Quote: (Originally Posted by
AD_ward9)
Do not allow users to use anything other than 99.5% O2. Too many fools do not realise that the other % is argon, and that argon builds up and then anaesthetises the diver.
Alex
Hi Alex, it appears that I may be one of these fools as I do most of my diving in the Pacific with O2 that is sometimes less than 99%. So far, I have not seen less than 95% and so far, I'm still kicking. Oh, and I usually spend 4-5 hrs a day in the water and dive for at least a week straight.
I don't mean to take this lightly, but it seems that many CCR divers regularly dive with O2 which is less than 99%. Do you know of any deaths artibutable to argon contamination of O2? And if so, any idea of the % found in the O2 supply?
I may be missing something, but as long as the fraction of argon is small and given that the O2 injects will happen most frequently on ascent as the PP of argon is dropping, isn't a very small fraction tolerable in the loop? Thanks, -Andy