O2 Cylinder cleaning

shawl01 · 28th January 2007, 00:01

Hi all,

I am wondering about cylinder cleaning, I am sure this subject must have come up dozens of times before but I am quite new to the forum and I couldn't find anything on a quick search, so please forgive me!!

We have our small group of us CCR divers here in Nottingham in the UK and as we are now progressing to trimix we have found that we now need to keep 4/5 cylinders in O2 service every 12 months and this is mounting up to about 30 cylinders worth within our group.

We therefore want to investigate to possibility of legitimately undertaking the O2 clean ourselves (not the cylinder test) but I cannot really find much info about how to undertake it or get appropriate training and certification for it.

Can anyone shed any light on this process, training, where to obtain supplies, etc, etc.

Many Thanks
Luke

Dave & Sandy · 28th January 2007, 00:21

Hi,

Valves and cylinder cleaning can be done yourself. We have been doing ours now for a few years.

Buy the Oxygen hackers guide from this link and away you go.

Airspeed Press Homepage - Books For Serious Divers

All O rings for your valves can be bought cheaply from an industrial bearings supplier.

Oxygen compatibale grease can be bought from these guys at a reasonable price.

Welcome to SEA-LONG Medical Systems, Inc. - Parts and Accessories

Use Simple Green to degrease your cylinders which can be bought from auto shops.

You'll need a tooth brush and an old hair drier with a home made hose attachment to go down into your cylinders to dry them out straight away to prevent flash rust occuring. Alternatively a cylinder of air will do as well.

When rinsing your cylinders use plenty of hot water for final rinses and run water continuously into your cylinder until no more suds come out.

I suggest degreasing one cylinder at a time from start to finish to avoid flash rusting.

Valves are even easier to pull apart degease, change Orings, lube and put back together

Have fun.

Mixaddict · 28th January 2007, 03:41

Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave & Sandy)

Hi,

You'll need a tooth brush and an old hair drier with a home made hose attachment to go down into your cylinders to dry them out straight away to prevent flash rust occuring. Alternatively a cylinder of air will do as well.

Have fun.

If you are going to use a cylinder of air to quick dry the cylinder that you have just O2 cleaned, make sure that it is absolutley O2 compatible air, otherwise you will pollute the tank before you even get the valve back on.

John Langley · 28th January 2007, 14:26

The best way to heat the cyls up after de greasing them is to get a steam wallpaper stripper, reduce the outlet hose to some 1/4 inch pipe,invert cyls over pipe, support cyl and let the thing heat up.
It will take about 2-3 mins to become very hot, so be carefull when lifting cyl off, get a flexy hose attatched to a cyl of clean air and poke inside o2 cleaned cyl, turn on, and it will almost instantly dry out. So no flash rust.

J.L.

UKSteve · 28th January 2007, 16:36

Hi,
Get in touch with Niel Brock at Bristol Channel Diving. He runs an excellent equipment servicing course that includes O2 cleaning of cylinders and Regs.

Can very strongly recommend this course.

Steve

brewmaster · 28th January 2007, 18:37

i agree with dave and sandy invest in the oxygen hackers guide you cannot go wrong my club just build our compressor system with booster pumps and o2 clean and that book was well worth it.

28th January 2007, 00:01	#1 (permalink)
shawl01 New Member Current Rebreather/s: Ouroboros Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Oct 2006 Location: Nottingham, UK Posts: 3	O2 Cylinder cleaning Hi all, I am wondering about cylinder cleaning, I am sure this subject must have come up dozens of times before but I am quite new to the forum and I couldn't find anything on a quick search, so please forgive me!! We have our small group of us CCR divers here in Nottingham in the UK and as we are now progressing to trimix we have found that we now need to keep 4/5 cylinders in O2 service every 12 months and this is mounting up to about 30 cylinders worth within our group. We therefore want to investigate to possibility of legitimately undertaking the O2 clean ourselves (not the cylinder test) but I cannot really find much info about how to undertake it or get appropriate training and certification for it. Can anyone shed any light on this process, training, where to obtain supplies, etc, etc. Many Thanks Luke
(Offline)

28th January 2007, 00:21	#2 (permalink)
Dave & Sandy New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Melbourne, Australia Posts: 94	Re: O2 Cylinder cleaning Hi, Valves and cylinder cleaning can be done yourself. We have been doing ours now for a few years. Buy the Oxygen hackers guide from this link and away you go. Airspeed Press Homepage - Books For Serious Divers All O rings for your valves can be bought cheaply from an industrial bearings supplier. Oxygen compatibale grease can be bought from these guys at a reasonable price. Welcome to SEA-LONG Medical Systems, Inc. - Parts and Accessories Use Simple Green to degrease your cylinders which can be bought from auto shops. You'll need a tooth brush and an old hair drier with a home made hose attachment to go down into your cylinders to dry them out straight away to prevent flash rust occuring. Alternatively a cylinder of air will do as well. When rinsing your cylinders use plenty of hot water for final rinses and run water continuously into your cylinder until no more suds come out. I suggest degreasing one cylinder at a time from start to finish to avoid flash rusting. Valves are even easier to pull apart degease, change Orings, lube and put back together Have fun. __________________ Cheers, Dave & Sandy Atvar shows Dave & Sandy testing their new habitat 101 and home build RBMK69's
(Offline)

28th January 2007, 03:41	#3 (permalink)
Mixaddict Always Learning! Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Evolution Other CCR Dolphin Other Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other CCR Dolphin Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Draper, Utah USA Posts: 426	Re: O2 Cylinder cleaning Quote: (Originally Posted by Dave & Sandy) Hi, You'll need a tooth brush and an old hair drier with a home made hose attachment to go down into your cylinders to dry them out straight away to prevent flash rust occuring. Alternatively a cylinder of air will do as well. Have fun. If you are going to use a cylinder of air to quick dry the cylinder that you have just O2 cleaned, make sure that it is absolutley O2 compatible air, otherwise you will pollute the tank before you even get the valve back on. __________________ Randy Thornton (MixAddict) Inspiration, Evolution,Hammerhead & Sentinel CCR Instructor
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28th January 2007, 14:26	#4 (permalink)
John Langley New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other Rebreather/s: Not Bought Yet Classic Kiss Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: in an appartment on the 99th floor of my block Posts: 103	Re: O2 Cylinder cleaning The best way to heat the cyls up after de greasing them is to get a steam wallpaper stripper, reduce the outlet hose to some 1/4 inch pipe,invert cyls over pipe, support cyl and let the thing heat up. It will take about 2-3 mins to become very hot, so be carefull when lifting cyl off, get a flexy hose attatched to a cyl of clean air and poke inside o2 cleaned cyl, turn on, and it will almost instantly dry out. So no flash rust. J.L. __________________ BSAC 1620 www.aqualanddivers.co.uk www.oceandiving.co.uk Thank your mother for the dripping.
(Offline)

28th January 2007, 16:36	#5 (permalink)
UKSteve Still a novice... Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Vision Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Jul 2005 Location: Weymouth, UK Posts: 557	Re: O2 Cylinder cleaning Hi, Get in touch with Niel Brock at Bristol Channel Diving. He runs an excellent equipment servicing course that includes O2 cleaning of cylinders and Regs. Can very strongly recommend this course. Steve
(Offline)

28th January 2007, 18:37	#6 (permalink)
brewmaster New Member Current Rebreather/s: Inspiration Classic Other Rebreather/s: Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: sea girt nj Posts: 37	Re: O2 Cylinder cleaning i agree with dave and sandy invest in the oxygen hackers guide you cannot go wrong my club just build our compressor system with booster pumps and o2 clean and that book was well worth it.
(Online)

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