Neutral 80 as Stage Bottle?

[giles45shop]

I happen to have a neutral Al80 laying around the house, along w/ a DR stage bottle kit. I was thinking about putting the two of them together, but was wondering if this was a good idea or should I try and trade the neutral 80 for a regular 80 instead??

I'm wondering if the buoyancy characteristics would make the neutral 80 not a good idea.

Any thoughts on this?

Thanks,

John

 

[DA Aquamaster]

A regular luxfer 80 has good bouyancy traits as it is not excessively negative when full and trails nicely up and behind you when 1/3rd or below.

A Neutral 80 would be 4 lbs heavier and would not streamline as well. They are a better option for backgas tanks than a regular 80 however.

 

[RJP]

A regular luxfer 80 has good bouyancy traits as it is not excessively negative when full and trails nicely up and behind you when 1/3rd or below.

A Neutral 80 would be 4 lbs heavier and would not streamline as well. They are a better option for backgas tanks than a regular 80 however.

Agreed, but would ask a clarifying question of the OP in terms of what type of diving they are looking to do with this set up? Provide a bit more info and perhaps even more detailed/appropriate options might be offered.

(Oops - I hate when I nav to a thread from the home page and don't take note of what sub-forum it's in! I see now that in general "cave diving" is the type of diving involved here. But even, so some more details on depths, penetration distance, etc would be helpful.)

Ray

 

[Meng_Tze]

Agreed, but would ask a clarifying question of the OP in terms of what type of diving they are looking to do with this set up? Provide a bit more info and perhaps even more detailed/appropriate options might be offered.

(Oops - I hate when I nav to a thread from the home page and don't take note of what sub-forum it's in! I see now that in general "cave diving" is the type of diving involved here. But even, so some more details on depths, penetration distance, etc would be helpful.)

Ray

Not sure if that additional info (depths, penetration distance, etc) would make any difference........

To OP, a neutral 80 is basically heavier and (near) neutral when empty. Using it as a stage is no problem if you account for that.

 

[JeffG]

To OP, a neutral 80 is basically heavier and (near) neutral when empty. Using it as a stage is no problem if you account for that.

Other than it will hang like an anchor.

 

[giles45shop]

All,

Thanks for the replies! I had read up on the buoyancy characteristics (both here and TDS, CDF) of these tanks as stages, and it seemed most people were suggesting a normal AL80, but most posts were about buying new tanks as opposed to something they already had.

The tank I have is an older Catalina (~ 89 vintage), so it's just after the date when LDS's don't want to fill them. I don't use the tank at all (normal backgas is HP100 steel), so it's just gathering dust.

It's time for visual/hydro again, and I was planning on changing the valve to a Pro valve so I can use w/ my DIN Apeks regs. I have a $50 gift certificate w/ my LDS, which would pay for the valve ($45) and a small portion of the $30 hydro/vis.

My quandry is whether to set this one up as a stage or see if I can trade my LDS (or someone else) straight up for a normal 80 and switch the valve on that one. If I don't do something with it (trade or stage), it will just sit in the closet like it did all last year, which is a waste.

I'm wondering how many people have tried these as stages or if it's another internet generality like "a back inflate BC will push you on your face". I like to do what makes sense, but I also like to question the status quo at times to see what's behind it.

Thanks for your patience,

John

 

[DA Aquamaster]

I have not tried a neutral 80, but I did try a steel 72 as a stage (also neutral when empty). Like Jeff G said, it will hang like an anchor and you will end up fighting it the whole dive.

 

[Jason B]

The tank I have is an older Catalina (~ 89 vintage), so it's just after the date when LDS's don't want to fill them. I don't use the tank at all (normal backgas is HP100 steel), so it's just gathering dust.

Couple things -

Catalina tanks never used the bad alloy - not sure why you can't get them filled if they pass hydro.

Catalina's generally suck as stages (butt heavy) - though every now and then you will stumble upon one that will behave as it should (my buddy has 2 that cooperate).

A standard Luxfer (al80) is the best choice for a stage.

 

[Bismark]

We tried to use these neutral 80's as stages on a recent trip to Truk. They suck...pure and simple. They hang down and even when empty, they definitely resemble a boat anchor. I would never again use them as stages. They also sucked as doubles in backgas on a 6pd BP. They are way too butt heavy. We were able to find some regular s80's for our stages for the rest of the week, but we had no choice but to live with the S80N's in our doubles. Never again..............they honestly did suck a lot. Two full stages, doubles backgas, deco... even with a 3mm wetsuit, our 40lb doubles wings were working way too hard. Not dangerous, but definitely not comfortable. My 2 cents based on 3 guys doing some trimix mix dives in Truk last fall and using doubles the whole time with 02 deco for the shallower nitrox dives

Did I already say they suck?

 

[JeffG]

We tried to use these neutral 80's as stages on a recent trip to Truk. They suck...pure and simple. They hang down and even when empty, they definitely resemble a boat anchor. I would never again use them as stages. They also sucked as doubles in backgas on a 6pd BP. They are way too butt heavy. We were able to find some regular s80's for our stages for the rest of the week, but we had no choice but to live with the S80N's in our doubles. Never again..............they honestly did suck a lot. Two full stages, doubles backgas, deco... even with a 3mm wetsuit, our 40lb doubles wings were working way too hard. Not dangerous, but definitely not comfortable. My 2 cents based on 3 guys doing some trimix mix dives in Truk last fall and using doubles the whole time with 02 deco for the shallower nitrox dives

Did I already say they suck?

What were they like? I didn't quite get what you are driving at.