Pressed Steel Status?
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Yesterday, I had a conversation with an individual at PST Scuba. He explained the scuba cylinders shown in the picture a poster placed here.
According to PST, they had "several" Pressed Steel 100CF cylinders, and "several" of the other sizes that were manufactured before the old plant was closed and the equipment was shipped overseas. Those cylinders had been around for these past years, but had not yet been hydro tested. They decided to move these cylinders, so they were sent for hydro testing and then shipped to the dealer "with the oldest backorder". There are no more and they will not have any more until the new production cylinder.
I asked him about the delivery date for the new Korean cylinders. He said they were having trouble with the press in Korea and that they had been told that cylinders would begin to flow "sometime in July". He was cautious about that date, given the problems they have had with previous dates.
Anyway, an update of sorts.
Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment
According to PST, they had "several" Pressed Steel 100CF cylinders, and "several" of the other sizes that were manufactured before the old plant was closed and the equipment was shipped overseas. Those cylinders had been around for these past years, but had not yet been hydro tested. They decided to move these cylinders, so they were sent for hydro testing and then shipped to the dealer "with the oldest backorder". There are no more and they will not have any more until the new production cylinder.
I asked him about the delivery date for the new Korean cylinders. He said they were having trouble with the press in Korea and that they had been told that cylinders would begin to flow "sometime in July". He was cautious about that date, given the problems they have had with previous dates.
Anyway, an update of sorts.
Phil Ellis
Discount Scuba Gear at DiveSports.com - Buy Scuba Diving Equipment & Snorkeling Equipment
mikeguerrero
Guest
Pete,
My LDS picked up 4 PST X-7 80's .... I got a really good look at them and noticed that the valve is completely covered in a galvanized finish, nothing like my Worthington X7 100's...
I like the brushed high chrome finish of the Worthington valves they look nicer. I want to get a steel 80 for my wife and was about to order her a Worthington but saw the PST's on the floor....
I took a hard look for the hydro dates and saw 09-07 on two of them, I didn't check the other two....
I went online to compare specs on Worthington and PST for the 80 steels and it appears that the PST is a little bit bigger, taller.
What is your opinion, should I go with a PST or stick with Worthington of which I dive two HP X7 100's?
thanks,
Mike
OP
Are you sure the valve was galvanized? Being brass it most likely is a sand cast texture and an unpolished finish. I agree that the smooth & bright finished Thermo valve look much nicer. I don't know anything about the quality of the rough textured valves.
Anytime you can add to the gear pile in the name of a holiday (A mothers day gift?) you are doing good.
7 months out isn't all that bad
As for length I'm seeing 19.7 vs. 20 inches. That's within manufacturing tolerance so as far as I'm concerned they are the same.
With an empty weight of 28 pounds each they are even. For the same weight the Worthington claims to be 1/2 pound more negative so a whole 8 ounces can come off her weight belt. Given all of the similarities this may also be a wash within the tolerances.
I have some reservation about these late model PST cylinders. Apparently they are made from old work in process materials and it's hard to believe that after the long shutdown the same skilled hands were involved in finishing them. There is also the exemption maintenance issue which seems to be manageable but is something of a cloud nonetheless.
If it were me I would get the Worthingtons and ask for the valve you want. I did this a while ago on a pony tank and the shop just swapped valves with some other stock cylinders. Most buyers are oblivious to which valve they get.
Pete
PST used to use great Thermo valves, just like the Worthingtons do. It's a real shame they've switched to the current rubbish.
If they'd switch the valves out, or if you have some on hand, I'd consider PSTs no problem. They had the best finish ever on their tanks... better than Worthington's. But considering all things as a whole, it sounds more like the Worthington's are probably your best bet.
If they'd switch the valves out, or if you have some on hand, I'd consider PSTs no problem. They had the best finish ever on their tanks... better than Worthington's. But considering all things as a whole, it sounds more like the Worthington's are probably your best bet.
skynscuba
Contributor
I have a pair of PSTs, and my GF has a pair of the Worthingtons. Her tanks are heavier than spec (nearly 2 pounds, if I recall correctly), but they are also more negative than spec by about the same amount (yes, I measured them), so it works out the same weight walking down the beach, with less lead on the belt.
UPDATE: The nice shiny "silver" finish is coming off of my new PST E7 80!
Last week I unlatched the cam bands from my tank, after only a few days of it being mounted on my back plate, and the cam band straps stuck to the tank. After peeling the straps from the tank I found part of the silver finish on the cam bands. It took 20 minutes of cleaning with Simple Green to remove the silver. I then popped the boot and found the silver finish came off on the drain ribs in the boot.
I went to see my LDS who immediately called PST for answers. At the dive shop owner's request I personally spoke with the rep from PST and explained what happened. I asked him if they painted the tank, or sprayed it with cold galvanizing compound. He then admitted that they "couldn't get the nice finish they wanted with the hot dip galvanizing, so they sent the tanks out to have them "silver painted" over the hot dipped finish".
I told him that the paint is not holding to the tank, it was coming off on my gear, and that I needed a safe way to remove the paint. PST was supposed to get back to the LDS regarding methods to remove the paint coat without damaging the hot dipped finish.
Does anyone know if I can use a chemical paint stripper (like aircraft paint remover) without damaging the hot dipped zinc coating. For financial reasons I would like to remove the silver paint and keep this tank in service, but after this experience I am done with PST. My next tanks will be Worthingtons.
Last week I unlatched the cam bands from my tank, after only a few days of it being mounted on my back plate, and the cam band straps stuck to the tank. After peeling the straps from the tank I found part of the silver finish on the cam bands. It took 20 minutes of cleaning with Simple Green to remove the silver. I then popped the boot and found the silver finish came off on the drain ribs in the boot.
I went to see my LDS who immediately called PST for answers. At the dive shop owner's request I personally spoke with the rep from PST and explained what happened. I asked him if they painted the tank, or sprayed it with cold galvanizing compound. He then admitted that they "couldn't get the nice finish they wanted with the hot dip galvanizing, so they sent the tanks out to have them "silver painted" over the hot dipped finish".
I told him that the paint is not holding to the tank, it was coming off on my gear, and that I needed a safe way to remove the paint. PST was supposed to get back to the LDS regarding methods to remove the paint coat without damaging the hot dipped finish.
Does anyone know if I can use a chemical paint stripper (like aircraft paint remover) without damaging the hot dipped zinc coating. For financial reasons I would like to remove the silver paint and keep this tank in service, but after this experience I am done with PST. My next tanks will be Worthingtons.
FWIW, I've used KleanStrip Aircraft Remover to remove paint from several older PST hot-dipped galvanized tanks with no damage to the zinc surface. By the way, the stripping is greatly enhanced by pre-warming the tank in a hot water bath (about 105F).
It worked great!
Welcome to KleanStrip.com
Dave C
Hoosier
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FWIW, I've used KleanStrip Aircraft Remover to remove paint from several older PST hot-dipped galvanized tanks with no damage to the zinc surface. By the way, the stripping is greatly enhanced by pre-warming the tank in a hot water bath (about 105F).
It worked great!
Welcome to KleanStrip.com
Dave C
Dave.....
Actually, I have been curious about HDG tank stripping.
What color/surface did you get after stripping PST HDG tanks?
The stripping doesn't affect any HDG stuff?
The short answer is that using Aircraft Remover didn't affect the color: same dull, lead-grey after stripping.
It also doesn't seem to reduce corrosion resistance, which is probably more important.
Just for background, I've bought over 20 of these hp steel PST's in the past 13 years, all from vintages of the early to mid-1990's.
If I remember correctly, I've stripped about 7 or 8, including 5 of the 6 PST hp hot-dipped galvanized steels I currently own (4-120's, 2-100's). Only one of my current "fleet" was a non-painted version originally.
My observations may pertain only to these older PST hot-dipped galvanized tanks, but I found that stripping would yield the same color galvanized finish as was on the non-painted tanks: the dull, medium lead-grey finish that many of the Pressed Steels had back then.
One must note that, even within the same year of production, there were some tanks with shinier or brighter coatings. One of my four tanks from the year 1992 is noticeably shinier and brighter than the others, even though it was a painted tank like two of the others.
As far as the effect of Aircraft Remover on the zinc coating, the resistance to corrosion appears to be very good, just like the non-painted galvies, at least for the 7 to 10-year period I've used them. That time period probably represents dozens to over a hundred exposures to saltwater, depending on the tank. Always rinsed, though.
Also, my stripped tanks appear to have resisted corrosion as well as several buddies' non-painted PST galvies.
As a result, I'm completely comfortable using Aircraft Remover for this application.
Dave C
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