Oxygen refill for aerox 15cu tank

ecrane99

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Nov 1, 2009
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CT
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Ed
This is the first time I need to refill my tank but my fbo is quoting $80 for a refill. Can I use medical oxygen? Any other option rather than an $80 cost each refill. I live in CT. Thanks for any advice you may have.
 
The FBO at the airport wanted $50 to fill a 40CF bottle. I had to remind them about the fuel purchased over the last year and they could have $25 or I'll head to the welding shop for oxygen and by fuel elsewhere. They took the $25.

I switched to a 15CF aluminum tank but I still need a regulator. I sold the 40CF AerOx set I had.

I would call around for prices. Good luck!
 
According to the welding shop where I got my tank filled, the only difference between the medical and the welding oxygen is that the medical oxygen goes through some extra FDA checks. I have medical oxygen in my tank.

60 cu ft tank, $25 to fill with medical oxygen. Next time I'll go with welding, but that will probably take a while for me to empty. Go to a welding shop.
 

That's the link I was looking for...... a bunch of good info on there.

According to the welding shop where I got my tank filled, the only difference between the medical and the welding oxygen is that the medical oxygen goes through some extra FDA checks. I have medical oxygen in my tank. 60 cu ft tank, $25 to fill with medical oxygen. Next time I'll go with welding, but that will probably take a while for me to empty. Go to a welding shop.


I'll have to try the medical refill, did you need a perscription ?
 
We have about $500 invested in our transfilling rig (the Aerox FBO one), including 2 storage bottles at $100 a pop. At $80 a fill, that would amortize and pay for itself pretty quickly.

Are you sure there are no A&Ps with a "private stash" you could chip in on? Refilling the big storage cylinders is about $16 around here.
 
I'll have to try the medical refill, did you need a perscription ?

Nope, not needed, at least not here. But there's no reason to go for a medical oxygen refill according to the guy I talked to - it all comes from the same tank. What you're buying with medical oxygen is the assurance that it's got the appropriate purities, whereas that's not checked on welding oxygen.
 
Nope, not needed, at least not here. But there's no reason to go for a medical oxygen refill according to the guy I talked to - it all comes from the same tank. What you're buying with medical oxygen is the assurance that it's got the appropriate purities, whereas that's not checked on welding oxygen.

Look around for the supplier that the welding shops use for tier tanks and go there. Here in MN you do need a prescription to refill a medical tank (different valve/regulator attach fitting) but at the big O2 supplier you get the same stuff regardless of what tank you bring in.
 
I fill welding oxygen at about $28/pop, 79 cubic feet. Clue: They will fil the tank as it is labelled. If it's labelled ABO, that's what they do (same tank- different QA). If it's labelled Oxygen USP, that's what they load. If it's labelled Medical, that's what goes in there.

Same tank. Last time a batch failed any of the tests at my terminal was prior to 1988.
 
I'm just getting into this now having just bought o2 tank. I've seen those threads before and found them quite useful.

Unfortunately the welding shops around here won't do it. NYS has some weird law about needing a prescription.

I have had success with Fire Equipment store. Hydrostatic, cleaning and refill for 15cu is going to be about $45. So I'm guessing the refill would be about $15.

I've got a dive shop really close to me. That's where I'm going first when I need a refill. (the Fire Equipment shop is 50 min round trip)
 
I'm just getting into this now having just bought o2 tank. I've seen those threads before and found them quite useful.

Unfortunately the welding shops around here won't do it. NYS has some weird law about needing a prescription.

I have had success with Fire Equipment store. Hydrostatic, cleaning and refill for 15cu is going to be about $45. So I'm guessing the refill would be about $15.

I've got a dive shop really close to me. That's where I'm going first when I need a refill. (the Fire Equipment shop is 50 min round trip)

Bob becareful. I dive and the dive shops that I have used can fill tanks with compressed air NOT O2
 
Bob be careful. I dive and the dive shops that I have used can fill tanks with compressed air NOT O2
Yeah... I've seen that warning in those threads... and that they mix O2 and other stuff. I'll be sure to confirm with them that I'm getting pure O2.

When I first called them on the phone, they said that they do fill O2 tanks (I may have even said it was for aviation) but they didn't do hydro tests in house. That's why I went to the fire equipment place first.
 
Get or find someone with a Large welding bottle.

I believe Mountain High IIRC sells a simple transfilling tube for about $70.

Then you are taking a welding bottle to be filled with welding O2.

Check out the John Deakin article on the subject at Avweb.com columns.

Brian
 
Look around for the supplier that the welding shops use for tier tanks and go there. Here in MN you do need a prescription to refill a medical tank (different valve/regulator attach fitting) but at the big O2 supplier you get the same stuff regardless of what tank you bring in.

All I know is they gave me what they called medical oxygen without a prescription. Next time I'm not going to bother with that and will just go with the welding oxygen to save a few bucks. They said they weren't sure whether or not it would go through, but it did just fine. At 60 cu ft, it will take me a while to use it up.
 
Call me the silly boy, but I am supremely amused that anyone would ever suggest that you need a prescription to buy oxygen.
 
Call me the silly boy, but I am supremely amused that anyone would ever suggest that you need a prescription to buy oxygen.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who found the irony there. :)
 
I forgot to add to my previous post. Get an Oximeter to monitor your O2 level in flight.

Brian
 
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