advice on new doubles

[ams511]

I am not a cave diver but would like to post a question. How do these high pressure fills (3500 PSI and up) affect your first stages? Do you rebuild them more often?

 

[wedivebc]

These are much lighter and will last way longer than even the 130s

 

[Arcaporale]

I don't want to sound like a party pooper here , but there's a reason that these tanks have fill pressure limits.

your LP's can get a 10% overfill if they are + tanks. Please DO NOT take LP's to pressures higher than 3K. 3500 psi is really strapping a bomb to your back.

Now I'm sure that you'll get the " I do it all the time... " speech from other divers, and that's fine. just remember that it's your @ss on the line when you put them on. Let alone if they get hot from Car/truck/sun/trunk etc...

you have a few options, Go with the 100's. they are light and offer plenty of air. Remember to gas match to your team, and have fun .

Your other option is to do what I did. I got tired of carrying double 130's around, so I bought a DIVE RITE NOMAD. Now I sidemount everywhere, even open water. Plus I can bring my tanks to the water on a little dolly, yeah I know I'm a puss . But it works really well, specially at peacock or ginnie.

Good diving.

Cheers

Mike

LP tanks marketed by scubapro which are rated to 2400 psi in North America can be found in europe of the same construction except for the valve threads. These are rated to 4000psi or 275 bar in europe. The DOT restrictions on tank pressures are very conservative in the United States for reasons beyond me. If you look at industrial gas tanks for welding ect. they are usually rated to 4000 to 5000 psi and are made with the same steel and almost the same wall thickness as scuba tanks. Also the wall thickness in LP and HP tanks are also very similar. So overfilling LP tanks to 3000-3500 may not be legal, but I wouldn't compare it strapping a bomb to your back. I've filled my 72's rated to 2250 to 3000 probably 100 times and they are about 40 years old, and I'm still here.

PS: I'm may be wrong but I've never heard of steel tanks that are valid VIP and Hydro exploding because of an overfill.

 

[PerroneFord]

These are much lighter and will last way longer than even the 130s

Yea, but that $8500 entry price is tough first step dude!

 

[H2Andy]

your LP's can get a 10% overfill if they are + tanks. Please DO NOT take LP's to pressures higher than 3K. 3500 psi is really strapping a bomb to your back.

hmmm.... with double burst disks, it really isn't that big a deal

the biggest risk is that a single burst disk will go, and those are rated to 4,000 psi, (i believe), which is why cave shops don't fill above that.

 

[Daedalus]

Maybe consider switching to sidemount?

 

[Kirkandtiger]

I am not a cave diver but would like to post a question. How do these high pressure fills (3500 PSI and up) affect your first stages? Do you rebuild them more often?

Yes, high pressure fills are hard on regs. I have my regs serviced when they need it. A small price to pay for lots of gas. Note, however, I don't service my regs on a schedule. I service them when they stop behaving like they should. I also don't change the head gasket on my car with every oil change. If it it working well, I don't want someone messing with my stuff. - Kirk

 

[jeandiver]

Hmmmmm....Gee !!!
Look who just bought a new Nomad...
Andy , sidemounting would be a GREAT alternative for you in the future. Like we talked on Sunday , you can haul the tanks down to the water with a dolly and they could be LP 95's etc ... (or whatever else you want to use).

For myself , I am definately staying with Open Circuit gear...I know rebreaters are great etc ... but having to carry enough bail-out gas as my deepest penetration...
Well , er , uh ...
I think I'll stick with Backmount and Sidemount.
But that's for another thread...

Jeano Beano

P.S. And your NOT AN AIR-HOG !!!! Gads ...

 

[Rich Courtney]

right now i have two Worthington LP85's. having nothing to compare them to, i like them very much.

the only problem is that i am a bit of an air hog and would like a bit more gas on my back.

the only other problem is that i have a bad back and shoulder (broke L1 vertebrae in 2004), so weight is an issue, not just in the water, but handling the tanks on dry land.

so .. i would like to move up to at least 100 cf but keep the weight around 35 to 40 lbs maximum ... the lighter the better. weight is my determining factor.

any suggestions for what tanks may work for me? i've been looking around, but would appreciate feedback.

thanks in advance

The Worthington LP85's are not the lightest of tanks, my Faber LP85's are considerably lighter.

Next time you're coming down to cave country, shoot me an email and I'll let you try out a set of my Faber 108's, which quite a bit lighter than the E-130's. You might be suprised.....

Safe diving,

Rich

 

[divad]

hmmm.... with double burst disks, it really isn't that big a deal

the biggest risk is that a single burst disk will go, and those are rated to 4,000 psi, (i believe), which is why cave shops don't fill above that.

Why don't you just change the burst discs to 5,000 psi ?