Mimir Second-Responder Helium System Top-Off Instructions
20160721 V1.0 DPC

  1. Helium purge the manifold and hoses attached to the high-purity helium bottle:
      1. Close all 4 valves
        1. The valve at the helium bottle
        2. The valve on the exit end of the regulator
        3. The input valve to the manifold
        4. The exit lever-action valve on the manifold
      2. Open the main helium bottle valve
      3. Set the regulator, if necessary, to 250psi
      4. Open the regulator black knobbed exit valve
      5. Open the manifold black knobbed input valve
        1. The manifold pressure gauge should rise up to about 250 psi
      6. Close the regulator black exit valve – this isolates the helium supply from the gas in the manifold
      7. Slowly open the lever-action valve, while watching the manifold gauge
      8. Vent gas until the manifold gauge pressure is 30 psi and then quickly close the lever-action valve
      9. Open the regulator exit valve to flow gas back into the manifold to bring it back to 250 psi.
      10. This constitutes '1 cycle' of purging of the manifold.
      11. Repeat for 10 more cycles to flush contaminants out of the hoses and manifold prior to attaching to the helium compressor.


  1. Attach the small diameter helium line to the helium compressor
    1. A small adjustable wrench should be located within the clear parts box located on the wire shelf above and to the right of the compressor (next to the UPS).
    2. Remove the dust covers from the compressor fitting and the small helium hose from the manifold
    3. Be sure the lever-action manifold valve is closed (arm is perpendicular to the manifold)
    4. Be sure the black knob valve on the manifold is closed
    5. Be sure the black knob valve on the helium bottle is closed (but the main helium bottle valve should be open)
    6. Hand-tighten, then use the wrench to tighten the helium hose fitting to the compressor helium fill/vent line fitting (see Figure).



  1. Top-off helium gas charge
    1. Set, or maintain, helium gas cylinder regulator valve to deliver 250 psi
    2. Open the black valve on the manifold
    3. Slowly open the black valve on the helium regulator while watching the return pressure (left gauge) on the helium compressor.
    4. Allow helium gas to flow until the return pressure swings between 90-100 psi.
    5. If the pressure goes over 100 psi, close the black valve on the helium regulator and slowly partially open the lever value on the manifold to release excess helium gas. Do not let helium return pressure to fall below 25 psi.
    6. After setting the return pressure to 90-100 psi, close all manifold valves and close the black helium regulator valve.
    7. Loosen and disconnect the small helium gas line from the fill/vent port of the helium compressor.
    8. Close the main helium cylinder valve.
    9. Move the helium bottle, manifold, and bottle cart to the side of the shed (out of the way).
    10. Return the small adjustable wrench to the clear parts box and close the box cover.



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