How come there's no stainless steel tank?

[scuba_moron]

Is it because of the manufacturing cost?

 

[mark G]

I took a stainless fireplace to the recycling yard and they gave me 52 bucks for 96 LBS.
that should be explanation enough regular steel is 1/8 the price. I believe a stainless tank might live forever and that would cause the price to be high. think about the cost of new vinyl fence it is extremely expensive to buy but relationally cheap to manufacture because it's life span is extraordinary compared to what came before.

 

[spectrum]

The strength and forming topics aren't so hot either.

There is a significant thread or 2 on the topic if you search.

 

[scuba_moron]

The strength and forming topics aren't so hot either.

There is a significant thread or 2 on the topic if you search.

I found that threat....very interesting read.
Thanks!!!!

 

[WD8CDH]

You can get stock DOT stainless steel tanks but the sizes are quite limited. I think the largest that I have found were about 10 CF. It was heavier than a similar sized 3AA cylinder from the same company. I suspect that a SS cylinder with spun ends (which is allowed by DOT) could be made to similar weights as regular steel.

 

[tep]

Aside from the cost, Stainless is more brittle than the steel used in dive cylinders. Makes it more difficult to form, and would probably have more stress cracks due to expansion due to fill/empty cycling. I'd expect to see cracks running lengthwise along the cylinder and also in the area of the threads.

If it was easy or affordable, someone would be doing it

 

[rmannix]

A company in the midwest made stainless scuba tanks (advertised with a 10 year hydro) in the mid 80's. I don't know if anyone ever actually bought one. They ran ads in Skin Diver magazine.

 

[rcontrera]

That was BIG news back then and LOTS of shops had pre-orders in for them. We had a shop at that time and had 6 of them on order. At the time, standard steel 72s were costing us about $75 while the stainless steel was estimated to cost around $200 but the Dacor rep said that they would NEVER need a visual or hydro (probably BS but ...)

During that time, we had Underwater USA as a source for news in the industry and they let us know what happened. Seems that little company drew so much attention that the steel worker's union targeted them and convinced the workers to unionize. The added costs took the company out of business.

I think that in today's market and with world metals pricing the way it is, we would be paying in excess of $600 for a 100 CF tank. Not for THIS old cheapskate!!:no

 

[Leadking]

A company in the midwest made stainless scuba tanks (advertised with a 10 year hydro) in the mid 80's. I don't know if anyone ever actually bought one. They ran ads in Skin Diver magazine.

If memory serves me the company was Justus Cylinder in Kansas and was going to be sold by DACOR. To the best of my knowledge they never produced a cylinder due to technical difficulties. If someone knows differently please update me.

More discussion on this old thread http://www.scubaboard.com/forums/tanks-valves-bands/28304-stainless-steel-tanks.html

 

[rmannix]

Justus sounds familiar, I wish I'd kept those old issues when I moved.