anybody use the XS HP (3442) galvanized steel tanks?

[PaulChristenson]

Every time I get a pair of tanks of different height I simply cut off the top of the taller tank to make sure they are perfectly aligned. Once I didn’t realize I was pairing a 130 and an 80:no . Needless to say I cut the entire mid section out of the 130 and had to weld it back together.

:wave-smil

 

[GeorgeC]

I hope you're kidding.

Yeah I hate it when I have to cut the neck and only leave one or two threads for my valve to thread into!

If you have to ask you must think the people on this board are crazy! Of course I am kidding.

 

[piikki]

No other ideas except make the people you are ordering from understand that they are for doubles and if possible, get this in writing so that if they dont match, it's on the store/shipper to make it right.

Good luck with that. I was just told that it is ACCEPTABLE to pair up different sizes (and it does not help that I disagree).

Every time I walk past my two Worthington HP100s, I grunt to myself. I have always bought tanks in twos – you know, just in case the move to doubles is around the corner. My 4 LPs are nicely matched but these two… just like for some of you, there is a glaring naked eye difference. The most annoying issue is that the neck length is the place where the difference is HUGE and thus the shoulder of the tank looks way lower on the other tank.

And what pisses me off, is that when I bought the tanks, I was very careful to match them from shop’s stock… and then this happened when one tank got replaced (nearly brand new). I requested a match (batch), and got this mutant. The excuse was that “you have not bought them as doubles”. Get out!

I wanted to go all LP but two buyers have already said “no thank you” because they see the obvious size discrepancy. (And no, I don’t want to just sell one at a time, risking not selling the other for ages.)

 

[Hoosier]

It must be very bothering factor, +/- 0.25” difference. I am not sure what “Acceptable” means though. Theoretically, we can get tanks in a half inch difference, MAX. Is it in an acceptable range?

I just doubled up another pair over the weekend. As I post, I got four tanks (130 CF) from the same shop at the same time. I believe that the tanks were directly from the Sea Pearls in Minneapolis. The serial numbers on the tanks aren’t consecutive, but relatively close numbers each other. The heights weren’t exactly same, but not a half inch difference.

I completed all double up process on the table, even a mounting the band on the table. The band screws were firmly tightened. So, theoretically, the tanks shouldn’t be vertically moved. The tanks were filled up to 3500 psi and there was no leaking point.

So, here is my question:

Can’t the firmly tightened bands (screws) tolerate this height difference on the Worthington tanks?

I have four PST tanks, but I didn’t have this kind of issue at all. The concerns about matching tanks have been a considerable factor, but it wasn’t thought to a considerable extent.

 

[Leadking]

Worthington has been a great vendor to us; they listen to our issues and have always responded positively. Their current tolerances are now +/- 1/8" and we are constantly working with Worthington to improve the product in many ways. These issues are not something they see in the industrial market and are on a learning curve and doing well. We have to explain the nuances of the diving industry and that "Pretty" is very important to our community. If your store purchased their tanks from Sea Pearls, I will work with them to make you happy.

By the way, Worthington installed a new grit blasting station at galvanizing operation and soon all Worthington Cylinders will be labeled "Oxygen Clean"

 

[CompuDude]

I was chatting with the owners of my LDS this past weekend, and they told me they recently received a batch of 6 HP100s, and none of them were close enough in height for them to feel comfortable doubling them up. They had to order 4 more, then they were able to find 2 pairs out of 10 tanks that worked well together.

Good, no, great tanks, but the height variance can be maddening.

 

[limeyx]

Worthington has been a great vendor to us; they listen to our issues and have always responded positively. Their current tolerances are now +/- 1/8" and we are constantly working with Worthington to improve the product in many ways. These issues are not something they see in the industrial market and are on a learning curve and doing well. We have to explain the nuances of the diving industry and that "Pretty" is very important to our community. If you store purchased their tanks from Sea Pearls, I will work with them to make you happy.

By the way, Worthington installed a new grit blasting station at galvanizing operation and soon all Worthington Cylinders will be labeled "Oxygen Clean"

It is not about "looking pretty" -- I honestly dont care how my gear looks as long as it works. It is about not wanting to stress the manifold by putting too much pressure on just one side.

I am not 100% sure if this really even happens, but it seems (the old) PST can get all their tanks to match pretty close, so Worthing should be able too as well.

 

[Hoosier]

LOL~~~ I hope there won't be any stree and leaking on my new set.

We are talking about a 0.25" tanks, not a 1/8" tanks here. Wrong is simply wrong.

 

[Jiminy Cricket]

I have two Faber 149s, two Faber 133s and double 100s

One example:
New Year's Day - 1st dive to 77' and the DM had to board the boat, don another tank and I came out with 2000 psi left on dive one after 1 hour 2 minutes (Nitrox with a computer, before anyone jumps on my NDL times)

2nd dive with the same tank: 56' max depth with time of 1 hour 8 minutes, and surfaced with 850 psi still in the tank.

I LOVE MY HP STEEL TANKS!

I made a Venice Beach shore dive to 21' (average 17'). Bottom time was 4 hours and 30 minutes. I surfaced because I was hungry!
===

When diving the 100s, I will usually dive solo or with a buddy who also dives 100s... and I won't take them on a charter. I dove the 133s on a charter for the opening of Lobster season and surfaced with 1500 psi left because I knew everyone was waiting on board for me to surface.

Did I mention that I LOVE MY HP STEEL TANKS?