What's new
Van's Air Force

Don't miss anything! Register now for full access to the definitive RV support community.

Who refills their oxygen at home?

Long time cave diver here. I mix tri-mix in my garage. The T cylinders of O2 you get at your local gas company is the same 02 if it welder's O2 or medical O2. The come from the same supply. The only difference is that they suck out the contents of the cylinder if it is medical grade O2 to ensure that there is no contamination, while they just open the valve and drain any leftover on returned tanks. It's really a non-issue for me and lots of other divers. Someone did the math and its like a possible 0.3% reduction of O2 quality.

And there are the divers who don't mind paying more for the stamp because it makes them feel good and they perhaps they justify skipping the 'gas quality' verification step. Invest in a good O2 monitor and verify every T cylinder.
 
Will most medical supply places refill tanks for non medical (no script) use?

In my experience, many Medical suppliers will not fill if they know it is for Aviation, and many welding supply companies will not fill a medical bottle. I also find that many welding supply companies are not open on the weekend when I am able to get to them.

Get a prescription. It makes life much easier! Whoever does your FAA or Basic Med exam should be able to write you one.
 
Oxygen is a funny "drug" seeing as how no one can live without it. The FDA says that the act of filling a bottle for someone is considered manufacturing, and therefore requires a prescription from a doctor for the person getting the bottle filled. I presume that aviation oxygen has some sort of licensing attached to it as well that only allows them to fill bottles for aviation use, but I'm less familiar with that end of it. Essentially you can fill your own bottle if you have a source, but when you fill for someone else you are a manufacturer and therefore need a license.
 
Last edited:
I worked in the petroleum piping industry for years and occasionally had to get my own supplies. I asked the counter man at the supply shop what the difference was in welding oxygen as opposed to medical oxygen. He just looked me in the eye and said ?price?.
 
Is everyone using welding oxygen? I understand that all the oxygen is the same, but how the cylinder is cleaned prior to filling is the difference. Last I checked, my supplier did not want to sell me welding oxygen for our use. I have an aviator oxygen tank right now that needs refilled.

Thanks

Jim Butcher
 
Is everyone using welding oxygen? I understand that all the oxygen is the same, but how the cylinder is cleaned prior to filling is the difference. Last I checked, my supplier did not want to sell me welding oxygen for our use. I have an aviator oxygen tank right now that needs refilled.

I'll sell you a fill from my welding tanks for $5. I'll call it Aviator's Oxygen if you like for $50... :p
 
Is everyone using welding oxygen? I understand that all the oxygen is the same, but how the cylinder is cleaned prior to filling is the difference. Last I checked, my supplier did not want to sell me welding oxygen for our use. I have an aviator oxygen tank right now that needs refilled.

Thanks

Jim Butcher

Yeah... that's an issue.... if you are welding with aviators oxygen. Welding requires VERY pure gas or you end up with all kinds of nasty problems. Not a problem if you're just working on a Farmall in your garage. Totally different if you are welding on a nuclear reactor in a submarine or Chicago.
 
O2 pump

I?m using a Hyd international pump to fill my O2 bottle (I fly over the mountains of Colorado and it has quit working. Does anyone out there know of a repair shop??? Or should I just send it back To the factory???
 
I?m using a Hyd international pump to fill my O2 bottle (I fly over the mountains of Colorado and it has quit working. Does anyone out there know of a repair shop??? Or should I just send it back To the factory???

I've worked with the HII boosters for years on high pressure air systems, they are good but the only place to have work done on them is at HII. You can order repair kits from them based on the symptoms of the booster and do the work yourself, but as far as having someone do it, I think you will have to send it back to them.
 
Yeah... that's an issue.... if you are welding with aviators oxygen. Welding requires VERY pure gas or you end up with all kinds of nasty problems. Not a problem if you're just working on a Farmall in your garage. Totally different if you are welding on a nuclear reactor in a submarine or Chicago.

As noted here, and in bunches of other threads, any O2 you get from your local gas supply place is going to meet or exceed the (now almost) mythical ABO specification. Welder's, ABO, medical...all the same stuff, basically 99.5% or better pure O2.

There *are* research-grade oxygen specs, that run as high as 99.999% or better pure O2, but that's a specialty market for sure.

Just get the tanks from the local supply place. It'll be fine.
 
Is everyone using welding oxygen? I understand that all the oxygen is the same, but how the cylinder is cleaned prior to filling is the difference. Last I checked, my supplier did not want to sell me welding oxygen for our use. I have an aviator oxygen tank right now that needs refilled.

Thanks

Jim Butcher

And this paranoia is why we don't tell people what we're buying things for...we're the customer, they're the merchant. None of their business.

Because as soon as you mention anything to do with an airplane, they get all wiggy and start to quibble, rather than just taking money. E.g., engine parts like belts and such, electrical supplies, interior materials, flexible hoses, you name it.

So they don't need to know anything other than the color of my money.
 
And this paranoia is why we don't tell people what we're buying things for...we're the customer, they're the merchant. None of their business.

Because as soon as you mention anything to do with an airplane, they get all wiggy and start to quibble, rather than just taking money. E.g., engine parts like belts and such, electrical supplies, interior materials, flexible hoses, you name it.

So they don't need to know anything other than the color of my money.

Exactly correct. They do the selling, we do the thinking.
 
Where are folks sourcing the hoses and fittings needed to create their transfill setup?
Mountain High Aviation Oxygen Systems.

We have a six cylinder shared fill station set up in the Airpark, each person owns one of the cylinders. We start filling from the low bottle and just top off with the high bottle. We each get a couple of years of fill ups from this setup until one or two of the low bottles need exchanging.

Cost at the local supply place to exchange an empty bottle for a full one is ~$40.

Carl
 
Wow, that must be a $10K setup based on MH prices! I was able to find most of the stuff on Amazon, believe it or not. I just need the AN800-3 adapter from them.
 
Wow, that must be a $10K setup based on MH prices! I was able to find most of the stuff on Amazon, believe it or not. I just need the AN800-3 adapter from them.

Yes if you buy everything from M/H, it cost a pretty penny, but the convenience and fun of doing it yourself is Priceless! ;-)

-Marc
 
I bought a very simple adapter from Aerox for $35 at Kosh. It works great. As other knowledgeable fillers have said, fill slowly, keep your hand on the bottle, when warn stop and let it cool. Watch the gauge. The best way is to watch someone do it once.
 
Back
Top