O2 Cleaning Tanks

[FW]

Play nice, or we will be forced to close this thread.

This is the new rule #6, and "flame wars" will not be allowed.

Rule #6 Comments about individuals, agencies, organizations and businesses will be removed if found to be inflammatory or cause the discussion to be uncivil.

Yeah, Bob, that crack about drying the tank with nitrogen was just a backhanded slap at oxygen for causing rust...

[Cave Ranger]

It must be me. All I did was ask a pretty simple and benign question. Maybe I just have a knack for stirring up the Hornet's nest without even trying.
I could probably turn even Mother Teresa into an axe murderer.

[curtschu]

I've never been able to figure out if your handle is Cave Ranger or Caver Anger so I guess it's all up to interpetation.

[aainslie]

I go a bit too irritated in my post above - my apologies to everyone. I shouldn't have responded quite so aggressively.

Those damn Scottish genes!!!

[stairman]

aainslie,I wouldnt take it back.I wish Id have said it.

[skip]

Naaahhh, it was that surly ole capt tom putting the flame to the fuel. we all know that. if you've been diving from his boat you know he can be a bit of an old salt. but you also know that he'll be the one pulling your ass out of a jam before you realize you were in it.

-skip

[Alan Garrett]

I've used several different products and methods over the years and as far as I'm concerned it just doesn't get any better than Blue Gold. I'm also fortunate enough to work in the same town where the company is located, and after having met the owners and grown to know them I can honestly say that I doubt you'll ever do business with a better bunch of folks, but I was a fan of the product before I ever met them, so no unfair bias is involved. If anyone would like to try the stuff out I can give you some contact info where you can speak to an officer of the company in person and get some more specific data. Trust me, they will not mind talking to you. You'll find the results from their NASA evaluation tests with true high pressure O2 and LOX very interesting. If the stuff works for NASA I think it's fair to say it'll meet our needs too. This is all just my personal opinion, but there is experience behind it and I just want to share the information. -Alan

[TRIBOLUBE71]

Glad to be part of the site and I hope to supply good information to the Cave diver’s forum. I wish to also offer An Alternate to the widely used Christo-lube grease to the diving industry as a whole. The family of products we manufacture is a complete package. This is an attempt to offer everything a diver needs to operate safely an offer peace of mind as you are out there diving. If you have an interest we are willing to send you a sample to try out on your semi closed and closed circuit rebreather. Tribolube 71 and Tribolube 66 are O2 compatible in 100% O2 enviroments.Hopefully this will not be viewed as a spam. I wish to start my own thread and can not figgure out how to do it. Will someone PM me and tell me how this would be accomplished. Many Thanks David.

When I started cleaning valves & regs it was using simple green and vinegar, diluted, and literally bringing the stuff to a boil on the stove. My wife hated me for it, and the house stunk to hell.

Next generation was to use a cheap ultrasonic cleaner, again with vinegar and simple green. Rinse like hell when done (dunk in water just off the stove) and air dry.

I did a bit of searching, found a cleaner that was sold for the purpose of oxygen cleaning stuff (blue gold), and bought a "proper" ultrasonic cleaner (Crest, with heat). The blue gold requires the solution to be heated for it to work properly. Stuff is put into the drink, spends a half hour or so, comes out looking better than new.

My "drying area" has always been a clean towel with a new paper towel on top. The paper towels are more lint free than the cloth towel, but the cloth will wick away any excess moisture from below. The paper towels are obviously discarded after one use.

Reassembly is with christolube or other oxygen compatible grease. Note that it needs to say "oxygen compatible" on the label. All of the types I've run across are white. I had a guy tell me that silicone grease was oxygen compatible, and he didn't want to hear otherwise - I thanked him for his suggestion and left quickly.

Bottom line, use what you know is right (solutions , procedures and equipment), keep it as clean as humanly possible, and keep looking for a better way. Also, use common sense. If someone says it's OK but everyone else says you'll incinerate yourself, stop and think about what you're doing for a minute. Remember, it's your life on the line, and an oxygen incident while filling can also take out a fill station operator. The stakes are high. As Angie said (I'll paraphrase), do you trust the certified but unknowing guy at your LDS to do this, or do you trust yourself? When a valve has a rapid disassembly and takes part of your hand off or an unexpected tank depressurization kills / maims the fill station operator, the sticker from the shop that says it's OK doesn't mean much.


Mark

[Me]

My buddy and I use a citric acid solution to clean the tanks, and a rust inhibitor when rinsing. And we always use distilled water for the rinsing. We get the supplies through the dive shop from Global.

We tried Simple Green and it was a PITA to get the tanks rinsed clean.