DIY Scuba Tank Rack

[Beowulfe]

I am going to guess you sealed the wood. That would be my only suggestion.

Now I admire the beauty of it, it does seem to be more complex than needed. The workmanship is impressive. This is definitely more a show piece than just for function.

 

[RichBolduc]

Dude, there's no comparison between your DIY tank rack and mine... no comparison

Hell... I just push my tanks to the side of the bed then throw my spare weights next to them to prevent rolling.. Then throw my dive bag next to them... You got me beat!!



and i'm just gonna repeat everyone else..

Damn that's nice and a home made CNC... But in a great way!!!!! I do CAD stuff about 60-70 hours a week

 

[Couv]

Damn fine splendid......and congrats on getting your c-card.

couv

 

[drydiver]

drydiver: Yes, the cutouts on the side where for tiedown options, i wasn't sure what would line up properly. It turned out to be a good idea, allows for more places to secure the tanks as well. It is like a 3d puzzle, i like making things that fit together in that fashion, kinda fun

and here I thought you just had no self control with all the extra cutouts

since everyone else seems to be placing orders, thought I would get mine in early . . .

I have double manifolded 100's which would be on the cargo floor of my SUV, no rack needed for them. But, then I need 2 racks that can be placed on top of them to hold another 2 sets of manifolded 100's/80's on top of each other. Then a similar setup for 2 single tanks each layer stacked 3 high. If you could get started on the plans, that would be great In case you are wondering whether I am serious, I am, I am a chauffeur for a few dive buddies.

 

[DennisS]

That is a great design, nice workmanship

 

[ScubaSam]

and here I thought you just had no self control with all the extra cutouts

since everyone else seems to be placing orders, thought I would get mine in early . . .

I have double manifolded 100's which would be on the cargo floor of my SUV, no rack needed for them. But, then I need 2 racks that can be placed on top of them to hold another 2 sets of manifolded 100's/80's on top of each other. Then a similar setup for 2 single tanks each layer stacked 3 high. If you could get started on the plans, that would be great In case you are wondering whether I am serious, I am, I am a chauffeur for a few dive buddies.

I'd like to place the identical order even though I don't own a SUV yet but it's in my dive budget for next year.

Your workmanship is amazing! I am just blown away with your design.

 

[klick]

and here I thought you just had no self control with all the extra cutouts

no comment

since everyone else seems to be placing orders, thought I would get mine in early . . .

I have double manifolded 100's which would be on the cargo floor of my SUV, no rack needed for them. But, then I need 2 racks that can be placed on top of them to hold another 2 sets of manifolded 100's/80's on top of each other. Then a similar setup for 2 single tanks each layer stacked 3 high. If you could get started on the plans, that would be great In case you are wondering whether I am serious, I am, I am a chauffeur for a few dive buddies.

Stacking them would probably be pretty easy, for the back of an SUV that does make a lot of sense. I am working on the twin tank design, I think i'd rather have that, since for me I'll be able to make another and then have 4 tanks possible. But with slight modification I could make the same thing stackable.

The manifolded 100's you are talking about are like this:
High Pressure 100 Twin Cylinders reviews and discounts, ScubaToys

right? Now you said those would be on the bottom, and you could just put the first rack on top of it, but you want a rack for more of these types ontop of it, right? I don't have dimensions for these types of setups, and i'm having a hard time finding them online. Guessing based upon the picture I saw would probably not work very well eheh. With those cross braces as well, they would get in the way. I'm thinking of making the bottom brace have many many many different places to put the main cross section (main cross section is the one that is curved for the tanks). That way you could shift them around as needed for your setup. One thing I can't really make easily modifiable would be the distance between the 2 tanks. Perhaps I should have a different main cross section for use with twin manifolded tanks, which is just like a big U, no hump in the middle. I kinda like everything to fit nice and snug, but with straps nothing is going to go anywhere.

DaleC:
I thought about using styrofoam, not for the 3d puzzle approach i took, but for a setup like yours, i decided to go the 3d puzzle route though obviously. Your design i'm sure works very nice with most any tank size as well, looks good to me.

Beowulfe:
They aren't sealed in the pictures, but yet they should be sealed. I just threw them together real quick before I drove an hour (each way) for my certification test. My truck bed is covered, but still yes they should be sealed if i want them to last more then a year.

Well, i need to finish my twin tank design and cut it out, course I returned my rental tanks so i don't even have tanks to put in the picture anymore hehe.

I was also looking into using PVC sheet as the material, instead of plywood, although it's much more expensive obviously. PVC is nice to work with, and no need to paint or seal. Some may argue that PVC degrades in UV light, which is true, but it's very slowly and takes about a decade to make it useless, if exposed all the time. Anyway, it's about 4 times as expensive as plywood i think. I still need to figure out how many racks I can get out of one 4x8 sheet.

Ok, i need to go finish the twin tank design.

 

[HenrikBP]

The HP100 tanks are 7 1/4" diameter, similar to AL80 tanks.

 

[L_A_S]

Very impressive. Mine is four 2 foot PVC pipes with string connecting them, looks like a ladder. Cost about $6.

I think DumpsterDiver may have been confused by the first pics, as I was, which has the last bar going over the tank necks. Didn't get the point of that since they're bungeed, and thought you'd have to insert the tanks neck first and then lay them down, which could be bad on your back. In pic 3 I realized that collar is removable, making your rack far superior to anything I've seen commercially or homemade. OSHA says to stand tanks up in transport with a strap to hold them to a side wall, which most people don't do unless their vehicle makes lying them down impossible.

You should seriously come up with price options, these won't be the last requests for purchase.

 

[John Ploegert]

Nice job; now we all know why I called my design a Dumb Tank Rack!
John