I am considering an installed, home brewed oxygen system in my RV-10. Any advice or experience you may have is much appreciated.
My plan is to install 4 flush oxygen outlets (Aerox) in my overhead console for a convenient plug in of their canulas, no questions here.
A one to four oxygen hose (splitting to each outlet), leading from a bottle mounted in the baggage compartment. This would be a D size bottle
with manual open and close valve along with a blue tooth sensor and app, also from Aerox. This would allow for phone monitoring up front in the cockpit of pressure and quantity of O2.
It would require turning on the O2 valve before a flight as you cannot reach the bottle from the pilot or copilots seat. I do not want the expensive solenoid on and off switch for O2. Most of my flying is not done at oxygen levels however, on my recent trip to OSH, I found the use of oxygen quite handy. Pretty straight forward so far.
Here is where I am conflicted. Having dealt with refill costs and being an experimenter, I have come across medical O2 equipment and bottles at a much cheaper price and convenience.
I have acquired an Invacare oxygen generator along with a refill compressor plus 2 D bottles and a large refill tank all for the paltry sum of $350.
The medical O2 bottles use a CGA-870 style regulator and are not interchangeable with Aerox style fittings.
The big question: Is there any good reason not to use one of those bottles instead of the Aerox Bottle? I can fill the medical bottle with Invacares trouble free set up. They too are made of lightweight aluminum and seem to be of the same quality and pressure ratings as aviation DOT bottles.
Their regulator is a bit bulkier but delivers 25LPM enough to supply 4 people all at once.
I do own an oxy/acetylen bottle but a cascading refill system would require a second bottle, now going for the price of about $400 plus cascade and transfill hoses.
Maybe someone has a better idea?
My plan is to install 4 flush oxygen outlets (Aerox) in my overhead console for a convenient plug in of their canulas, no questions here.
A one to four oxygen hose (splitting to each outlet), leading from a bottle mounted in the baggage compartment. This would be a D size bottle
with manual open and close valve along with a blue tooth sensor and app, also from Aerox. This would allow for phone monitoring up front in the cockpit of pressure and quantity of O2.
It would require turning on the O2 valve before a flight as you cannot reach the bottle from the pilot or copilots seat. I do not want the expensive solenoid on and off switch for O2. Most of my flying is not done at oxygen levels however, on my recent trip to OSH, I found the use of oxygen quite handy. Pretty straight forward so far.
Here is where I am conflicted. Having dealt with refill costs and being an experimenter, I have come across medical O2 equipment and bottles at a much cheaper price and convenience.
I have acquired an Invacare oxygen generator along with a refill compressor plus 2 D bottles and a large refill tank all for the paltry sum of $350.
The medical O2 bottles use a CGA-870 style regulator and are not interchangeable with Aerox style fittings.
The big question: Is there any good reason not to use one of those bottles instead of the Aerox Bottle? I can fill the medical bottle with Invacares trouble free set up. They too are made of lightweight aluminum and seem to be of the same quality and pressure ratings as aviation DOT bottles.
Their regulator is a bit bulkier but delivers 25LPM enough to supply 4 people all at once.
I do own an oxy/acetylen bottle but a cascading refill system would require a second bottle, now going for the price of about $400 plus cascade and transfill hoses.
Maybe someone has a better idea?
plus I strongly suspect medical oxygen meets the spec.
