I've used the canisters from Fair Radio a couple of times. Even though
dented, I was able to make them work. Make sure you get an inflation tube as
the fitting on the canister is non-standard. With one canister I could fill
a 4 ft. balloon.

The canisters do get hot and the residual calcium hydroxide scatters in the
water. Not exactly something you'd want to do in a nice pond. I would
recommend making a simple metal reservoir with a couple gallons of water
that you can dump the hydride into. The reservoir could be immersed in pond
water to keep the temperature low(er) but would contain the chemicals for
disposal later. I did this with an old barbeque grill size propane cylinder.

Steve Hansen


----- Original Message -----
From: Erich Kern 
To: Mike 
Cc: PSN-L Mailing List 
Sent: Saturday, June 16, 2001 12:21 PM
Subject: Fair Radio Sales Company Inc (http://www.fairradio.com/)


> Here's the URL for Fair Radio Sales. In their current catalog on page 11,
are the
> canisters of calcium hydride used to generate H2 for balloons. The
description says
> they're used to inflate 4 foot balloons for the Gibson Girl rescue radio.
They don't
> say whether just 1 canister will do the job, but it does mention that the
canisters
> are dented, suitable only for recovery of the calcium hydride contained
within.
> Unused, 2 for $15. plus $3. for an "inflation tube" plus S&H. Looks like
it'd be worth
> trying before you go on your trip.
>
> http://www.fairradio.com/
>
> Regards,
> Erich Kern


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