Gas booster in a (possible) hurry

[boulderjohn]

I have a sudden desire to get a decent, complete portable, gas booster in a real hurry. Definitions to follow

Decent: I need something that can help me mix trimix (partial pressure) and fill deco bottles while on the road. Nothing huge, and it does not have to be particularly fast. It just needs to be able to drain O2 and He supply bottles.

Complete: I need to have it pretty much ready to go. I have a source for a used Sierra Precision machine, but it has no connections. I would have to go to a hose fabricator to have all the hoses and connections made. I own a standard fill whip now, but that's all I have.

In a real hurry: I would really like to have it by this coming Wednesday. I will not, however, buy junk in order to have it by next Wednesday. If I can't get it something acceptable by then, I will wait.

 

[macado]

John, I own a Haskel Mini Sport Booster (MSB-9000). It's very travel friendly. I bring it with me in a large Pelican case. You can drive it from any scuba tank + first stage or hook it up to a large shop compressor with filtration.

You did not say what your budget is?

I ordered mine from DiveGearExpress and it shipped same day. Other vendors online also sell the same model. Since you said you need it to be pretty much ready to go you'll probably want to buy their deluxe mixing kit that comes with all the hoses and adapters. If you like to tinker you can build your own from parts from McMasterCarr

Haskel Mini Booster Setup Guide - wrecklessdiver.com

Cons..the Haskell Mini Sport booster will not be fast... It's designed for filling rebreather bottles so it may not be what you're looking for. If you're only filling AL40s and the occasional AL80 top off then it would be fine but anything more and I would look into a much larger booster. Don't buy this model if you need to fill doubles but for mainly rebreather bottles and AL40s it should do the trick.

It is a single stage booster with a drive ratio of 1 to 25.. Once your supply bottles drop below ~500psi it will be very hard to siphon off more usable gas.

 

[Wookie]

This^^^. I was going to suggest I could lend you my Hydraulics International mini, but it is in no way suitable for filling/scavenging doubles. That's why I have a very large 7000-A2 Masterline. A Haskel 15/30 or 15/45 may be appropriate, but I got rid of mine because it took a massive amount of drive air. The problem with teaching tech diving when you blend your own gas is the amount of time it takes to make the gas. Folks who complain about the high cost of fills never spent the night doing fills for the next day's diving.

 

[boulderjohn]

Thanks for the advice. I just talked to DGX, and I am not sure this is the best option for me. Maybe those who know it can help. the talk about it is that it is designed to fill small rebreather bottles. I will not be using it for rebreathers. I will need it typically (as in the next weekend) for several days of OC decompression diving. I will want to be able to add He and O2 to doubles that have some gas left over from the last dive and then top it off with air. I will not, however, need to do that between dives--I will have several sets of doubles, so I can use a set of doubles one day and then have them filled for the next day of diving. I will also need to top off deco bottles, especially AL 40s with O2.

I was wondering what kind of needs I would have for drive gas--would I need to bring a truck load of AL 80s for that purpose, and how long would it take to accomplish what I was describing with the OC doubles? The person with whom I spoke could not speak knowledgeably about those issues, because his knowledge of the uni was based on filling rebreather bottles.

EDIT: I just saw that Macado pretty much answered my questions already--don't know why that did not register.

 

[macado]

It will use a ton of drive gas depending on your source supply pressure. Unfortunately I don't have any specific numbers or times as I haven't really keep track when filling larger cylinders. I admit to filling AL80s and even boosting into double HP100s on occasional.

A lot of people I know run them from portable shop compressors with large reserve adjusted to 150psi. I have access to bank of gas at dive shop which is what I run mine off off. I also keep a set of HP120s with air that I use for drive gas on the road.

The numbers given to me for drive gas (I haven't verified) are approximately 10-15 cfm at 150 psi. You can run some numbers to see how much gas that is.

My personal opinion is this booster would be too small and painfully slow for what you're doing. It will work however you'll be wasting a few hours+ if you need to boost into doubles. But like everything else it depends.. your supply gas pressure and the left over pressure in your doubles, how much you need to boost, etc.

I'd look into a HII 5G-SS-50 if you can find one. Much larger volume, used at a lot of dive shops. Still travel friendly with right setup. My friend owns one and while it is much larger than my Haskel, he has brought it on multiple trips with him.

5G-SS-50 - Air Driven Gas Booster - Hydraulics International, Inc. PUMP DIVISION

 

[Wookie]

Thanks for the advice. I just talked to DGX, and I am not sure this is the best option for me. Maybe those who know it can help. the talk about it is that it is designed to fill small rebreather bottles. I will not be using it for rebreathers. I will need it typically (as in the next weekend) for several days of OC decompression diving. I will want to be able to add He and O2 to doubles that have some gas left over from the last dive and then top it off with air. I will not, however, need to do that between dives--I will have several sets of doubles, so I can use a set of doubles one day and then have them filled for the next day of diving. I will also need to top off deco bottles, especially AL 40s with O2.

I was wondering what kind of needs I would have for drive gas--would I need to bring a truck load of AL 80s for that purpose, and how long would it take to accomplish what I was describing with the OC doubles? The person with whom I spoke could not speak knowledgeably about those issues, because his knowledge of the uni was based on filling rebreather bottles.

EDIT: I just saw that Macado pretty much answered my questions already--don't know why that did not register.

http://www.hii-pumps.com/pdf/EGB100A.PDF

You need the 2G-730 in 115 volt. I am a dealer if you need me to act for you, but HI may sell to you directly. Either way, I don't charge a markup as long as I can drop ship it and not handle it myself.

 

[Wookie]

It will use a ton of drive gas depending on your source supply pressure. Unfortunately I don't have any specific numbers or times as I haven't really keep track when filling larger cylinders. I admit to filling AL80s and even boosting into double HP100s on occasional.

A lot of people I know run them from portable shop compressors with large reserve adjusted to 150psi. I have access to bank of gas at dive shop which is what I run mine off off. I also keep a set of HP120s with air that I use for drive gas on the road.

The numbers given to me for drive gas (I haven't verified) are approximately 10-15 cfm at 150 psi. You can run some numbers to see how much gas that is.

My personal opinion is this booster would be too small and painfully slow for what you're doing. It will work however you'll be wasting a few hours+ if you need to boost into doubles. But like everything else it depends.. your supply gas pressure and the left over pressure in your doubles, how much you need to boost, etc.

I'd look into a HII 5G-SS-50 if you can find one. Much larger volume, used at a lot of dive shops. Still travel friendly with right setup. My friend owns one and while it is much larger than my Haskel, he has brought it on multiple trips with him.

5G-SS-50 - Air Driven Gas Booster - Hydraulics International, Inc. PUMP DIVISION

My double 15/75's used far more than 40 CFM. But I could boost He and O2 at the same time. Of course, I'd get confused.

 

[boulderjohn]

Hmmm--I am suddenly getting choices. The man with the used Sierra Precision model says he can make hoses. I asked some questions, and I will see how he responds.

Frank, any idea of the cost of the 2G-730?

 

[Wookie]

Hmmm--I am suddenly getting choices. The man with the used Sierra Precision model says he can make hoses. I asked some questions, and I will see how he responds.

Frank, any idea of the cost of the 2G-730?

Make sure the Sierra is capable of boosting O2, I've never seen one that's O2 clean, or has viton seals. That's what Masterline does, is make Sierra's O2 clean, and they charge $15,000 for the honor.

I will call HII soon, they are at lunch.

 

[boulderjohn]

Make sure the Sierra is capable of boosting O2, I've never seen one that's O2 clean, or has viton seals. That's what Masterline does, is make Sierra's O2 clean, and they charge $15,000 for the honor.

I will call HII soon, they are at lunch.

The guy who owns the business says it will do oxygen, and I saw an official page description that says so, too. The owner is a rebreather diver, so he wold not be wrong about it.

I think I am going to go with it.

Thanks for the advice, everyone!