Mountain High for Built-In Oxygen System

[Wilfried]

Last week I bought the Mountain High (O2D2) kit for the built in Oxygen System in my DA42. It comes with a regulator valve that is placed between the outlet in the cabin and the pulse demand system.

http://www.mhoxygen.com/index.php/porta ... WithSTRReg

This week I flew two 4h legs with the new equipment and I really liked the advantages:

. oxygen consumption is remarkably less. The indication barely moved after 8h of flight ( I was flying alone)
. due to bad weather I was flying at FL180. With the constant flow system I regularly suffered from headache after flying in these altitudes
. I like the indication lights at the device that is clearly indicating if everything is working properly (I had a hypoxia experince with the inbuilt system, because I did not notice that it was not working while I was flying at a high altitude...)

So all in all I think it is worth the investment
(I do not get any payments for this recommendation...)

[dgger]

I can absolutly second this. All of it. At times I felt lightheaded at FL160 or higher when flying with the builtin oxygen system.

The O2D2 fixed the issue for me while dramatically reducing the oxygen flow. IIRC we went from a not quite full tank to a not quite empty tank flying about 35h around FL160 with two crew. Love it!

(And yes, just oxygen and no money flowing here)

[CFIDave]

I have the same setup as you guys: built-in O2 system in the DA42, adapted to the Mountain High O2D2 via a regulator/adapter that sits between one of the plane's outlets and the MH "black box."

2 years ago my grown daughter and I flew at 16,000 feet westbound from the US east coast to California, and 17,000 all the way back. We used less than half the O2 tank.

My favorite feature of the MH system (compared to the standard cannulas that came with the plane) is that it's automatically altitude compensating. As you climb or descend the O2D2 automatically adjusts the "bolus" of air that it delivers based on altitude -- no need for multiple manual flow adjustments. And we bought the MH "headset boom" cannulas that attach to a pivoting mount attached to your headset. These cannulas easily swing out of the way instead of making you remove your headset to remove or put on cannulas looped over your ears.

[Colin]

Dave, do you feel like the booms were worth it? I've struggled with the decision to buy one or not.

I love O2. The rest of the family dislikes the hassle. I forget immediately that I have it on. I have a Mountain High system and try to tell people how much better it is.

I do wish that the last upgrade to their box had included a little LCD display with a log of errors. Occasionally at altitude it will beep with an error, but it is hard to tell if it is the three beeps, four, or something spurious.

[CFIDave]

If you use O2 a lot, I think the booms are worth it. Definitely makes O2 use easier for passengers/family members.

[Chris B]

If you use O2 a lot, I think the booms are worth it. Definitely makes O2 use easier for passengers/family members.

FWIW, I tried using a boom for ~18 months, and really wanted it to work. Although using O2 relatively often (~20%?), I recently went back to the standard cannula.

IME, the boom is certainly more convenient in-flight, but trade-offs include:

• The hose is always connected to the headset (flip side of convenience), creating an extra object to route when getting in or out of the airplane. At ~20% usage, this became a PITA.
• Alternatively, you could only attach the boom when planning to use O2. But it takes surprising force to attach or remove the boom, and it is very easy to drop the tiny nut on the ball clamp if you loosen it too much.
• Not 100% reliable pulse-demand. Even after much effort (including tweaking by the MH staff at AirVenture) the O2 burst would miss ~5-10% of the time. This is really annoying, while the standard cannula never "misses." I found myself frequently holding the boom tip against my nose to ensure a great seal.
• Any cannula is difficult to clean. Standard cannulas are cheap enough to be semi-disposable. IMO the boom cannula is not.

Chris

[janders]

What connector type did you end up getting for the DA62. I've been looking in the AFM and the word "oxygen" only shows up 9 times none of which specify the type of connectors required to use the oxygen system.

I see the following on the MH site https://www.mhoxygen.com/product/o2d2-x-str/, but am not sure which one to order.

EDS-O2D2-2G Kits to work with Factory Built-in Oxygen Systems,
using our Stabilizing In-line Regulators.

Many factory built-in systems operate with regulated pressures that are not compatible (too high) with Mountain Highs EDS-Pulse Demand™ Systems. Our system requires approximately 20psi of regulated pressure.
The Mountain High In-line Stabilizing Regulator allows you to operate Our EDS units from an oxygen source with pressures up to 150psi, such as in an aircraft with a built-in oxygen system.
The EDS Pulse Demand™ systems can be ordered with the most common OEM-type connectors for direct “Plug-n-Fly” operations.
The Stabilizing Regulators with BNC Oxygen connectors work with almost any type of built-in aircraft oxygen systems.

BNC-SCOTT
BNC-SC01-100 connector fits most Beechcraft, Mooney and Piper with built-in oxygen systems.

BNC-PB-566
Fits most Cessna single engine prior to 1980.
Fits most Cessna twin engine prior to 1970.

BNC-PB-750
Fits most late model Cessna singles 1980 on.
Fits most late model Cessna twins 1970 on.
Also fits Piper Matrix.

MH-CPC
Fits most Cirrus, Cessna and Columbia models.

[CFIDave]

What connector type did you end up getting for the DA62. I've been looking in the AFM and the word "oxygen" only shows up 9 times none of which specify the type of connectors required to use the oxygen system.

I see the following on the MH site https://www.mhoxygen.com/product/o2d2-x-str/, but am not sure which one to order.

You want the BNC 750 connector for the DA62/DA42 built-in O2 outlets.

[VickersPilot]

Cirrus Pilots have found a very nice way to integrate the O2D2 into their center console. It involves running an oxygen line down the B-pillar and under the floor into the glove box where the O2D2 connects. It means the Bose cable and oxygen boom cable terminate at the same location in the glove box which REALLY simplifies the cable/tube management.

Jim Barker sells a very nice "wrap" that wraps around the headset lead and oxygen tube to make it a single "cable":
https://aviationvibes.com/shop/headset-cord-cover/

Is there any way to replicate this solution on Diamond twins?

[ultraturtle]

What connector type did you end up getting for the DA62.

You don’t actually need a connector. Simply cut one of the Diamond supplied cannula connectors to a convenient length - it fits into the O2D2 perfectly.