I finally got a prescription for O2, WooHoo!  Thankfully I don't have any need for it at the moment.

I got in touch with the local home medical supply place and found that my co-pay just to rent the equipment would be about $45/month even though I have no need for it currently.  Since I'm on a rather tight budget, I cannot afford to have it lying around for the next 8 months until I go into cycle again.  So I started trolling eBay and got a tank for $10 :)

The guy selling it also had an 'invacare Homefill II' machine for sale.  So I bought that thinking that I would be able to fill my tank at home.  Unfortunately it turns out that it is only the compressor portion of the system.  I need to get a compatible concentrator to feed the compressor.  I was able to find one of those locally on craigslist.  Since the O2 will come from the concentrator, I doubt I can get any higher than 95% pure oxygen.  But I should have no problem getting the flow rate that I need as long as I get the proper regulator for the tank.

Does anyone have any experience with this set up?  I've already got $300 into the compressor and the concentrator is another $300.  Then I'll need an adapter for the tank which is $200 more.  If it will work in the long run then I can blow my tax return on it.  If the 95% O2 level will not work, then...anyone want to buy an oxygen compressor ;)

Thanks in advance for any tips you may have,

~Jake

Send the whole shitaree back and do it right.  Get an H tank at welders supply a regulator and an Opti-mask.

       Potter

I've read all the oxygen info and I've perused many of the threads here in the past.  I fully believe that a welding tank and O2 from a welding supply place is every bit as good as medical O2 but I still get criticism from colleagues about that.  They say that the O2 filled at a welding supply company is not as 'clean' as medical O2.  Is there any truth to that or are these people talking purely from their asses?

I was under the impression that 100% oxygen was just that...there should be no impurities to clean out if indeed it is 100% pure.

Believe it or not, "clean" O2 is actually more important to welding than it is to humans.

Can't have bridges falling down because of $hitty welds.

Excellent info Marc!  Thanks!

Anyone want to buy an Invacare Homefill II oxygen compressor?

:-/

Hi,

I have an old tank of o2 but the gas in the tank has not been used for 5 years. Any idea if it's safe to use it now?

Not a clue.  I don't see how it would degrade over time, unless there was a leak in the tank/valve.  Or if there may have been some moisture in the tank causing corrosion on the inside if that's even possible...

I am completely inexperienced with this though, so don't take my word for it.

Plakatboy wrote on Mar 21^st, 2012 at 7:36am:

Hi, I have an old tank of o2 but the gas in the tank has not been used for 5 years. Any idea if it's safe to use it now?

I have used gas from a welders bottle that was more than 3 years old without a problem, a simple thing to do is sniff the gas & if it smells off then it probably is.

Cheers
Barry