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Pure argon is the best suit inflation gas for all reasons. This is the slowest moving molecule of the inerts and thus transmits heat the worst, meaning you get the least loss of body heat. It works best with thinsulate insulation, and actually increases the effectiveness of the thinsulate by 50%. Any other gas in with argon kills this advantage. At WKPP we flush our suits with argon a few times before diving, and run only pure argon. In fact, having done so many long dives myself and knowing the permutations and combinations of not having the right stuff, I do not ALLOW anyone to use any other gas in their suit, and obviously not CO2 . One of our engineers does thermal for Navy, and they tested these items in an ice tank with body probes to find the best solution. The only thing that beat thinsulate ( 400 gram, anything larger was too restrictive for diving freely ) with argon was electrifying the insulation as well, but the problem there was US regulation as to the voltage across the heart, not an issue for tech divers who are in good shape. This discussion falls under the category of doing it right or not at all. On top of that, argon is not all that expensive anyway. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Steve" <s_lindblom@co*.co*> To: <techdiver@aquanaut.com> Sent: Thursday, April 26, 2001 6:56 PM Subject: CO2/Argon mixes for Suit inflation? > Got wondering what the current thinking is on using CO2/argon mixes, aka > C25 and steelmix, for suit inflation. > > I use it ocassionaly, mainly because a some of the people I dive with have > free sources of the stuff and hence tend to always have some on hand, and > have never had any problems, but (in theory at least) the CO2 combines with > the moisture to become carbonic acid or something, and this could irritate > skin damage the suit over time. > > > -- > Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. > Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'. > -- Send mail for the `techdiver' mailing list to `techdiver@aquanaut.com'. Send subscribe/unsubscribe requests to `techdiver-request@aquanaut.com'.
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