I've been thinking of selling my LP108's to buy HP120's - What do you think?

[kelemvor]

I'm surprised you have problems getting overfills. With about 20 fills on my LP108's only once has it not been overfilled. I don't ask, the shops just all do it. The one time it was filled to spec, it was a new girl at my LDS and this was the first time she'd filled a tank. I watched her do it (as did her boss), and she read the label on the tank and dutifully filled to 2400.

 

[rhwestfall]

love my HP120's. They are such cute little tanks. Barely know they are there (P.S. - I'm 6'-7"). :cool2:

They have been awesome with dry suit diving and heavy thermals. SS BP, with weight plates. Little to no lead on the cam bands.....

 

[00wabbit]

I am 6' 2" 250 and so I also have a big foot print in the water. I own and dive Lp 85, lp 108, HP 100, HP 119, hp 120 HP 130 and the one I own and don't dive is the AL HP 100. The only tank I would not recommend is the AL HP 100. The HP 120 is a great tank you will love it. Keep the lp 108's it never hurts to have move tanks unless the partner says no

That's secretly my plan
Buy the 120s used but never get around to selling off the 108's unless I'm forced to.

---------- Post added July 1st, 2013 at 03:09 PM ----------

I'm surprised you have problems getting overfills. With about 20 fills on my LP108's only once has it not been overfilled. I don't ask, the shops just all do it. The one time it was filled to spec, it was a new girl at my LDS and this was the first time she'd filled a tank. I watched her do it (as did her boss), and she read the label on the tank and dutifully filled to 2400.

I'm not in FLorida.
I'm in Indiana.

I can get overfills on air from one place, but they don't do nitrox. The people who do nitrox are more reluctant to do overfills and when I go out to the quarries they just do quick hot fills.
It's not that I can't get them, It's just that I can tell they really are comfortable with it. They don't do it often up here. Most tank fills here are AL80's for OW class. Everyone else travels to dive.

When I was in Palm Beach diving I rented Lp108's and they were filled to 3300 every time. Those were some nice long dives.

 

[Herb-alaska]

That's secretly my plan
Buy the 120s used but never get around to selling off the 108's unless I'm forced to.

Try this make sure they are all the same color. It took my wife a bit to start asking how many tanks do you have now? because they all look alike to her?

 

[00wabbit]

Can any of you tell me how hp120's trim out compared to lp108's?

Are the heavier near the valve or lighter, etc?

I need a little extra weight near the valve.

 

[maniago]

If you don't already dive with a pony, you might consider adding that instead of the cost of new tanks. You shouldn't burn into the pony its true, but you could burn your 108s down to 300 or 250 instead of 500. Do the math and see what extra cus you get doing that. I routinely burn my AA100s down to 250, though its always after the 15' safety stop at min 500. It takes a whale of a long time to burn 250psi at 10' or 15'...good time to practice basic OW skills, practice lowering your sac, playing charades etc

 

[00wabbit]

I do dive with an al40 slung.

I have been moving towards diving wrecks in the Great Lakes. I carry the pony but I am also starting to adopt rock bottom gas management practices. So the idea of breathing down my tanks that low for these types of dives is not an option in my mind.

In the quarries I might burn the tanks lower if I'm sitting at 15ft watching the fish go by, but I would rather have more of that time out exploring.

 

[Instructor_Tom]

I've got 2 Faber LP108's
These are my only tanks and I dive them as singles.
I have about 45 dives on them.

I dive with some guys that have 120's and guys that have doubles so often I am the first to run low. I am newer diver (65 dives) too and my air consumption isn't the greatest but it has been dropping a lot lately as I have been feeling a lot more comfortable underwater. Even as it drops I doubt I will ever be one of those guys who can dive for an hour with 500psi.

I originally bought these thinking I could get overfills on them and carry tons of air. The few times I have had overfills to 2900-3000 I have really enjoyed the extra air
Practically though living in the midwest the shops seem reluctant to overfill too often and I think if I just had 120's I wouldn't have to worry about asking.

I know the argument is that the shops will have a harder time getting a proper fill to 3500psi then 2640psi, but if they underfill the 120's occasioanally I really wouldn't be much worse off than my 108's I currently have.

Also I think the smaller diameter tank would mean less of a profile to push through the water. (This is a minor thought as my personal profile isn't that small in the water anyway )

In the future - towards the end of this year or maybe the beginning of next I may want to double up these tanks - so that is something I should keep in consideration.

I got my tanks at a good price so I don't think money will be too much of an issue to consider here.

So - that is what is rattling around in my head this week. What are your thoughts on my logic?

00wabbit;

you are diving a bigger tank than your buddies. down in my neck of the woods and in cave country every one dives lp108's topped between 300-3500 psi. you have more gas than you buddies do if it is being filled to 3000 psi. if you where going to go high pressure you should look at HP130s which is the same tank as an lp108 just rated for the higher pressure, but the truth is the shops that are doing your fills don't understand the pressure rating on these tanks.

with proper hydro and the correct burst disk these LP 108's can handle nearly 4000 psi before a failure occurs.

at 6'1" 224 lp108s are perfect for trim for me. if you want way bigger try out a set of lp120's but ill warn you know that they are Heavy and you won't like carrying them.

since your are a fairly new diver, I would suggest getting more training to work on skills that will increase your comfort and efficiency under water. these improvements will have a dramatic effect on your gas consumption.

hope this helps...




Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

 

[Colliam7]

I've got 2 Faber LP108's These are my only tanks and I dive them as singles. . . . I dive with some guys that have 120's and guys that have doubles so often I am the first to run low. . . I know the argument is that the shops will have a harder time getting a proper fill to 3500psi then 2640psi, but if they underfill the 120's occasioanally I really wouldn't be much worse off than my 108's I currently have. . . . In the future - towards the end of this year or maybe the beginning of next I may want to double up these tanks - so that is something I should keep in consideration.

I don't know that you would be best served by simply swapping your 108s for HP 120s. The air advantage is marginal - at fills to working pressure. Some shops simply won't fill a cylinder beyond its working pressure. Others will. I wouldn't buy / dive LP cylinders because I plan to consistently overfill them to get more gas. At the same time, I have never understood the argument that it may be a problem getting a fully 3442 b/ 3500 psi fill. If a shop can't fill to that service pressure (I have not yet encountered one that could not) that is a problem with the shop, and I wouldn't use them.

The better solution for you may well be to go to doubles now, rather than a different single cylinder. Yes, you are possibly looking at an extra set of regs, possibly a different BCD, or at least a different wing - you don't mention what you are diving now. But, if you want more gas, go with a set of double HP 100s, or go with double AL80s, or double up what you have now.

 

[00wabbit]

I'm diving the lp108s now.

I have bp/w and regs for doubles. I'll need a new wing.

So I could double up the 108's.

As far as getting fills. Here in central Indiana I have 3 choices for air. 1 is very close to my house, I can get proper fills but no nitrox. The other is 25mins away and I can get air and nitrox and maybe get nice fills depending on who is working at the shop that day.

The other option is 35mins away and is just a little harder to get in touch with for those times I need a quick fill for a last minute dive trip.

So for now I need to work with what I have. I think I might try to pick up a 120 when I find it and dive it for a bit and see if I like it.