on the line coming from the O2/He/scuba-cylinder-of-air and the line going to the cylinder you're filling, right?

 

[tbone1004]

Tom, cannot wait to hear your opinion on the Usun and your input in setting it up for rebreather bottle fills.
I'm eyeing the GBD40-OL, and already warming my wife up to the idea of having a few o2 and helium bottles hanging out in the corner of the garage.

are you boosting high quantities of gas looking at that unit?

@stuartv basically you get an account with Airgas or some of the local people and get an account. You can choose to rent a cylinder, or "buy" one. If you "buy" one, you don't pay the rental fee, but you almost never get your specific bottle back. With O2 in particular you usually just take it in empty and they give you a new one. On He they usually have to send it out unless you call a week or two a head of time since they don't really stock that stuff normally.
EAN32 is something you MAY be able to get them to get custom for you, but it's going to be spendy. You can get high pressure air from them though which is nice.
Cost is based on your specific account and the specific gases you're getting.
No need for a filter on the outlet of the booster if you're using pre-filtered gas on the inlet. Only time I'd put one in is if you're running it from a shop compressor as inlet gas, but if you're plumbing that, I would also have a direct outlet to bypass the filter since every time you change gas mixes you'd have to purge the filter which is very wasteful.

 

[rddvet]

Can you get a T cylinder of EAN32 from a supplier like that?

I looked into gettting nitrox once just for giggles. It was ridiculously priced.

 

[rjack321]

How does it work as far as the big cylinders of O2 and He?

I assume you find some local commercial supplier, like Sierra Airgas or something, and get the big cylinders from them? Do you have to buy your own T cylinders to start and then trade in empty ones for full ones? When they sell you the gas, they "rent" you the T-cylinder until it's empty and you return it (when you then get a new, filled one)?
My place only does short term (monthish) rentals unless you have a dunn & bradstreet credit rating
So I bought mine. They will only swap them, if they don't have a full one in the same size come back another day. Was only an issue when the actual airgas source wasn't filling 300s of helium. So I couldn't get helium unless I wanted to buy a 250, they had 250s but at $400 a bottle I didn't want to buy one.

Do you take your own cylinders to them and they fill them and give them back to you?
No they only swap, never give them a cylinder without getting one back. You just gave them a free bottle and expect them to lose whatever record you owned it

Can you get a T cylinder of EAN32 from a supplier like that?
No, perhaps it could be done but you will pay an insane cost to get it custom mixed by the filler.

How much does all that cost?
Depends on the gas and cylinder size. $20 for O2, probably $350 for helium right now, I haven't bought any in 3 years so not sure.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

are you boosting high quantities of gas looking at that unit?

.

Doh, I think I meant the GBT15/40, but I need to educate myself better about the pros and cons of that vs. the SB40 and the GBD40. The original Usun post I saw was about the GBD40.

I don't have to pump that much gas, just topping off dilout hp100s and lp27s. I do anticipate there's a fair chance I would invest in a rented bottle of high pressure air if it was cheap like aviator 02. I don't want to penny pinch over a few hundred if it's a really limiting booster, but I also don't want to waste a few hundred if it's a way overkill booster.

 

[stuartv]

are you boosting high quantities of gas looking at that unit?

@stuartv basically you get an account with Airgas or some of the local people and get an account. You can choose to rent a cylinder, or "buy" one. If you "buy" one, you don't pay the rental fee, but you almost never get your specific bottle back. With O2 in particular you usually just take it in empty and they give you a new one. On He they usually have to send it out unless you call a week or two a head of time since they don't really stock that stuff normally.
EAN32 is something you MAY be able to get them to get custom for you, but it's going to be spendy. You can get high pressure air from them though which is nice.
Cost is based on your specific account and the specific gases you're getting.
No need for a filter on the outlet of the booster if you're using pre-filtered gas on the inlet. Only time I'd put one in is if you're running it from a shop compressor as inlet gas, but if you're plumbing that, I would also have a direct outlet to bypass the filter since every time you change gas mixes you'd have to purge the filter which is very wasteful.

Cool. So, if you're going to buy a cylinder and then just swap every time, do you have to buy it from the gas supplier? Or can you find a used one any old place and just take it in as a trade-in the first time? Kinda like doing a propane exchange at the grocery store or whatever? You can turn in a cylinder that is pretty much any condition and they give you a "new" one that is full?

Having 2 cylinders each of O2, He, and Air actually sounds like it could be a good way to go. Other than the initial cost of buying all those cylinders, it seems like it would be cheaper (and more convenient) in the long run, versus going to a local shop to get regular scuba cylinders filled every time I needed more Air.

Getting those cylinders from a commercial supplier would get cylinders of O2 at around 2400psi? He is also around 2400psi?

Would a T bottle of air be 4500? Or also 2400? Or something else?

 

[tbone1004]

@stuartv you don't have to buy it from them.
Gas pressures depend on the suppliers, you can get them all over the spectrum.

@JahJahwarrior the 15/40 is the most versatile of the lot since it is 2-stage so you can scavenge lower. The 40 dual moves mountains of gas quickly, so it's not ideal for filling scuba tanks.

 

[stuartv]

@stuartv you don't have to buy it from them.

So, do they care if you bring in a cylinder to trade in for a full one and the one you brought in is out of hydro?

 

[tbone1004]

So, do they care if you bring in a cylinder to trade in for a full one and the one you brought in is out of hydro?

It all depends, I have never had an issue with out of hydro bottles

 

[rjack321]

So, do they care if you bring in a cylinder to trade in for a full one and the one you brought in is out of hydro?

Depends on the supplier.

If its another supplier's rental (or they suspect it is) they won't take it in exchange as they will suspect its stolen. Be careful about buying used bottles, they may be stolen or your dealer may think they are stolen - in which case you're SOL.