Ali Tanks

[diver30]

Hello guys i was wandering if ali tanks are no good as i have one and people say they aint worth having please help.

 

[Scubaroo]

Assuming you're diving in the UK, where you would be wearing a heavy (buoyant) wetsuit, or a drysuit, a low pressure steel tank would be a better option than an aluminium tank for you, as the steel tanks are more negatively buoyant in the water, meaning you can reduce the amount of lead on your weightbelt. A high pressure steel tank may have different buoyancy characteristics I'm not aware of (never used one), but you can generally find out the buoyancy of a particular tank by doing a search on the web. Here's an example of a tank chart, there are more comprehensive ones out there, that will give you both full an empty buoyancy characteristics of a tank. Be sure to compare a few and see if they make sense, there is a lot of erroneous data out there on this subject.

Point in case is the Pressed Steel 104's characteristics given in that particular table, which shows a buoyancy shift of only 2.8lb from full to empty for a 104cf tank! 104cf of air weighs approx 7 or 8lb (someone's bound to jump on me and give the exact amount).

 

[Scubaroo]

On the subject of being jumped on, no need to correct me anyone for the usage of the word "aluminium" over "aluminum" when speaking to a Brit.

 

[diver30]

cheers m8