Pressed Steel HP E-8 130s

[spectrum]

don't know anyone who has wished they had less gas when they surfaced.

I wish that every time I come up with 1250 while my wife's at 500. She's improving though and with only 10 dives under our belts has pleny of time to show her female air sipping capabilities.

We're running E7-80s so it's really a question of who gets the next purchase of E7-??s

Pete

 

[cerich]

I am thinking about getting two of these at my local dive shop. Does anyone own them, how do they work and hold up?

I also considered the Pressed Steel 120 and the 119. Would 130 be too big?

I'm also looking for recommendations for 1st stage/2nd stage/reg to buy for it. I am looking for a DIN setup. I am thinking about the Dive Rite RG2500 with DIN setup-- http://www.diverite.com/Products/ProductDetails.aspx?productID=RG2500

How does that Reg compare?

The tanks hold up very well, no need to worry, just rinse after use.

The regs are great, BUT buy the Sea Elite Tec X, same reg much lower price.

 

[teknitroxdiver]

Speaking of PST's, today I went to Lake Norfork to rent some tanks to try my new bp/w, and lo and behold, there in the shop were SIX PST E-series tanks. They had 2x E-7 120s, 1x E8-130, and 2x E7-100s. Based on what I could see, I gathered that the 120s were far too tall to be practical for me; the 100s seemed about like an AL63 which is perfect for my sister. And I think I'm in love...the 130..ah, perfection in a steel tank. If it weren't for the price ($420, holy crap!), I'd have walked out with it in my posession. I even asked REEEEEALY nicely if one was in rental...sadly no. Phh. Come on dude, forget the $420 and put that baby in rental!

[love spill over...]

 

[DivesWithTurtles]

Most of us are diving dry. At this time of year though it is not unusual for the air temps to be in the 80's. Water temps are in the 50's. While caving is very different from rec. diving, there are a lot of folks that are similarly configured in FL right now diving doubles in dry suits. For singles, the vast majority of us are wearing ditchable weight. In my case it's 8 #.
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I agree it's not about the most popular thing on the market. It should be looked at as being the right tool for the job and the flexibility that the tool offers.
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While SFL_Diver is only interested in shallow reef dives right now, he may become interested in doing something deeper later on. The day that he dives the Spiegel Grove in a non technical way will be the day that he wishes he had the 130's. If he starts diving to 100' and figures that rock bottom is around 1900 psi for an AL80 will also make him wish he had the 130's. Rock bottom for a 130 is 900 psi at 100'. If you have ever done a dive where you are swimming into current you can burn a lot of gas and thus not even approach NDL and can easily reach rock bottom on a 130.

Good post.

You're diving dry (most or all of the time). He'll be diving bare, or close to it (most or all of the time). Not only will sink like a stone with no ditchable weight, he'll have no buoyancy redundancy (good phrase, rolls off the tongue).

Nobody in their right mind who lives by the reefs of SFL would want to travel hours to go look at rocks in the springs and caves. (BIG ). (Right, George III?)

The day that he dives the Grove (or the HydroAtlantic!) in a technical way is the day that he'll need to reconfigure his gear to the conditions. That would include big tanks. Right tool for the job, eh? Would you suggest that he get 65# wings now because he may need them some day?

The day that he swims into a current, burns a lot of gas, and does not even approach NDLs is the day that he cuts his dive short. Does happen, but not often down here. We drift dive mostly; go with the flow. The day that he sinks like the Titanic because he can't swim his rig up may be the day that his family cries. Has happened.

 

[JWU42]

If he starts diving to 100' and figures that rock bottom is around 1900 psi for an AL80 will also make him wish he had the 130's. Rock bottom for a 130 is 900 psi at 100'. If you have ever done a dive where you are swimming into current you can burn a lot of gas and thus not even approach NDL and can easily reach rock bottom on a 130.

I am curious who taught you the RB for an AL80 in 100' is 1900 psi ?!?

The DIR-F handbook shows 1000 psi for a dive in the 60-100' range. I can understand adding a safety margin of 25% and saying 1250 psi...

Granted - this does depend on if the dive plan follows the all gas, 1/2 gas or 1/3 gas rules.

 

[JIMENA]

you can check for an equipment review at Scubastore.com.
Also check that they have Free Shipping on Regulatores and some other equipment!

Best Dives to you all!!

Jimena

 

[mark99]

Thanks for the info guys.

I am planning on using the tanks within Florida (mainly South Florida and the Keys). So I won't be doing any deep diving, mainly just reef diving, and maybe an occasional ship wreck here and there.

I plan on diving just singles (no doubles). I wanted to have the HP 130 so that I had the ability to go lobstering on the reefs for a long time if I needed to.

In comparing the HP 130 to the HP 120, I've concluded that diameter seems to bother me less, vs. length. Too long could be annoying.

I looked at the Apex ATX200 on LeisurePro -- http://www.leisurepro.com/Catalog.aspx?op=ItemDisplay&ProductID=SQTAATX200

It shows it to be a Yoke connection. Do they make it with a DIN connection?

I recently purchased a pressed steel E7-120 tank from dive rite express. The tank comes with a 5 thread DIN valve with factory inserted yoke adaptor. I believe you can get the tank with a regular 7 thread DIN (300 bar) valve as an option. I am diving with a yoke regulator rated to 230 bar (the same as the tank) so I can use the regulator on this tank with a full 3442 psi fill, as well as any standard rental tank with yoke connection.

I used this tank for the first time last weekend. First comment, it is very tall. By the specs it is only 3 inches taller than an AL-80 but it seems tall, and I would not recommend for someone less than 6' tall. Next, it has a lot of air. My buddies (2) were using AL-80's and I had 1800 psi left when they had 750. We were nowhere near DCL so if they had had more air, and I could have stood the cold longer, we certainly could have extended the dive time. Next comment, it is pretty heavy- you don't get the negative bouyancy for nothing, the tank is about 10# heavier than the AL-80 so you get to lug that around on the surface. The E8-130 is a few # heavier than that, I suppose would be a consideration if you had any back problems- ouch! You might want to check the weight carrying capacity of your BC, also. Next, the bouyancy swing in the e7-120 is 10 pounds, that is -10 full and 0 empty (compared to -1.4 full, +4.4 empty for the AL 80). I took off 6# to compensate at the empty weight to the AL-80, and the extra weight (full) was definitely noticeable at 40-60 ft. Last is the price - $399 vs. $179. But who said this was a cheap sport?

I liked the tank, and I liked the idea of the extra air. I can get the 3400 psi fill at the dive shop, if they are patient and cool the tank properly. But from a practical standpoint, on a dive boat, what kind of a fill are you going to get there? I dove 3 times, got 2 fills, one to 3050 psi and the other to 2950 psi. So from a practical standpoint, the E7-120 has 107 cf of air at 3000 psi, you are still way ahead.

Hope that helps.

Mark