LP 72's

[rjack321]

From what I have researched, it seems some divers have had trouble finding good trim with these tanks doubled. It sounded like they were diving in wetsuits. Either way it will be just another fun thing for me to play with and keep my interest in the sport.

72s are pretty light in the butt and the manifold makes for a heavy head. In a drysuit with decent undergarment you need lead and if you just use a weightbelt it counters the light tails.

 

[SleepySlipper]

Drysuit is back with a new p-valve and the tanks are looking dive ready!

 

[Danny D]

Great job getting them together, I am sure you will be happy. Now start looking for another set.

I just melted away a monster set of those nitrox stickers via aircraft paint stripper. Keep em clean.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

There’s another thing that can be done if galvanizing is not an option or the tank is already painted but needs to be restored. I was in the marine refinishing business for several years and worked with many of the leading industrial finishes that are not easily accessed by the public.
Awl Grip is a brand of paint that makes the super tough linear aliphatic polyester urethane line (yes I know quite a long title) but this paint is the toughest stuff around and probably close to what what used from the factory when they were new. Linear polyurethanes are the true polyurethanes. Products like Imron pale in comparison and are not true polyester urethanes! They are acrylic urethanes and are just basically glorified but fairly high quality acrylic enamels. You can tell a true polyester urethane by the mixing ratio which is 1:1 paint/catalyst. If you see a ratio of 3:1 like Imron then it’s not a true polyurethane.
Awl Grip also makes a very good epoxy primer which bonds to metals better that any other material including etching primers. The small tight long chain molecules of high quality epoxy resins are exceedingly strong, very adhesive in nature, and also water proof. Once a true epoxy coating is applied it will seal off all oxygen migration thus locking in any current corrosion making it deactivated and inert, plus closing off any additional H2O from penetrating from outside. This is space age technology. The polyester urethane topcoat will go over the epoxy primer providing an incredibly hard shell finish plus a gloss color coat. Both products can be hand applied by rolling and or brushing providing some remarkable results.
Do a search on “Awl Grip” and see for yourself.

 

[SleepySlipper]

There’s another thing that can be done if galvanizing is not an option or the tank is already painted but needs to be restored. I was in the marine refinishing business for several years and worked with many of the leading industrial finishes that are not easily accessed by the public.
Awl Grip is a brand of paint that makes the super tough linear aliphatic polyester urethane line (yes I know quite a long title) but this paint is the toughest stuff around and probably close to what what used from the factory when they were new. Linear polyurethanes are the true polyurethanes. Products like Imron pale in comparison and are not true polyester urethanes! They are acrylic urethanes and are just basically glorified but fairly high quality acrylic enamels. You can tell a true polyester urethane by the mixing ratio which is 1:1 paint/catalyst. If you see a ratio of 3:1 like Imron then it’s not a true polyurethane.
Awl Grip also makes a very good epoxy primer which bonds to metals better that any other material including etching primers. The small tight long chain molecules of high quality epoxy resins are exceedingly strong, very adhesive in nature, and also water proof. Once a true epoxy coating is applied it will seal off all oxygen migration thus locking in any current corrosion making it deactivated and inert, plus closing off any additional H2O from penetrating from outside. This is space age technology. The polyester urethane topcoat will go over the epoxy primer providing an incredibly hard shell finish plus a gloss color coat. Both products can be hand applied by rolling and or brushing providing some remarkable results.
Do a search on “Awl Grip” and see for yourself.

Awesome advice, thank you. My plan is to strip the PST brand tank next weekend. I’m sure I can back of the napkin calculate how much Awl Grip would be needed to coat the tank. @Eric Sedletzky do you know the amounts needed for this stuff to give a proper coating?

 

[SleepySlipper]

Great job getting them together, I am sure you will be happy. Now start looking for another set.

I just melted away a monster set of those nitrox stickers via aircraft paint stripper. Keep em clean.

I really do not like the nitrox stickers. Considering the smaller visual sticker is green/yellow and also stating “02 clean”, I feel like a walking billboard.

 

[SleepySlipper]

It also feels like a waste of material.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

Awesome advice, thank you. My plan is to strip the PST brand tank next weekend. I’m sure I can back of the napkin calculate how much Awl Grip would be needed to coat the tank. @Eric Sedletzky do you know the amounts needed for this stuff to give a proper coating?

You would probably need to get the product online or if you have a marine coatings dealer near you. I get the stuff from Svendsen’s Marine Distributing in Alameda, CA.
The smallest quantities would be quarts of pretty much the whole line, starting with the 545 epoxy primer the ratio is 1:1 so it’s a quart of each primer and converter. The paint too is going to be quarts and the catalyst is also quarts. There are also reducers used.
The minimum quantity of product could probably do 20 or 30 tanks.
Start calling your buddies.