Express Logo

Dive Gear with Full Warranties & Fast Free Shipping

  Site Search
Contact Us
Home BCs Computers Essentials Exposure Gas / Tanks Hardware Lights Logowear / Media Rebreathers Regulators Tools

What does Nitrox-Ready mean?

When the SCUBA diving community prepares an item for use with breathing gases containing high oxygen percentages or pure oxygen, they generally think in terms of washing it with detergents, replacing rubber parts such as O-rings and seals with oxygen-compatible equivalents and reassembling with oxygen-compatible lubricants. However, most other industries working with very high pressure oxygen (over 20,000 psi service pressures!) have a very different standard known as oxygen service.

Oxygen service means the materials are both:

True oxygen cleaning of an oxygen compatible component (often made from special metal alloys such as monel) takes place in a special clean room, whose atmosphere is free of dust and contaminants. Once the component is free of hydrocarbons and other combustible elements, it is sealed within a sterile environment and never again exposed to normal atmospheric dust, moisture, and contaminants. Only then is the item said to be suitable for oxygen service.

Cylinders and Valves Are Nitrox-Ready

Dive Rite Express offers diving products labeled Nitrox Ready, whose oxygen-compatible components are free of hydrocarbons and other flammable contaminants. The metal components are usually steel, aluminum or brass; which are suitable for use with oxygen at the pressures encountered in diving actvities. The lubricant used in assembly is Christo-Lube® or other oxygen-compatible lubricants. The O-rings are made from Viton® or other oxygen-compatible materials. These components are not, however, assembled in a clean room or sealed in a sterile environment. As a result, the we do not label the products as suitable for oxygen service, although they are generally considered to meet oxygen service criteria at pressures encountered in the diving community.


Home  |   About Us  |   Contact Us  |   Training Center  |   Library  |   Policies
E-mail A Link To This Page To A Friend (or Yourself)
© Copyright 2008   |   Terms & Conditions   |   Privacy Statement
BBBOnLine Reliability Seal