Faber 119 LP - Worth getting??

[angel in the sky]

My bf bought twin worthington 130 HP tanks... He thinks they're great... a little heavy, but good...
I am now looking and am getting too much crossed information... I just don't know anymore...
I have someone selling twin 119Lp Fabers that are in so so shape on the ext. I have yet to look inside... with bands and a OMS 300bar manifold, he's willing to get rid of the kit for 550 cad.... Good buy??
Should I keep looking??
I have had bad comments on the worthington's HP rusting inside... but this apparently doesn't happen to faber tanks... I'm torn... should I pop the remainder 500$ and just get new tanks??? Am I getting a pretty good deal?? and keep the $$ for a new mask and some tec courses???
I'm torn and am hoping to get some help here....
Anything ... thanks

 

[Leadking]

Faber does a phosphate treatment on the interior of their tanks, we did the same in the early days before hot dip galvanizing. The phosphate treatment will ONLY stop flash rust, which is harmless. Major water intrusion will rust ANY steel tank. The treatment will not survive the galvanizing process, so the choice was phosphating or galvanizing. It was an easy decision.

Buy the tanks on what best fits YOUR criteria, but twin 119's?!!!! What kind of diving are you doing?

 

[angel in the sky]

Well... we're moving up the tec ladder... we are basic cave certified and finishing full cave this fall. I'm also going to be doing other tec courses that require lots of air and well... I'll be using my aluminum tanks for stages eventually...
thanks for the info...
I'm still unsure of the deal... they're chipped on the outside and I have been told they're clean on the inside... I'll check before the purchase...

 

[Leadking]

If you really want to move up the tech ladder, look into a rebreather!!! I was diving almost 5 hours a day and used less than 20cf. Sit down with a calculator and add up all your costs going open circuit and gas costs (helium isn't cheap). A rebreather may be a logical choice.

 

[ucfdiver]

Well... we're moving up the tec ladder... we are basic cave certified and finishing full cave this fall. I'm also going to be doing other tec courses that require lots of air and well... I'll be using my aluminum tanks for stages eventually...
thanks for the info...
I'm still unsure of the deal... they're chipped on the outside and I have been told they're clean on the inside... I'll check before the purchase...

If your dive buddy has HP130's, I'd suggest getting HP130s or LP108s. Remember, once your tanks are bigger than your buddies, you don't get a single cu ft of extra air, and you still have to carry heavier tanks. All else equal (sac rate, experience, etc), the person with the biggest tanks in cave diving almost always calls the dive.

One thing though....are you sure those 119's are LP? I thought for some reason that 119's were high pressure, and 95's were the low pressure version of that tank. I know there's LP120's, and those are massive.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Remember, once your tanks are bigger than your buddies, you don't get a single cu ft of extra air, and you still have to carry heavier tanks. All else equal (sac rate, experience, etc), the person with the biggest tanks in cave diving almost always calls the dive.

I am having trouble following your logic.

The guy with the biggest tanks may have the biggest SAC - or not...but either way I have to carry enough reserve gas in my tanks to get the biggest hoover in the group out of the cave regardless of what my SAC may be. So if you have a higher SAC and have got 130's and I've got 100's, I've only got my starting volume minus the reserve you need to use going to get me there and back and I may well be the diver calling the dive unless you are really sucking down the gas.

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In terms of sizing tanks, I look at it a little differently, I select tanks that:

1) I don't mind trugding around with
2) That are well matched to my body size and SAC, and
3) That trim well.

I have a decent SAC rate and dive with double 100's as they meet criteria 1, 2 and 3 above and they provide enough gas for 90% of the dives I plan to do. For the other 10%, I'll sling an AL 80 for a stage as I'd much rather carry 100's all the time with a stage now an then compared to carrying 130's all the time and not needing the extra gas 90% of the time.

It also depends on how your local shops mix gas. If they can top off your large set of half full doubles, it's not a big deal, but if they dump it to partial pressure blend, those larger tanks just waste more He.

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I agree with the rebreather comments. I see an Optima or KISS in my future as the ever rising cost of He and the deco benefits of a CCR on deep dives make rebreathers very attractive both logistically and operationally.

 

[ucfdiver]

I am having trouble following your logic.

The guy with the biggest tanks may have the biggest SAC - or not...but either way I have to carry enough reserve gas in my tanks to get the biggest hoover in the group out of the cave regardless of what my SAC may be. So if you have a higher SAC and have got 130's and I've got 100's, I've only got my starting volume minus the reserve you need to use going to get me there and back and I may well be the diver calling the dive unless you are really sucking down the gas.

If you start with 100's and I start with 130's, we each have only 33cu ft of penetration gas. That means when my 130's only have 97cuft, I have to turn the dive. So you're carrying lighter tanks and have the same amount of penetration gas as I do.

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Exactly.

If your SAC is greater than mine however, I may not even have 33 cu ft of penetration gas. If you anticipate using 40 cu ft and I have to save 40 cu ft in reserve to get you back out in the event you suffer failure, I have only 60 left and only 30 for penetration, not 33. So I'd be turning the dive at 2400 psi. In contrast, you'd still be above you turn pressure when I called the dive.

Who turns the dive depends on SAC's as well as tank volumes and the guy with the biggest tank only calls the dive he he also has a greater consumption rate.

I do agree however that it makes no sense to have and lug around enormous tanks if you never get to use the extra volume anyway.

 

[angel in the sky]

I took the plunge and so far...THRILLED!!! they are the perfect length... they don't weigh too much... they're great... thanks all!