Do It Yourself Scuba Breathing Air Compressor

[@Lecon60]

I'm a volunteer firefighter. I live in a rural area where I have to fly out my empties. I think I'll look in to this. I've just had our ten bottles replaced.

[@dustinwesterman854]

I have debated this before! Please give updates for n how the air works out, any tank issues, build sheet and costs, subscribing for this kinda info for sure!

[@BringYourHelmet]

Life got crazy busy, but I do plan to do shallow dives and disect the filters after some more use. Not really feasable for regular use and there is concerns of air quality. I plan to see about having air samples tested. But still a fun project.

[@tomroot6013]

@@BringYourHelmet OK, so you do not recommend any of the filters you rigged this with, I suppose, then?

[@Technie87]

In the process of setting up a Yong Heng compressor for PCP Airgunning. I removed the cigarette filter and went straight to a oil/water separator(the gold filter you see here with a drain) and a single cotton/charcoal/cotton filter. I also purchased Seccolube 500 which is similar to the diester based oil mentioned here for air purity. This is good enough for shooting If I was going to trust my life to a compressor like this I would run this layout: compressor > oil/water separator > molecular sieve> cotton/charcoal/cotton filter> PMV valve After doing all this, you SHOULD be safe. But if you want to be sure you can contact a lab and see if the air is considered breathing safe. They will provide you with instructions on how to send them the air. I would advise AGAINST the current setup that he is using now, I personally think that he is using the BARE minimum for breathable air. I would rather spend a few hundred dollars on the proper filtration rather than passing out and dying underwater or getting some sort of lung disease because of the contaminants breathed in and paying THOUSANDS in medical bills. I wasn't aware of a PMV - Thank you for informing us on that. Great Video!

[@JamesBrown-sr1zy]

You might consider an air dryer like what we use on commercial semi trucks they are large air dryer canisters

[@Pauly5150]

nicely done. I fill my pcp airguns, and this is very helpful for improving my filter system. Thanks.

[@jtsoutdoorsandmore8136]

Awesome video thanks for sharing . I don't have a dive shop anywhere close to me so I would like to build a rig similar to yours .

[@alanchang9133]

You can also consider an auto drain system for both the final stage and the inter-stage if you want further improvement.

[@BringYourHelmet]

This was a fun project and it really works! Air quality is great. Many more tests to come.

[@khaledabueluf8422]

did you try it on 80cf tank?

[@spiderman0863]

Awesome video! 😊

[@mylifeisdope916]

After a year how has it held up? Have you filled any 80s with it yet? How much did the whole rig end up costing? Thank you.

[@alanchang9133]

I am a Bauer and Nuvair factory technician, and the only thing I can say is that, wow, you've done your research, and you nailed all the key points. Maybe find a more effective way to do aftercooling, like using a coil of stainless tubing. And the final stage separator should be installed right after the final stage but after all the filters since moisture reduces the effectiveness of all the filters. The PMV should be something individual instead of built-in and installed after the final filter. Maybe consider installing remote air intake, dew point monitor and Co monitor as well as performing air testing to be compliant with Grade D breathing air or CSA 275.2. Also, consider replacing all the filters with a Bauer triplex.

[@tomroot6013]

SO that is my dilemma here Sir. i have a Poseidon "UNI" Compressor. and need to augment/replace the old filtration system, as I was told that the Filters are now Obsolete. It was built from the Bauer Compressor Head set up from the factory. If you could give any advice here, as all the USA Reps I have contacted, I believe I am up to 6 across the USA, seem to not support this small Compressor, anymore. What is a Bauer Triplex, and costs? Thanks!

[@patpintelon8607]

Good explanation! very interesting. I bought one but the manual is lacking.. Can you put a link to the manual. I dont find it. And the dealer doesn't answer anymore and there is no brand on it..... It looks very similar to yours even the colours are identical (but is a single step).TNX

[@tonyrichard8078]

Think I could use this setup to fill co2 tanks?

[@Just_Wimski1130]

thank you for the tips, verry usefull.

[@OzzySafa]

Will you be getting a 2L scuba tank now that they are out. Interested to find out how quick your set up can fill it.

[@chrisphilhower6029]

Try Filling my Aluminum 80 cf to 3k PSI. I have a Nomad I use to fill a 6cf Spare Air. Using Extra Filters on the output.

[@HSandhu1]

I want to try this on a scuba 4L small tank, I have recently bought an automatic PCP compressor like this one, got a proper water/oil filter and had to ensure I have the correct oil for breathing air. The tank has a quick release valve already inbuilt into it so I can connect the filter direct to the 4L tank, would this still work fine? or do I need to have the other additional filters you have got as well as a bleeding valve like you have? Would like to hear your thoughts mate

[@timtim8468]

It can be done, in the end it's a decision regarding safety. Maybe it works fine, or you pass out under water from CO. Hookah systems are without all the hassle, and can be made DIY too.

[@HSandhu1]

@@timtim8468 I’ll test it out - gonna use the tank in a pool with someone assisting so we’ll see how it fares

[@HSandhu1]

It worked well and the breathable air was clean and decent. I used a breathable oil with the correct ISO and a big solid filter as well

[@jrisinlove]

Do you have links to those items?

[@zachofalltrades1111]

Do you have a link to the inline bleed valve?

[@13panda13]

Whats wrong with the air quality after spending so much on filters?

[@barneycarparts]

I just used a Husky oil less compressor with a Horrible Freight spray paint filter and a $50 regulator and 2x 25 ft HF hoses I was down only 5.5 feet for 45 minutes in my pond vacuuming sludge off the bottom, and I had no problems what so ever. It was really cool in fact.

[@chefkero]

I'm wondering if we need change oil regularly? How's the maintenance we need to work?

[@tomroot6013]

Excellent build, and explanation, Sir! Would you be as so kind to provide links, or if anybody else could on the Whole Filtration system parts sources? I was lucky to find an Electric Poseidon "UNI" model 3.5 CFM Compressor. Several decades old but with maybe 10 max 80Cu tank fills in its whole life. The issue is I have hit brick walls sourcing any of the Old Filter designs as they are now "Obsolete" I searched for even NOS filters, with no luck, as well. So, like you I only wish for Clean Air going into these lungs of mine, and some directions as to what you sourced would be pure gold. I was quoted over $1,100.00 for a custom build from Bauer, who made the Compressor head section for Poseidon to begin with. Poseidon as a Company is no longer, and Bauer sort of bought them out. The USA Factory reps do not wish to support us small fries and cater to the Huge Compressor market mostly! If anyone else has any suggestions as well, I'd appreciate your input, as well! Thanks for a great understandable build, and use of your compressor! It should last you, because of your enhancements galore! Great JOB!!!

[@bevanjones7480]

I'd suggest looking at Lawrence Factor filters - they're very high quality, but not exactly cheap. However, they won't blow up and take your leg off. For these towers, you can get filters you can personally repack with molecular sieve, activated carbon, and hypocalite. You'll want the hypocalite there if you're in a highly built up area or the compressor is powered by an internal combustion engine. Stay safe.

[@bevanjones7480]

Jeez. This is so insanely dangerous. There are plenty of photos online of those Chinese filter housings that have EXPLODED and sent shrapnel EVERYWHERE. There's a good photo online of someone's SF2 rebreather with a chunk wedged in the carbon fiber can. One of the guys in the local dive community made the mistake of using one and had the walls rupture, and the lid be sent through his ceiling then through his roof into the never-never. I'd only ever touch a quality filter tower like a Bauer, Coltri, Lawrence Factor etc. Like a dive tank, these things are literally a small bomb if they go wrong. With crap Chinese filter housings and numerous cycles at 200bar+, it's not an if it goes wrong, it's WHEN. It WILL work harden, and it WILL explode. Even quality filter housings have finite lifespans that are well defined in the manufacturer's user manuals. On top of this, you are GUARANTEED to have moisture problems in your tanks with this setup. There will be insufficient intercooling and moisture separation pre-filter. The molecular sieve will then become saturated very quickly. There is a damn good reason why virtually all quality compressors are three or four stage with intercooling and liquid moisture separation between every stage of compression. The lifespan of molecular sieve (assuming consistent flow) is defined purely by the temperature of the gas flowing through it, and by the pressure of the filter housing (maintained by a PMV). These two factors together defines the molecular mas of water that is in the air that then passes through the molecular sieve bed. There the vast majority of the remaining water is removed. The key thing is that the mass of water being removed by the mol sieve is defined by the temperature of the air in the separator just before it flows through the filter, NOT the ambient air temperature of where the compressor is operating. Also, humidity of the air intake is IRRELEVANT - as much as this might seem counter intuitive . For cheap (QUALITY!) dive compressors, they reason they stipulate their filter life based purely upon run time and ambient air temperature at the compressor intake is because the air temp in the filter housing is very very close to directly proportional to ambient air temperature. With single stage compression, rather than multi-stage compression and intercooling at every stage, the rise in temperature in the cylinder will be astronomically high. This in turn will cause things like oil combustion and in turn put you highly at risk of carbon monoxide. If there is something like a teflon piston ring, this will also risk burning under the higher duty cycle (and in turn heat) needed to fill a dive tank as opposed to a small air gun tank. The fumes that come off burning teflon are highly toxic. In diving, carbon monoxide usually means a fatality. Toxic teflon fumes will be no different. Activated carbon in the filter will not properly remove CO or CO2 from combustion. Neither will hypocalite. I've got my own compressor, and routinely fill air, nitrox, trimix and pure oxygen. Don't dive tanks filled with this. There is a real risk of you or someone else dying. Real Dunning-Kruger stuff here. Modern dive compressors are highly complex and ton of information and research has gone into their design. Posting a video encouraging people to make something like this to fill tanks with is just outright wrong. Don't believe me? How about posting the results of a tank filled with this passing breathing air testing standards?

[@jasongreen6249]

At the price point man ... But that looks fun!

[@Engineer9736]

A while back i bought a similar compressor and air filter and everything, but my diving school prohibited me from using it as it's impossible to guarantee that the air is healthy clean. Official filling stations are sampled and checked by a lab to prove that the air is good, and that the machinery is almost guaranteed to keep working in that clean way. If you want to poison yourself it's your own choice, but your buddy is also depending on the air quality in your tank. Which makes it rude to fill your tank with this.

[@chrisphilhower6029]

Breathing Gas is classified Grade E

[@drywallman1986]

Do not do this. Not enough oxygen in the air for this.

[@brianredmond4919]

How so ?.

[@drywallman1986]

@@brianredmond4919 the compressors sometimes has little combustion in the cylinder depending on the oil maybe. I run royal purple full synthetic and probably still wouldn't try to breathe it. The oxygen levels are very low probably due to the small combustions. Scuba shops have big fancy compressors and tanks probably already filled they can cascade into your bottle.

[@drywallman1986]

@@brianredmond4919 I saw a review on KZbin where the guy sent off the air to get tested and oxygen levels were just too low.

[@en2oh]

@@drywallman1986 what you’re saying makes no scientific or medical sense. The oxygen level is absolutely the same going into and out of this compressor. The risk with oil based “air’ compressors in terms of breathing is lipoid pneumonia… the diester oil addresses this point. The danger really is if someone tries to compress enriched air I.e. higher concentration oxygen. That’s when unrated oils, combined with pressure results in a possible explosion.

[@en2oh]

@@drywallman1986 depending on what he sent the sample container had in it before adding the gas under test and the elevation where the sample was collected can affect the results. There may be oxidation in this system, but there is no ‘mini combustion’ going on! 👌🏿😉