LP95 worth it?

[jfw432]

So I made a mistake yesterday. I drove an hour to pick up a Faber HP80 steel tank for my wife. She's small and I've been trying to get tanks that match her size. I knew the tank was out of hydro/vip but the price was right so it was worth it to me. When I got there, the tank was very obviously not an HP80 since it was an 8" diameter. To me it looked like an HP117 and I thought I saw 3AA3400 but there was a lot of paint on the markings. I thought about what was in front me and decided a 117 might be a good tank for me with nitrox so I bought it anyway. My wife has a SAC rate roughly 70% of mine so dirty math made me think a 117 for me was going to match well with her 80.

When I got the tank home, I noticed that "3400" was actually 2400 and I realized it's an LP95. So now I'm torn.... I won't be getting any "cave fills" from my local dive shop so best I can hope for is +10% which they may not even do that. The FL springs I've gotten fills from always do a hot fill so I typically get less than full. My shop will spend a little extra time getting my steel HP80 to 3400ish and my aluminum tanks to 3000 if they aren't busy but that's about it.

It'll cost me a total of about $250-ish to hydro, vip, service the valve, and fill it with nitrox. For the price, I feel like it'd cost the same to buy a new AL80 tank while a new HP100 would be closer to $400 new after taxes. Used HP100's pop up from time to time but they are usually around $300-$340 used. The LP95 itself definitely weighs more but the total rig weight is probably only 2-4lbs more for an extra 17% more air (factoring in the 500psi surface pressure).

So I figure my options are:
1. Spend a little more money to hydro the tank and try it out for a bit and see if the extra air is worth the extra weight. If I hate it, then resell it.
2. Sell it now and don't even bother trying it. Stick with AL80's and just get more tanks if I need more air.
3. Sell it now and hold out for HP100's in the future.

 

[lostsheep]

For single tank diving I really liked lp95s, I found them similar to my PST HP100s (just slightly less buoyant.) For anything else I couldn't stand them. I dive cold water in a drysuit fwiw. I say give it a shot and sell if it doesn't work for you. YMMV

 

[Johnoly]

...the tank was out of hydro/vip

Seriously, I won't do any of the steps you listed yet.
Drain & Pull the valve and look inside with a light for rust. Hopefully you won't get another 'surprise'

 

[jfw432]

For single tank diving I really liked lp95s, I found them similar to my PST HP100s (just slightly less buoyant.) For anything else I couldn't stand them. I dive cold water in a drysuit fwiw. I say give it a shot and sell if it doesn't work for you. YMMV

By anything else, are you talking about doubles or do you mean warm water diving too?

Seriously, I won't do any of the steps you listed yet.
Drain & Pull the valve and look inside with a light for rust. Hopefully you won't get another 'surprise'

In theory, I agree. However, that does force my hand to get it hydro tested since I can't fill it back up without it and I wouldn't want to leave the tank empty for any extended period of time.

 

[crofrog]

I agree with @lostsheep I really liked them for single tank. I think the hp80 are a bit over rated most of the people who are small enough to need hp80s are overweighted by the hp80. They’re -2lb negative empty

 

[lostsheep]

By anything else, are you talking about doubles or do you mean warm water diving too?



In theory, I agree. However, that does force my hand to get it hydro tested since I can't fill it back up without it and I wouldn't want to leave the tank empty for any extended period of time.

I knew I should have elaborated

I got a set of double LP95s for free so I gave them a shot. As doubles, I really couldn’t stand the 8” diameter cylinders. The extra volume when pumped up is great but the stubby length didn’t trim out as well for me (compared to LP85s) and the 8” diameter just sucks. I’ll deal with the diameter if no other choice but I’ve gone to a rebreather so I don’t really have to for the level of diving I get to do. After trying them as BM doubles, I split them and tried SMing them ; they work okay but again the diameter sucks.

For single tank diving , depending on your weighting needs, they are great. If I was on a boat with a compressor, I’d take them over my preferred hp100s because I’d get a really good fill (my boats aren’t shy).

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

$250 sounds pretty high for a hydro, valve service, VIP, and nitrox fill.
Hydro's here are $35, valve service I do my own (only if it needs it) the only thing you might want to do it change the burst disc $12 - $20 depending on where you buy it and very easy to install yourself. Nitrox would be probably $15 a fill if we could get it here.
Check the tank for rust first but also know that there might be a slight brown stain after hydro which is easily removed with a whip.
Some shops insist on a VIP as soon as it comes back from hydro, and some shops let it go for one year from the hydro date figuring the hydro automatically included a VIP. The cool ones let it slide, and the misinformed and or greedy ones make you pay for a VIP, fresh hydro or not.
I don't think you made a mistake.
Get it squared away and try it.

 

[TravisD]

Agreed with Eric - $250 for a cylinder service is a LOT unless it needs serious work. You can get a *pair* of new Thermo Pro valves from DGX for $70 (have a spare, or upgrade one of your other 3000psi bottles). I take my stuff directly to the local fire extinguisher place for $20 hydros.

Even if it has issues - I think a buddy had a tank tumbled/hydro/vip/filled for like $100 at the dive shop (that does hydro's in-house) recently. It would have to be a real basket case to not be worth putting it in service again (assuming your shop isn't ripping you off....) once it passes hydro.

If/when you do the hydro though, make sure they do the + rating -- if I'm reading TMassey's chart correctly, LP95s' are only 95(93?) cf at 2640, not 2400.

 

[jfw432]

The $250 was a total of $175 for the cylinder and another $75 for everything else. I was trying to dodge the comments regarding ($xxx is way too expensive or way too cheap for that tank). The shop here does hydro, vip, and fill in one lump sum. I've seen cheaper but I've also seen grossly more so I feel like this shop is average.

That is a bummer if the tank capacity is shown pressurized to the + rating. My understanding was that service pressure is 2400 just like a HP tank service pressure is 3442 giving both their size rating. Apparently Faber lists the LP tanks as their stated capacity of 95cf at 2640psi (service pressure + 10%). To me that means the LP95 is an 85.5cf tank at 2400psi. Meanwhile the HP80 lists the capacity of 81.7cf at 3442psi (service pressure and another 10% could be added giving almost 90cf if inflated to 3800psi). Hopefully I'm wrong here but that seems like what's going on.

 

[TravisD]

HP cylinders don't get + ratings. They are rated capacity at the rated 3442 pressure. The common wisdom seems to be that there's less margin for overfill on HP cylinders. That said, the fills I got in Florida (WPB, not Cave country) were a solid 3600 after cooling.

I suspect if you put that LP95 into service for $250 total you won't lose any money if you decide to rehome it. If the REE is stamped on the crown there shouldn't be any reason it can't be +'d.