buying new tanks online

[bigtim6656]

With our move to key largo, and planning to buy two new tanks this spring I am going to go ahead and buy them in feb. Since my current tanks are bad alloy al80s and my dad will still be using al80s, I called my local shop who has no issues filling them and he offered me 240 dollars in store credit.

After talking to a few shops in florida and the best is at Scuba Equipment, Scuba Gear Scuba Diving Equipment Discount dive gear Snorkeling Equipment and Wetsuits Cheap online

Plus they have a deal on a complete doubles package which saves me more. Not going doubles now, but down the road, so figured I would save now and buy the doubles setup.

I have a few questions, will the shops in floirda require a vis since they will be shipped from dallas.
we are also going to do nitrox down there. Will the 02 cleaning include the new vis?

 

[SC_Hoaty]

Some of the FL shops have banked nitrox. With banked nitrox, your tank does not get exposed to pure O2, so O2 cleaning is not required. Also, I have heard of different shops having different "rules." You may wish to contact the folks you will be dealing with in FL and find out their particular practices, in addition to getting general info from ScubaBoard. Lucky you - Moving to Largo!

 

[Scared Silly]

I am not sure how ScubaToys ships cylinders but they can be shipped with the valve on and with 40psi of positive pressure. So one does not need to assemble the valve and get a vis.

Also if you are set on getting double up you can probably talk them into disassembling the manifold and use it as two single valves. All you will need to do is buy the plugs. That is if they will ship them under pressure. If not buy the plugs and do it yourself.

 

[drdaddy]

Support you LDS!!! They will almost always meet online prices for tanks - especially as they may include a fill card.

 

[MC]

If I'm reading your post correctly, you are thinking about buying tanks and bring them down with your move.

If you are going to do a lot of diving, I might suggest that you select a local dealer to purchase your tanks from. They might be able to give you a great deal on used tanks or offer to include unlimited fills if you buy from them new.

Use the store credit for buying other equipment before you move.

Most shops, unless they are very familular with you, will not fill a tank w/o proper vips/hydros. O2 clean will be extra in most cases. large quanty "fill cards" are also a good idea.

Craiglist is also a great resource for used equipment, espeically tanks. You'll just have to weed out some of the lesser quality stuff.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I recently had a pair of tanks fail hydro and the manufacturer replaced them at no cost, but shipping was still $72 for the pair of tanks.

Shops usually buy tanks by the pallet to try to cut shipping costs and when they do so they can offer prices that are very competitive with on-line prices once you factor in shipping as well as a VIP and fill that a shop will normally throw in with a new tank.

The markup on tanks is very low, but shops will often throw in air fills, etc to try to sweeten the deal or match an on-line price.

Plus if you buy locally you'll establish a relationship with a local shop that will probably pay dividends down the road.

 

[leabre]

I ordered a new set of double 100's from DRIS a while back, my LDS would not come close to the price (I paid about 30% less than DRIS listed price because of loyalty points and no shipping charge since I could just pick them up at the XS Scuba place where I live).

I couple things to note: no LDS near me (except scuba.com where I get fills frequently) will fill a cylinder from an online retailer. They'll give me crap about it and even refuse future business at times over it.

2nd, I picked up the kit in its complete unassembled state and had an LDS assembly it an 02 clean it (rather, they trusted the o2 clean from factory and just put a lable on it). I'm not in Florida.

I've since tried to get some decent deals on new tanks from LDS (used 100's are very hard to come by) and most will not give me a reasonable discount so for tanks I continue to buy online. Soon I'll be able to o2 clean and VIP them myself so it won't matter what VIP sticker I use unless the shop doesn't trust the sticker I use.

Anyway, if I could work out reasonable deals on tanks with an LDS I'd go that route any day (I don't count taxes as they are a necessary evil for anything local).