I have been checking prices of oxygen equipment, and realised that lightweight cylinders and on-demand oxygen conservers with a CGA 870 connexion (the one that looks like a thick square peg on top of the cylinder, and takes a small stick-shaped spanner to open it) are ubiquitous in American general medicine and geriatrics, and can be bought from numerous sources for a fraction of the typical price charged for virtually the same equipment with CGA 540 instead. CGA 870 to CGA 540 hoses are inexpensive, too. According to my web research, a Bonsai OM-812 [ local copy ] oxygen conserver may be a good solution for GA. This one and similar units can often be bought cheap from medical suppliers’ overstock or even cheaper (in a very slightly used condition) directly from former users. The only catch is that all of them are in the US or Canada, and when shipping an oxygen cylinder to Europe, even empty and with the valve unscrewed, you may have to go through some contortions to save it from being classified as dangerous goods, and one may be asked for a medical prescription if taking it along in the airline luggage. The shipping may also get quite expensive. Does anyone know the optimal way to have such an order delivered? Or, alternatively, a valid reason why this whole idea is unsound? Or any other relevant ideas?
I can’t see a problem with this. You have to always carry the adaptor with you anyway because the 1st stage regulator will have to screw into that. Although the pic in the brochure shows a clamp-on 1st stage regulator being an available accessory
Better make sure the output pressure is right for the demand regulator (e.g. O2D2) which you are using.
Cylinder shipping should be no bigger problem than with any other cylinder; the ones I bought over the years (all from the USA; some Aerox, some MH) all came with the valves attached and merely were emptied.
Carrying these in airline luggage, I have no idea; that’s likely to be a hassle.
The best way to ship these is by normal courier (DHL etc) and work hard on telling the supplier to pack them in the most compact carton possible. I have had some shipped in huge cartons and then got a huge bill which was driven by volume rather than weight. But shipping is never cheap – probably €100-150 for one of these, US to Europe.
One possible issue is whether the pressure gauge indicates continuously or only when you open the valve. The latter is IMHO useless. That’s why I use only cylinders with an integral pressure gauge.
Peter, what this picture shows is not a first-stage regulator, OM-812 does not need one, it’s fully self-contained – you just attach it to the cylinder, attach a cannula to the barb on the bottom left, and then you can set it up for either a fixed flow or an on-demand flow.
Given that OM-812 can be bought for less than $100 and an aluminium cylinder is $30-50, a shipping charge of $100-150 is a lot, yet in the end it will be still cheaper than dedicated GA gear.
That’s very cheap, $30 for a cylinder is amazing – it must be chinese. Have you checked Alibaba?
I found mechanical demand regs ok up to about FL150 and above that one has to turn it way up. Also the O2D2 uses about 50% of the gas of the mechanical demand reg I had for a few years (Precise Oxygen). Details here.
Peter wrote:
That’s very cheap, $30 for a cylinder is amazing – it must be chinese. Have you checked Alibaba?
I don’t know where they are actually manufactured, but they are sold from US or Canadian stock and can be found on Amazon, eBay and elsewhere. Here are a few examples found within a minute: $40, $46, big one for $54. Wholesale Alibaba does have some, too, but Aliexpress does not.
When I bought my mountain high cylinder, I don’t remember any sort of high shipping costs. I bought from AFE online who “imported to order”
Like most distributors of anything, AFE import them back to back so you pay the shipping just the same – unless they bring in a load by sea freight which I very much doubt given the miniscule size of the IFR portion of their customer base.
I know this is a poor answer to Ultranomad’s question but I have long ago given up on these metal cylinders. They are small (well the big ones are way too heavy) so they need frequent refilling and that is a far bigger hassle than earning the extra few hundred quid to buy the 48 cu. ft MH composite one. Due to the amortisation of my annual rental cost and exchange hassles (I need to borrow a big car to get it swapped for a new one) with the large BOC cylinder I have, I am charging people £30 for a refill of this 48 cu ft cylinder but this is still good value because you could fly a TB20 with 2 people to Crete and back, straight over the Alps, and end up using up only about half of it. That’s with the O2D2 demand regulator. This is simply the best kit by a huge margin.
I appreciate that for infrequent use one could use something simpler, but you need to have an easy refill facility, and for most people that is the biggest hassle.
I think mine arrived in 9 calendar days and as I recall AFEs price was essentially slightly lower than the price in the US converted to Usd And VAT added. so shipping essentially « free »
I don’t see the point. The cylinders might be cheap, but it will be very hard to someone to fill them in Europe.
It is much easier to use a DIN thread cylinder. You can get it filled everywhere.
If everything fails I get a cylinder from a DIY market or a welders shop.
mdoerr wrote:
The cylinders might be cheap, but it will be very hard to someone to fill them in Europe.
No problem whatsoever. All it takes to fill them is an adaptor hose for an extra $40 or so.
