Gas Fills

Aqua Immersion has the ability to offer you a wide variety of diving gas fills using some of the latest in equipment technology, meaning we have the equipment to handle all of your gas fill requirements.

Using our membrane separation system, hyper filtration system, gas booster, and our partial pressure gas blending system we can provide gas fills that range all the way up to 100% Oxygen including Hypoxic, Normoxic, and Hyperoxic mixes such as:

• Air and Hyper Air
• Nitrox
• TriMix
• Heli Air
• Heli Ox
• Oxygen
• Argon

Some of the additional benefits you will enjoy by obtaining your gas fills from Aqua Immersion include:

• Very competitive pricing overall and on our custom fill partial pressure system we offer a unique “per cubic foot” pricing structure which means you only pay for the gas you actually receive and no more waste due to draining. Our booster allows us to top off whatever unused gas remains in your cylinders and you pay only for the gas you need.
• We offer the following Ultra Pure, Oxygen Compatible breathing gases:
  • Air Grade E
  • Hyper Air Grade OCA (IANTD)
  • Helium Grade UHP (Ultra High Purity – 99.999%)
  • Oxygen Grade ABO (Aviators Breathing Oxygen)
  • Argon Grade HP (High Purity – 99.9%)
• Fill pressures up to 4500 psi (Oxygen to 3000 psi)
• Piece of mind in knowing the contents of the gas you are receiving. All of our Nitrox and TriMix fills are electronically analyzed twice – pre compressor and post compressor, and finally a third analysis when you pick up your cylinder. All three analyses are performed using three different analyzers so as to not repeat an error by using a single analyzer that could conceivably be faulty. We also use only non-toxic, non-dyester based food-grade lubricants suitable for use in high-oxygen environments in our high-pressure compressor. The air that we produce off of our high pressure compressor meets CGA Grade “E” specifications which has become the most widely referenced quality verification level for sport diving. To insure this continued level of quality breathing air we also send samples of our air out to an independent testing lab quarterly for analysis. Look for this certificate of compliance anywhere you may get your gas fills and consider carefully what its absence might indicate.
• One of the big advantages of our membrane system used to produce Nitrox is that you don’t have to worry about being forced to dive some set percentage of Nitrox that a shop may have on tap or having your tank O2 cleaned and maintained for O2 service yearly in order to dive Nitrox. Our membrane allows us to fill ANY Scuba cylinder up to 40%, the limit of recreational level Nitrox certifications, therefore providing several advantages:
  • Obtain any mix between 21% ~ 40% and not just what may be on tap as in the case of pre-mix Nitrox.
  • You don’t have the expense (approx $50/yr) of keeping your tank cleaned for O2 service as required by those using the partial pressure blending method.
  • Quicker turn around time on your fills.
  • Can use your same tanks to obtain standard air fills from ANYWHERE without having to worry about contaminating your tanks and rendering them un-usable for other Nitrox fill processes. (Just a note on O2 clean tanks. If you have gone through the expense of cleaning your tanks we can maintain that same level of cleanliness by running our membrane produced Nitrox through a set of hyper filters. Just let us know which way you would prefer your tanks to be filled.)

Your satisfaction is always important to us but unfortunately we must implement a few policies regarding breathing gas fills. For the safety of our associates as well as for your own safety we have the following “Fill Policies”:

• Diver Certification – You must provide documentation that you are a certified diver in order to get a SCUBA cylinder filled. If you make a request for any gas, other than Air, then you will need to provide additional documentation showing your qualification to obtain the fill you are requesting. (IE: Helium mixtures require a TriMix certification or equivalent.)
• Fill Pressure – Cylinders will be filled to their rated Maximum pressure unless otherwise requested to be filled LESS THAN their rated pressure.
• Cylinder Qualification – All cylinders being filled must have an EOI (Evidence of Inspection) decal showing a Visual Inspection within the last twelve months and must have had a hydro-static test within the last five years. Any Aluminum, 6351-T6 cylinder only, must have had an inspection by Aqua Immersion that would have included an eddy current test, a non-destructive way of testing the cylinder for sustained load cracking, a phonuminum known to have caused cracks in the neck area of the scuba cylinder. For more information on sustained load cracking “click here". Annual VIP’s are a voluntary program with the SCUBA industry and are considered to expire one year (12 months) following the inspection. However, by law a US Department of Transportation (DOT) required hydrostatic test expires five years (60 months) following the test. Because neither a visual inspection sticker nor a hydro retest mark show the day of the month the inspection was performed, a long established and widespread practice in the SCUBA industry has been the valid period expires on the first day of the month shown.
• Aqua Immersion will require an Internal Inspection (VIP) of the cylinder if any of the following conditions apply on the initial cursory inspection of the cylinder before the fill process starts.
  • Any leaks detected
  • Any rattles or other unusual noises
  • Unexplained zero pressure (IE: completely empty)
  • Abnormal cylinder weight
  • Contents that smell bad
• Aqua Immersion will refuse to fill any cylinder that exhibits any of the following conditions:
  • Heavy corrosion and especially any cylinder with line corrosion at the boot.
  • Any exterior damage, such as a dent, gouge, bulge, or deep pit that is in excess of industry accepted standards.
  • Evidence of exposure to high temperatures, such as discolored or scorched cylinders.
  • Unusual or unrecognized paints or coatings.
  • A valve that uses a lead plug as an overpressure burst disk.
  • Any attribute that would cause it to be permanently removed from service per DOT (Department of Transportation) or PSI (Professional Scuba Inspectors) standards.
• A couple of exceptions to our cylinder qualification policies are as follows. We will fill the small 2L, 3L, and 4L Faber steel cylinders used in the Evolution, Inspiration, and Dräger rebreathers. These cylinders do not have the DOT stamp but we will fill them to a maximum of 200 bar (3000 psi) if they meet the other requirements of a current EOI sticker and Hydro stamp. We will not however fill the round cylinders used with the Mark 15 rebreathers.
• Cylinder Contents Labeling – It is generally accepted that if a cylinder does not contain a label then it is assumed to contain air. For those cylinders that contain a gas other than air our requirements are as follows:
  • For sport diving we highly recommend (but do not require it) that cylinders containing Nitrox with oxygen concentrations of 40% and less should be labeled with the traditional six inch wide band having a one inch wide yellow band at the top and at the bottom with a four inch green band in the center containing the word Nitrox.
  • For technical diving cylinders containing Nitrox with concentrations of 40% and less should be labeled the same as sport diving cylinders as above or labeled with the words “Breathing Gas Other Than Air”. For cylinders containing Nitrox between the percentages of 41% and 74% it is recommended to label them with the words “Decompression Mix” or “Breathing Gas Other Than Air”. Cylinders containing concentrations of Oxygen greater than 74% should be labeled with the word Oxygen and cylinders containing TriMix should be labeled with the word “TriMix” or “Breathing Gas Other Than Air”.
  • For those using Argon for Dry suit inflation we require a label on their cylinders with the word “Argon” AND the words “DO NOT BREATH”.
  • All cylinders that contain a gas other than Air are required to have a contents tag on the cylinder indicating the Oxygen concentration and the MOD for that gas.
• Oxygen Service – In the SCUBA industry Oxygen Service typically means that the materials used are both Oxygen Compatible with high concentrations of oxygen and that they are Oxygen Clean, meaning free of hydrocarbon contamination and particulate matter. This generally means that O-rings and other seals have been replaced with Viton or other oxygen compatible materials and that the lubricant used in assembly is Christo-Lube or another oxygen compatible lubricant. This is then usually denoted on a EOI (Evidence of Inspection) VIP decal with special notation that the cylinder is suitable for Nitrox service or Oxygen service. Aqua Immersion does require any cylinder being filled by the partial pressure blending method to have gone through this cleaning process and the appropriate label, EOI decal applied. The process of preparing a cylinder for contact with high concentrations of Oxygen requires training, special materials, and is time consuming however, for a very reasonable fee Aqua Immersion would be glad to prepare your cylinder for this type of service for you.

If you are going to bring tanks into Aqua Immersion for VIP or Hydro Static testing please feel free to print the “Visual Inspection Release Form” below ahead of time, sign and date, and bring the form with your cylinders to the facility.

Click Here
For Inspection Form