Oxygen Tanks or Oxygen Concentrator?

[toto]

11 minutes ago, rbp said:

holy crap, the Inogen G4 is $2,651 new!  that's a lot of fills 

 

https://www.inogen.com/product/g4-system/

 

The G5 is the current model. I’m not sure what happened to the “Aviator” line though. They used to sell a model that was specifically targeted at aviation (no idea whether there was an actual functional difference, but the Aviator came standard with a cigarette lighter plug). 

https://www.inogen.com/product/g5-system/

ETA: Also, fwiw Aviation Consumer had a nice review of concentrators with nice things to say about the Inogen Aviator product

https://www.aviationconsumer.com/industry-news/editorial/o2-concentrators-inogen-aviator-is-tops/

[carusoam]

Fortunately…

There are a lot of inogen devices on the used market…

Unfortunately, their original owners aren’t able to use them very long…. (Lung cancer is a drag…)

Best regards,

-a-

[toto]

6 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Fortunately…

There are a lot of inogen devices on the used market…

Unfortunately, their original owners aren’t able to use them very long…. (Lung cancer is a drag…)

Best regards,

-a-

 

Any idea whether the aviation and non-aviation Inogen devices are functionally identical?

I’ve been watching eBay for a while and haven’t seen an Inogen Aviator show up — but those devices are obviously more likely to be used for years than the standard devices in the lung cancer patient scenario. 

[carusoam]

47 minutes ago, toto said:

 

Any idea whether the aviation and non-aviation Inogen devices are functionally identical?

I’ve been watching eBay for a while and haven’t seen an Inogen Aviator show up — but those devices are obviously more likely to be used for years than the standard devices in the lung cancer patient scenario. 

The aviation one has different options for use in our cabins…

If it grows into a more usable device for us… the internal hardware will be bigger and more powerful…

Check the Inogen website for details… it’s been a while since I looked…

 

Best regards,

-a-

[toto]

2 minutes ago, carusoam said:

Check the Inogen website for details… it’s been a while since I looked…

I posted the current links above

If the devices are identical aside from the accessories, then I’d be happy to buy a used one and then just add the extra bits. But I know that Inogen only mentioned testing the Aviator unit at altitude (and published specs showing flow for one or two users at various altitudes up to 18k). 

I strongly suspect that an Inogen G5 is the same device whether it says “Aviator” on it or not, but I dunno. 

[carusoam]

Essentially,

It can be used for aviators…

But, it hasn’t been adapted in any way for where aviators fly….

Or how many people would use it at one time…

 

Their portable device for the ground bound, doesn’t usually get shared between spouses….

If they had a device for larger humans living around Denver… that would be of interest….

Best regards,

-a-

[A64Pilot]

On 3/13/2022 at 12:17 AM, toto said:

 

Any idea whether the aviation and non-aviation Inogen devices are functionally identical?

Try calling them and maybe you’ll get lucky and someone will know, if you just ask if they are the same you’ll get no, the aviation one is for aviation. If you ask what’s the difference, you might get a real answer, maybe?

I don’t think size and weight tell the tale, the O2 concentrator my Mother had was the size of a foot locker and weighed maybe 50 lbs? That was 25 years ago, the one my Father in law has now is maybe half that size and weight, suitcase sized and 25 lbs or so?

Then these Inogen things are apparently tiny, yet do the same as the suitcase sized one.

Edited March 15, 2022 by A64Pilot

[LANCECASPER]

On 3/12/2022 at 11:17 PM, toto said:

 

Any idea whether the aviation and non-aviation Inogen devices are functionally identical?

Yes they are

[JohnB]

On 3/12/2022 at 9:49 AM, rbp said:

holy crap, the Inogen G4 is $2,651 new!  that's a lot of fills 

 

https://www.inogen.com/product/g4-system/

That is pricey,  but might make sense for me as no one on my field does oxygen anymore, I could buy the filler tanks, maybe keep them in my shared hangar (another problem) , fly to a nearby airport to get filled (+ 1hr av gas), might be cheaper to fill my onboard oxygen tanks maybe once a year, and use this gadget for my usual flights less than 18k. 

[elimansour]

Has anyone tried https://varoninc.com/products/varon-nt-01?variant=41210516668605

it seems to have similar specs to the Inogen but is a fraction of the price.

[rbp]

seems worth a try, with an oximeter

[EricJ]

10 hours ago, elimansour said:

Has anyone tried https://varoninc.com/products/varon-nt-01?variant=41210516668605

it seems to have similar specs to the Inogen but is a fraction of the price.

That looks promising.   I tried to purchase it off their site using the "NEW10" discount code on their front page.   It said the final price was $494.10 and shipping was free.

But it wouldn't let me pay.   It offered Paypal as the only possible source to pay, and then it didn't accept my Paypal payment, twice.

So, fail.

[aviatoreb]

Seems like it would be fun to try - so how do we know it can deliver enough oxygen, at altitude?  Without the engineering charts, whatever those might be, I guess the only way to know would be to buy it and try it at altitude with the oximeter.  Can it be returned if its not up to snuff?

At altitude is a tough environment - more O2 is needed to be deliver, but the air is thinner and the device is trying to draw more O2 from thinner air, and the air is thinner so the heat dissipation of the motors and batteries is not as good.  So...I wonder if it can do the job, and if yes, up to what altitude?

[elimansour]

4 hours ago, EricJ said:

That looks promising.   I tried to purchase it off their site using the "NEW10" discount code on their front page.   It said the final price was $494.10 and shipping was free.

But it wouldn't let me pay.   It offered Paypal as the only possible source to pay, and then it didn't accept my Paypal payment, twice.

So, fail.

I found it for sale on Amazon but it's a little more.  Amazon Link  I'll try the direct website to see if it will accept my payment and if not I think I'll go for Amazon!

[elimansour]

42 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

Seems like it would be fun to try - so how do we know it can deliver enough oxygen, at altitude?  Without the engineering charts, whatever those might be, I guess the only way to know would be to buy it and try it at altitude with the oximeter.  Can it be returned if its not up to snuff?

At altitude is a tough environment - more O2 is needed to be deliver, but the air is thinner and the device is trying to draw more O2 from thinner air, and the air is thinner so the heat dissipation of the motors and batteries is not as good.  So...I wonder if it can do the job, and if yes, up to what altitude?

I looked at the manual of the Inogen One and the Varon device and I noticed one key difference.  The Inogen operating environment is states as sea level to 10,000 feet while the Varon device states that its operating environment is sea level to 5,000 feet.  This may mean that while it may work above 5,000 the heat dissipation etc. may cause it to fail.  This may be a deal breaker but the price is so much lower...ARGH

[LANCECASPER]

1 hour ago, elimansour said:

I looked at the manual of the Inogen One and the Varon device and I noticed one key difference.  The Inogen operating environment is states as sea level to 10,000 feet while the Varon device states that its operating environment is sea level to 5,000 feet.  This may mean that while it may work above 5,000 the heat dissipation etc. may cause it to fail.  This may be a deal breaker but the price is so much lower...ARGH

I bought a used Inogen G4 with 7 hours on it on Craigslist for $750. A lot of these are sold to people in end-of-life situations and don't have many hours on them when they are sold.

[aviatoreb]

52 minutes ago, LANCECASPER said:

I bought a used Inogen G4 with 7 hours on it on Craigslist for $750. A lot of these are sold to people in end-of-life situation sand don't have many hours on them when they are sold.

Good pro tip.  Thanks

[aviatoreb]

55 minutes ago, elimansour said:

I looked at the manual of the Inogen One and the Varon device and I noticed one key difference.  The Inogen operating environment is states as sea level to 10,000 feet while the Varon device states that its operating environment is sea level to 5,000 feet.  This may mean that while it may work above 5,000 the heat dissipation etc. may cause it to fail.  This may be a deal breaker but the price is so much lower...ARGH

Interesting!

has anyone use the Inogen higher?  Like 15k? 18k?

[smwash02]

47 minutes ago, aviatoreb said:

Interesting!

has anyone use the Inogen higher?  Like 15k? 18k?

@LANCECASPER says his G4 is good to 15K.

When I went down this rabbit hole the last time, it didn't seem the G5 offered much more and might be a lesser model for our needs than the G4. Both list 10k as their altitudes (as do most). Other models I considered were the AirSep FreeStyle 5 that lists its as 12k and the SeQual Eclipse 5 at 13.123k.

I wonder how their rated altitudes stack up to real world use. 18k would be nice to be able to hit.

[toto]

Inogen said that their G5 Aviator had been tested to 18k.

https://mooneyspace.com/topic/39772-oxygen-concentrators/?do=findComment&comment=688153

 

[carusoam]

You might also find these things in the rental market….

As in the end of life care industry has stuff you can rent…

Anyone who has had the mis-fortune of having lung cancer may have used one for a short period of time, while still mobile…

Lots of lightly used, home use, O2 equipment becomes available this way…

 

Might be an interesting thing to rent, before committing to it…

 

Lots of variables, in an important system, for primary use, at altitude….  

 

PP thoughts only, only ran out of O2 delivery once…

Best regards,

-a-

[smwash02]

4 hours ago, toto said:

Inogen said that their G5 Aviator had been tested to 18k.

https://mooneyspace.com/topic/39772-oxygen-concentrators/?do=findComment&comment=688153

 

As best I can tell, Inogen never claimed this. The "G5 Aviator" is a creation of Windblade (source)

I suspect there was a cease and desist because their site now says "Windblade Aviator™ Oxygen Concentrator Interface Kit for products such as the Inogen G5" and "Windblade has shifted its focus to providing the essential aviation Interface kit for the G5 oxygen concentrator (i.e., Windblade no longer sells the Inogen products directly). "

I'd be curious if they'd disclose performance of the G4 vs G5 with a purchase. Cheaper than buying both and doing independent research

Edited March 17, 2022 by smwash02

[toto]

6 hours ago, smwash02 said:

As best I can tell, Inogen never claimed this. The "G5 Aviator" is a creation of Windblade (source)

I suspect there was a cease and desist because their site now says "Windblade Aviator™ Oxygen Concentrator Interface Kit for products such as the Inogen G5" and "Windblade has shifted its focus to providing the essential aviation Interface kit for the G5 oxygen concentrator (i.e., Windblade no longer sells the Inogen products directly). "

I'd be curious if they'd disclose performance of the G4 vs G5 with a purchase. Cheaper than buying both and doing independent research

The PR says that Windblade is an exclusive distributor of a product called the Inogen Aviator. Are you saying that there never was a product called the Inogen Aviator, and this was just a name slapped on the regular Inogen box by the distributor?

[toto]

The Aviation Consumer article makes it sound like Inogen has a pretty direct relationship with aviation. Inogen is quoted in the article as saying that the G2 was good to 18k for one user or 14k for two users - and that was three generations ago. 

Windblade is still listed on the Inogen site as the distributor for private aviation, and from the AC article it sounds like they were very involved in development and testing.

https://www.aviationconsumer.com/industry-news/editorial/o2-concentrators-inogen-aviator-is-tops/

https://provider.inogen.com/en/contact/distributors

[1980Mooney]

The Inogen G5 is the same as the OxyGo Next. The only difference between the Aviator and home models is the visual flow indicator (2) (see below) and Y splitter for 2 users (you can rig for one or two users) . I bought a slightly used OxyGo Next locally for a few hundred dollars.  It comes with a car charger (12 v lighter plug) which works great since my plane is 12 v. The hoses and connectors are standard home oxygen supply - you just need to figure out what you need. 
 

I recently bought it and have only used it once below 10,000.  So far it works great and O2 levels 99%