1 year old Worthington tank has pitting/rust - is it normal?

[scuba_moron]

Hello,

My Worthington Steel HP100 has light pitting from rust. My shop recommends having it tumbled. The tank is slightly under a year old and has logged 40+ dives in 11 months. 90% of my dives are on dive boats.

Is this normal?

 

[Teamcasa]

Both of my HP tanks, with just a few more dives in the same time period had to be tumbled. Boat fill here seem to be a bit wet. I don't now if that's normal or not but it did happen to me as well.

 

[Beachlover]

Hello,

My Worthington Steel HP100 has light pitting from rust. My shop recommends having it tumbled. The tank is slightly under a year old and has logged 40+ dives in 11 months. 90% of my dives are on dive boats.

Is this normal?

I'm not an expert on this subject, but it seems that air fills from dive boats do seem to contain more moisture/water than from a land based compressor. I have had my steel 95 tumbled because of light rust once before, although it had several hundred dives on it at the time. I just had my second hydro done on it this past March and it passed no problem. I have also heard of others with similar stories to yours and they also did a lot of beach dives. Probably a good idea to get your tank cleaned and now you are aware of this possible problem.Good luck!

 

[scuba_moron]

Thanks for everyone's comments. I guess it's normal, and I not the only one experiencing this problem.

 

[Randy43068]

Both of my HP tanks, with just a few more dives in the same time period had to be tumbled. Boat fill here seem to be a bit wet. I don't now if that's normal or not but it did happen to me as well.

I hear that quite a bit about boat fills. Also, isn't there a big thread around here someplace on this subject?

 

[deepstops]

I hear that quite a bit about boat fills. Also, isn't there a big thread around here someplace on this subject?

Yes and IINM, it was started by DrBill from Catalina who gets lots of boat fills.
He started the same thread on TDS saying it was the tank's fault

 

[Web Monkey]

Thanks for everyone's comments. I guess it's normal, and I not the only one experiencing this problem.

Rust in the tank = moisture in the tank = bad.

If possible, you should get your fills somewhere that has clean, dry air. If it's a wet fill, there's no telling what else is in there.

Terry

 

[drbill]

Yes and IINM, it was started by DrBill from Catalina who gets lots of boat fills.
He started the same thread on TDS saying it was the tank's fault

The reason I blamed the tank (actually tanks, both PST HP120's) is that although one was filled almost exclusively on the dive boat, the other one was filled exclusively on land. Can't blame the first failure on wet boat fills as it was dry filled at land-based facilities.

 

[zen_man]

This is pretty interesting. I purchased two Worthington HP 80s, and just after 3 dives, they had flash rust inside. The three dives were shore and it was brought to my attention when the dip tube fell off and I had a shop put it back on.

I brought this up to the LDS and he said that it was normal for steel tanks. He inspected them himself and said that there was a little flash rust spots and that is going to happen with a steel tank. I do trust him, but for any kind of flash rust to be in the tank after three dives just doesn't make sense to me. The tank were never below 500 psi and the end of the dives.

I still just don't quite buy it.

:zen:

 

[Peter_C]

Often the moisture is from the fill whip (Dropped in water tank), or just around the tank valve, and gets forced in as they fill. My 1 year old HP100's had some surface rust inside and a DIY brush on a drill took care of it. Last time they were vis'ed they still looked good.