Helium analyzer

diverrob · January 15th, 2006, 09:17 PM

Does anyone have any info on which He analyzer to get. I have looked at Analox, OxyCheq, Atomox and Lynn Knights. Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks

Rob

Tricky · January 15th, 2006, 09:34 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by diverrob)

Does anyone have any info on which He analyzer to get. I have looked at Analox, OxyCheq, Atomox and Lynn Knights. Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks

Rob

I never knew there were so many. If they're all pretty much the same apart from the price, I'd say go for the cheapest.

daz · January 15th, 2006, 09:44 PM

I had a look at one of these the other day :- http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/p...6&v=1&UAN=2150

Nice bit of kit, seems well made and packaged in a waterproof case. A doddle to use as well.

Daz

Divingniknaks · January 15th, 2006, 10:43 PM

Pricey though when you look at the others about.

We do the Analox at £499. Bit of a difference.

Joel at TDL does a He analyser, he's on here as well, might be better for Canada ?

jluttichau · January 15th, 2006, 11:35 PM

Quote: (Originally Posted by diverrob)

Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks

As far as i know theres a difference in how the different analysers determine the amount of helium, some of the analysers are very temperature dependant and some are not.

some work like this:
It measures the difference in thermal conductivity, if you've ever used trimix for suit gas you'll know that it's very good at transferring heat, and O2 and N2 are very close when it comes to thermal conductivity. As i understand it, the He sensor consists of some kind of a heat element and a thermometer, you then calibrate it with a gas without any He and extrapolate from that with a mathematically formula what the conductivity should be for a given percentage of He.

Others work like this:
There is a censor cell inside a heating chamber.That means the helizer doesn´t have to be calibrated, but it needs 3 min. to heat up. This cell has a voltage x while measuring air. If you let Trimix or helium flow in the cell, the voltage changes because helium has a lower density than air/nitrogen. A gas with a lower density than air has a lower electrical transmitting rate.
This voltage tolerance compared to the reference value from air is transformed than in a % value by a CPU.
The sensor cell is in a heating chamber to make sure there is a constant (balanced) temperature.
If the temperature isn´t constant (switch on the analyzer in the heated car and measuring outside in 5°C air) you´ll not get correct values (temperature influences voltage and volume).

I don't have a lot of experience with this, it's just something i picked up on the internet

Cheers
Jonas

JS1scuba · January 16th, 2006, 06:49 AM

Quote: (Originally Posted by Divingniknaks)

Pricey though when you look at the others about.

We do the Analox at £499. Bit of a difference.

Joel at TDL does a He analyser, he's on here as well, might be better for Canada ?

Thanks Phill,

We have both the TDL-GA-Hecheck and the TDL-TechCheck

HE-Check it's on sale now for $575 USD (about $325 pounds)

The GA-TekCheck is a screaming deal and unit using both oxygen and helium in one robust box at $799 USD (about $450 pounds) it is about the best value for a mixed gas analyzer on the market today.

We have hundreds of these in use today with excellent results.

Cheers

Mark Chase · January 16th, 2006, 05:49 PM

I haven't used the others but i do use the Analox. Its neat simple and works really well. The warm up time is not as apparent as the one my gas fill chap uses and the gas flow valve is really neat and wastes hardly any gas.

We used one on a livaboard doing everybody's gas and deco stages with it for a week without drama. For home use i would recommend it.

ATB

Mark Chase

diverrob · January 17th, 2006, 02:35 AM

Thanks for the input. It looks like I have some more research to do.

Rob

Red Sea Explorer · January 17th, 2006, 01:39 PM

We use Analox and it is great

Mozi · January 20th, 2006, 08:13 AM

Analox here as well. Lots of analyzing, not enough TLC and it never flinched.

Mozi

January 15th, 2006, 09:17 PM	#1 (permalink)
diverrob(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2	Helium analyzer Does anyone have any info on which He analyzer to get. I have looked at Analox, OxyCheq, Atomox and Lynn Knights. Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks Rob

January 15th, 2006, 09:34 PM	#2 (permalink)
Tricky(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Reading, Berkshire Posts: 555	Quote: (Originally Posted by diverrob) Does anyone have any info on which He analyzer to get. I have looked at Analox, OxyCheq, Atomox and Lynn Knights. Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks Rob I never knew there were so many. If they're all pretty much the same apart from the price, I'd say go for the cheapest. __________________ "I know that you believe that you understand what you think I said, but I am not sure you realise that what you heard is not what I meant." "Make me one with everything" said the Mystic to the Hamburger vendor. Sigmastorm RPG - Play online now free! UK Diving Forum Sryth: A Free Online Text RPG Join the Adventure! Fallen Sword: Free online RPG

January 15th, 2006, 10:43 PM	#4 (permalink)
Divingniknaks(Offline) Resident purveyor of shiney kit.... Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Midlands UK Posts: 1,038	Pricey though when you look at the others about. We do the Analox at £499. Bit of a difference. Joel at TDL does a He analyser, he's on here as well, might be better for Canada ? __________________ Phill ----------------------------- Salvo Lights, DirZone Gear , Frog Wings Dive ? http://www.divingniknaks.com

January 16th, 2006, 06:49 AM	#6 (permalink)
JS1scuba(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Arizona, USA Posts: 82	Quote: (Originally Posted by Divingniknaks) Pricey though when you look at the others about. We do the Analox at £499. Bit of a difference. Joel at TDL does a He analyser, he's on here as well, might be better for Canada ? Thanks Phill, We have both the TDL-GA-Hecheck and the TDL-TechCheck HE-Check it's on sale now for $575 USD (about $325 pounds) The GA-TekCheck is a screaming deal and unit using both oxygen and helium in one robust box at $799 USD (about $450 pounds) it is about the best value for a mixed gas analyzer on the market today. We have hundreds of these in use today with excellent results. Cheers __________________ Joel Silverstein, VP, COO www.techdivinglimited.com a division of Scuba Training and Technology Inc. NAUTILUS DIVE PLANNER CYLINDER SPEC CHART

January 16th, 2006, 05:49 PM	#7 (permalink)
Mark Chase(Offline) New Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Kent England Posts: 905	I haven't used the others but i do use the Analox. Its neat simple and works really well. The warm up time is not as apparent as the one my gas fill chap uses and the gas flow valve is really neat and wastes hardly any gas. We used one on a livaboard doing everybody's gas and deco stages with it for a week without drama. For home use i would recommend it. ATB Mark Chase __________________ The only DIR Inspiration diver in the village

January 15th, 2006, 09:44 PM	#3 (permalink)
daz(Offline) "Don't worry I'm approved" Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Bristol Posts: 209	I had a look at one of these the other day :- http://www.divemagazine.co.uk/news/p...6&v=1&UAN=2150 Nice bit of kit, seems well made and packaged in a waterproof case. A doddle to use as well. Daz

January 15th, 2006, 11:35 PM	#5 (permalink)
jluttichau(Offline) Custom User Title Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: Denmark Posts: 437	Quote: (Originally Posted by diverrob) Other than price I can't see the differance. Does anyone have a preferance and why. Thanks As far as i know theres a difference in how the different analysers determine the amount of helium, some of the analysers are very temperature dependant and some are not. some work like this: It measures the difference in thermal conductivity, if you've ever used trimix for suit gas you'll know that it's very good at transferring heat, and O2 and N2 are very close when it comes to thermal conductivity. As i understand it, the He sensor consists of some kind of a heat element and a thermometer, you then calibrate it with a gas without any He and extrapolate from that with a mathematically formula what the conductivity should be for a given percentage of He. Others work like this: There is a censor cell inside a heating chamber.That means the helizer doesn´t have to be calibrated, but it needs 3 min. to heat up. This cell has a voltage x while measuring air. If you let Trimix or helium flow in the cell, the voltage changes because helium has a lower density than air/nitrogen. A gas with a lower density than air has a lower electrical transmitting rate. This voltage tolerance compared to the reference value from air is transformed than in a % value by a CPU. The sensor cell is in a heating chamber to make sure there is a constant (balanced) temperature. If the temperature isn´t constant (switch on the analyzer in the heated car and measuring outside in 5°C air) you´ll not get correct values (temperature influences voltage and volume). I don't have a lot of experience with this, it's just something i picked up on the internet Cheers Jonas

January 17th, 2006, 02:35 AM	#8 (permalink)
diverrob(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Canada Posts: 2	Thanks for the input. It looks like I have some more research to do. Rob

January 17th, 2006, 01:39 PM	#9 (permalink)
Red Sea Explorer(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Red Sea Posts: 236	We use Analox and it is great __________________ You watch me switch. www.redseaexplorers.com

January 20th, 2006, 08:13 AM	#10 (permalink)
Mozi(Offline) New Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Location: Beirut, Lebanon Posts: 80	Analox here as well. Lots of analyzing, not enough TLC and it never flinched. Mozi