Welding versus Medical O2?

[Steve R]

Just so you know fin, unlike the states, here in Canada they won't fill your bottles, they will only fill their bottles which they will gladly rent to you for a small fee.......

On this I agree with their quality control entirely.

Welding tanks are never run bone dry (as in down to ambient, there's always positive pressure in there or the torch wouldn't work too well), and there is no chance of cross contamination between the two gases (if that's what you meant by cross contam). The regulator and torch set-up simply do not allow for it.

I know that's a point that a lot try to make, but it's simply not true. You would have to modify it to get it to do that, which isn't what I think you meant.

I realize that running torches and some welding equipment every week of my life for the past 20 plus years, plus being around them since I was 10 might not give me the knowledge to say that, but I think it does.

Of course it's always a good idea to keep contaminates away from the valve area. It's generally SOP to clear the seat area of any tank prior to installing any regulator around here as well.

It's taught in welding 101.

 

[finflippers]

I have worked at a couple of welding supply stores here in the U.S. and we did not fill other company bottles either but would fill the company owned or customer owned bottles.

Welders are not supposed to use the tank until it is empty, but they do. I have picked up many bottles that were sitting in the shops completely dry with the valves left open. I have also picked them up with grease and other contaminates all over them even around the valves. When you tell them that the tank has to be cleaned before refilling and that they will be charged for that, on a tank that they own they will not let you take their tank at that time and will wipe off the out side when you are not around to bring it in later to be filled or take it to another shop that does not know that it was contaminated.

Once a tank leaves the sight of the welding supply shop they have no control over how there tank is treated.

It is not worth the little money saved over getting quality oxygen to get the industrial oxygen. Yes it is true that the oxygen comes from the same source but for breathable grade they vacuum down the tank before filling it with oxygen and your tank is not hooked up with the tanks that come out of the welding shops.

 

[texdiveguy]

.....yawn!

 

[Steve R]

.....yawn!

lol

I wanna go back to talking about slinkys and how great Ammerica is myself .lol

Fin, you've misunderstood what I said. A supplier will not only NOT fill another company's bottles, they will NOT fill any customer owned bottles either. It's just not an option. You either rent a bottle from them or you do not get gas, period. Those days are long gone for us.

They're pretty picky around here.

Incase you didn't read it, we determined quite some time ago the differences between Medical and Industrial O2. For those of us that mix any quantity, you'll find we all use medical.

 

[rjack321]

They are just protecting you from yourself Steve, heck I would

 

[Steve R]

Don't think I don't appreciate it bud.

Uhmmm, can we shut this thread down now? lol.

 

[H2Andy]

1) It's patented in North America

ok, let's stop right here

what exactly is patented in North America? i'm not sure what was patented ... as you must know, a patent protects a new, useful, and non-obvious invention ...

so ... what invention are you talking about here?

a patent number would help

if a particular invention is patented, then yes, the patent holder can keep others from using that invention, for 20 years (or 17 years from the issue date, under certain circumstances)

however, i doubt any patent holder would waste their time and money to keep somebody in their garage from making one for their own use. how would they even find out?

and what are their damages? the cost of one unit which this guy didn't buy but made instead? nobody's gonna sue over that

 

[rjack321]

Uhmmm, can we shut this thread down now? lol.

Somehow I see it hitting 200 posts first Even if the next 25 don't have anything to do with Med vs. welding O2

 

[pescador775]

Making a nitrox stik is ridiculously easy, like stuffing a pipe with spun metal ribbon (Gottshalk steel sponge). Taking a supercilious attitude with "Reynolds number" mumbo jumbo and dire warnings fail to impress, a joke really. All this talk about patents is ludicrous. It is meaningless and uninforceable WRT the home builder. Gad, what has happened to some divers? Are they so driven by greed or fear that the spirit which gave rose to the sport is in danger of evaporating? Fortunately, it does not appear so. Witness the popularity of the "Hacker" book.

 

[Charlie99]

ok, let's stop right here

what exactly is patented in North America? i'm not sure what was patented ... as you must know, a patent protects a new, useful, and non-obvious invention ...

so ... what invention are you talking about here?

a patent number would help

Trolling for business Andy? We all know that a patent is really defined as a "license to sue to try and prove that someone is infringing".

Talk about suing a guy in his garage is ridiculous. Even trying to enforce Cowen's patent on a significant business competitor would be a challenge for several reasons.


One defense is to show that the patent, like many issued in the US, is invalid. All that is needed is just one old magazine article mentioning turbulent flow to better mix the incoming stream. Then the patent is invalid because of prior art. If that fails, then the courts and juries have repeatedly been more strict in applying the requirement that a patent be novel and inobvious.

More often, companies just modify their design to avoid the patent. In many cases, there are easy solutions that simply avoid the patent issue --- if the patent is for a spiral mixer, you simply use a metal sponge, or in the worst case, a big plenun with no inherent mixing device.



Charlie Allen
holder of 16 US Patents, 8 of which have been proven valid the hard way, in court. The other 8 weren't valuable enough for others to infringe.

p.s. Andy -- Rjack in post #50 mentions "Coswell's patent #5,992,464.", and "Dr. Wells' original patent #4,860,803"