Oxygen tank refil

Hey all, I have a medical oxygen tank that I was given by a fellow brewer when they moved out of the country and now that it’s finally empty, I’m trying to figure out how to get it refilled. Unfortunately, it’s labeled as a medical O2 tank which I can’t seem to get refilled without a prescription, and the process O2 guys (Airgas) won’t touch it because it’s a medical tank.

Anyone know how / where I can get this thing refilled?

We will have the same challenge with our medical O2 tank. No one will fill a medical tank without a prescription.

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Is there a doctor in the house?

Talk to Science folks.

A scuba diver with the O2 training can fill them as well since they have the card from the state (and airgas will touch it at that point)

However, does it need to be a medical tank? might be worthwhile just to get a normal one.

I highly recommend Cylinder Services!

1953 Chenault St, Dallas, TX 75228
Hours:
Closed ⋅ Opens 5:30AM Mon
Phone: (214) 328-1010

I’ve purchased a number of tanks from them, all come with a 10 yr hydro and new paint.

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We are getting around the problem by using an oxygen concentrator instead.

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Oxygen concentrators are cool.

I’ll give you a 'script for one if you decide to go that route. You’ll have to price it out. Sort of silly. Medical and industrial O2 come from the same tank. But if you bring in a medical tank, they have to drain it completely then refill it from empty.

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Primary difference is human use O2 tanks and compressors use lubricants that are compatible with meeting USP grade to be medically safe to avoid contamination. Was taught improper lubricants can lead to lipdoid pneumonia so only use compressors/lubricants approved for human compressed air. Other O2 tanks/valves/compressors just have to avoid flammability issues.

ACS, Reagent, and USP-NF grades are typically equivalent and interchangeable but, even so, appropriateness should always be confirmed before application. This can be done by reviewing the applicable regulatory requirements.

If not being used for human use, there isn’t any practical difference

If you just need O2 and have a concentrator and don’t need have flow rate or super purity/concentration, then that’s the way to go. But commerical O2 in terms of gas pruity as manufactured, are the same. Only reagnet grades are higher.

I believe they are quite sparing of lubricants on any oxygen cylinder. Oil, silicone grease plus 150 barr O2 plus a spark or higher temp = diesel ignition. But, in addition, there are oil / debris traps on medical O2 systems.

I’m quite familiar with O2 concentrators. They are a nice machine to have for general O2 needs at lower pressures. They supply around 95% O2, depending on the age of the machine and typically deliver either 5 or 10 LPM (depends on the machine) at around 1 bar. Lots for sale on craigslist!

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BTW, I have a ‘big’ O2 concentrator (10 LPM) that I have tested at around 14 LPM @ 95% O2 and I’d let it go at some nominal price $ 0.80 * min(craiglist, ebay) more or less. I bought it to make a hypoxic generator for high altitude acclimatization. Used an arduino to control its solenoids and then took the first part of the backwash gas, selected with some irrigation system solenoids into a trash bag reservoir to create an effective 18,000 ft atmosphere. Anyway, it worked but I did not do the race I was supposedly going to do and I finally put it back together in its normal config and verified that it works now as a concentrator. Would be awesome to supplement a forge or some other pyro hobby.

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@Lampy Do you think a used O2 concentrator for $100 is a better deal than using a O2 cylinder and having to refill it once a year or so for Home Brewing?

Are there consumables or cleanliness issues with buying a used O2 concentrator?

Someone had an O2 concentrater at the space and we were going to try it on the Superconductor project. Don’t know where it went but interesting question. No consumables are far as I’m aware just electricity. I think they went up to 92%.

If anyone is interested, I’ve got oxygen tanks to trade now…

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Clayton - my answer would be yes. Don’t know quite what the requirements are for home brew O2 but an O2 concentrator is pretty handy. It is a bit noisy and is a bit of a power hog, requiring at least 500 watts for the smaller one. The most efficiency albeit expensive option would be to have an O2 concentrator and a high pressure O2 compressor to fill your tanks. Generate some O2, fill a tank, use prn. These were common years ago but the whole rig would probably cost $1000 used, not bad if you req’d tanks.

These days, battery O2 concentrators are common and an amazing technology and, I believe, have replaced the small, portable tanks that have been lugged around. Still, I would love to find a cheap rig to compress O2 from my concentrator to 2000 psi. Would not be ‘medical grade’ because it would only be around 95% but this is fine for all medical apps that I know of or that I need.

I might be wrong but feel certain that all O2 supply, commercial or medical is totally oil free in all stages of filling, storage and dispensing. High partial pressure of O2 + oil + temp is a formula for combustion as in a diesel engine and thus I suspect that is why one never uses oil in compressed O2 rig. I don’t think that 2000 psi plus oil alone at room temp will ignite but you have an oxidizer plus a fuel and temp is the other ingredient. I suspect there is an interesting data curve that shows where ignition occurs with oil, O2, pressure and temp.

Thanks for the info. If I come across a battery operated one I’ll likely consider it. But now that I’ve got the tanks, regulator and all that, I’ll stick with that for now.

I’d prefer someone take me up on my offer on the O2 tank swap, but until then, I’ve likely got a couple years worth of O2 now with 1.25 60 cu ft tanks of gas.

First boil and leak test with my new burner and keggle (good deal off NextDoor on the keggle)

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