Oxygen concentrators

Oxygen is non-flammable.

Then why did the provider of my spouse's oxygen give us a poster to put on our door that reads "Caution...Oxygen in use....No sparks, open flames, smoking", etc.?

Is non-flammable different than being fuel for a fire?

Qxygen is HIGHLY FLAMMABLE
It is what makes everything else burn.
Nothing burns without oxygen
A friend of mine burned his face while using oxygen

fj12ryder wrote:
Oxygen is non-flammable.

It is, but oxygen can accelerate a fire like a pilot light, cigarette, fireplace, etc.

Extra ventilation is recommended to prevent such an occurance.

Just try to make a OXY- acetylene torch burn on just Oxy alone. Can't happen.. Now, if you had a propane rich atmosphere in your coach and ALSO had an abundance of oxygen then you could get a big BOOM if you had ignition.

MrWizard wrote:
Qxygen is HIGHLY FLAMMABLE

Oxygen is not a flammable gas. It will not burn.

Only need the things for a fire. Oxygen, heat, combustible material.

if it's not flammable, then what killed the astronauts on the launch pad?? Seems to me they blamed it on an O/2 rich environment.

Since burning is oxidizing (that is, something reacting with oxygen), it does follow that oxygen is noninflamable (that is to say, not flammable). However, an environment with high oxygen concentrations is much more of a fire hazard because it makes everything else burn more easily.

I don't really see how a medical oxygen concentrator would cause a build-up of oxygen in an RV, though; if it's getting its input air from the RV, and the output is going back into the RV after being breathed, there's no way for the net oxygen in the vehicle to be greatly changed. Obviously one needs to have adequate ventilation to provide sufficient fresh air (and remove stale air and excess CO2), but that's true regardless.

If your oxygen concentrator is working correctly it will pull oxygen from the air AND STORE IT. The only time oxygen will be dispensed from the concentrator is when the PATIENT inhales. Oxygen should not flow except when the patient inhales. The patient breathes in the Oxygen and exhales a normal breathe. The concentration of oxygen from the patients exhaled breathe will be no greater than a person breathing unassisted.
Oxygen is nonflammable it is however an accelerant in that an oxygen enriched environment will support combustion better than a normal atmosphere. This enriched oxygen environment is what made the fire so bad on the space capsule.

I doubt if your pilot lights in the rig will cause any harm as there should be no build up of oxygen in the rig IF THE CONCENTRATOR IS FUNCTIONING NORMALLY. There is NO CONTINUOUS release of oxygen from a concentrator.