Proper Tank Storage \ Painting....

[MrSmitty13]

Ok I have two questions in one here....

I just bought a brand new Luxfer Aluminum 80 tank... (my first tank ever ) and have been reading some stuff online about proper care and such... Anyway, I read a big article about exploding tanks (which I know it talked about a different type of aluminum that is no longer use) but to say the least it was scary... So its made me want to do everything in my power to properly care for my tank. I understand the inspections, and leaving it with about 50psi when storing it in a cool space in an upright position.

Where my question comes into play is what are the recommendations for how long (maximum) I should keep a tank full. For example, would it be ok to get an air fill a week before I am diving? two weeks? I'm assuming the closest to the dive date would be the best but what is pretty standard out there as I'm new to diving.


My second question is regarding painting. I bought a shiny blue tank and was interested in painting a few fish on there to make mine unique with some of that Scuba Goop paint that i've seen online. I've read some articles about not painting because because of rust being hidden but from what I understand that is refering to fully repainting a tank, not just drawing a few fish and my name on it.

Thanks for the input!

 

[Cleavitt]

Congrats on your new tank!

I wouldn't worry too much about short term storage of your tank under pressure. Storing a tank at its rated pressure isn't really going to hurt it. They are designed to handle that pressure plus a large percentage more for safety. SCUBA tank failures are actually very rare and are mostly the result of faulty materials (which are no longer in use), not pressure.

The recommendation to store them at 50PSI, etc is intended for long term storage (years). For example, if you moved to the Sahara desert and wouldn't be diving for the next 5 years it would be a good idea to drain your tanks to a relatively low pressure. This is mostly because if you aren't using the tanks you probably aren't going to be getting them inspected at regular intervals either. A tank sitting in someone’s damp basement for a decade or so without being used could eventually corrode enough to fail. If it’s fully pressurized that could be bad. This is not an issue for a tank that is being used and inspected at the proper intervals.

Mine are fully pressurized pretty much all the time except on the days I go diving and use them. Personally, I try to keep my tanks full all the time because I have missed dives or had to use rental tanks for dives that were planned rather spontaneously.

As far as painting, your name and a few little fish isn't a big deal. However, you don't want to paint large sections of the tank. Also, you should know in advance that when you get your tank inspected annually (VIP), there is a good chance that any stickers or paint will be removed so that the surface of the tank is visible. If you do decide to paint your tank keep it small and simple. Tanks tend to get scratched up anyway so don't go painting the Mona Lisa.

 

[MrSmitty13]

Thanks for your help on that one....

 

[Doc Harry]

The military did some research of scuba tanks under some pretty extreme conditions. As a result of these experiments, it is recommended that all scuba tanks (aluminum and steel) should be stored upright to minimize corrosion if water is present in the tank.

If water is not present, then it doesn't matter whether you store your tank upright or on its side. But since you do not know if you have water in your tank unless you remove the valve and inspect your tank -- it is easiest just to store your tanks upright with the presumption that you have some water in the tank.

Additionally, all tanks should be stored with minimum pressure (i.e., 25 PSI) when not in use. Minmizing pO2 will minimize oxidation and corrosion, so the lower pressure minimizes these effects. I do not think that a specific time frame was ever investigated, so I cannot tell you whether to drain your tanks to 25 PSI if you are not going to use them for 2 weeks or two months. I can tell you than I drain my tanks to 100PSI when I put them away for the winter.

Because oxidation of steel tanks can actually reduce the oxygen content, it is recommended that you drain steel tanks in between use, or re-analyze the contents for oxygen content even if you had just an air fill.

Regarding painting: painting your tank will interfere with a proper annual inspection, but won't hurt your tank per se, unless you decide to bake the paint!!!!

 

[cummings66]

Just be aware that if you paint your cylinder the inspector might just want to know "why" and "how" to insure it wasn't done to either hide or might have been weakened by the process.

It's not bad to paint them, but you should be aware that questions may follow and the inspector has the right to refuse to inspect it as do the fill operators on filling it.

IMO it's ok to do as long as you do it right, and in fact Luxfer even tells you how to do it.

 

[britishtq]

I wouldn't worry too much about painting your tank as long as you dont have it painted by an auto shop. Spray paint is fine but no heat cured paint according to PSI standards. I also store my tanks at full pressure because I use them regularly and also don't want to miss a dive b/c my tank was at 25, 50, or 100 psi.

 

[JSharp13]

One question that is in the same realm as the original post (so I hope you don't consider me a thread thief)...

I was talking to my LDS the other day, and one of the guys recommended that I not leave a full tank in my car in the Chicago summer heat for any extended period of time. Better safe than sorry. That isn't a huge deal for me, but my current storage location for my tanks is in my garage. I wouldn't say the garage temp ever raises above the outside temp, but it can probably get up to 100 degrees in the hottest days of the summer. Is this a danger? Should I consider relocating them to my basement? I would just prefer not to carry them up and down the stairs all the time. This is probably being paranoid, but if you guys can help calm my fears, I would appreciate it.

 

[captain]

One question that is in the same realm as the original post (so I hope you don't consider me a thread thief)...

I was talking to my LDS the other day, and one of the guys recommended that I not leave a full tank in my car in the Chicago summer heat for any extended period of time. Better safe than sorry. That isn't a huge deal for me, but my current storage location for my tanks is in my garage. I wouldn't say the garage temp ever raises above the outside temp, but it can probably get up to 100 degrees in the hottest days of the summer. Is this a danger? Should I consider relocating them to my basement? I would just prefer not to carry them up and down the stairs all the time. This is probably being paranoid, but if you guys can help calm my fears, I would appreciate it.

Leave them in the garage. People need to get over the belief that tanks are some kind delicate flower. It's chuck of steel or aluminum designed to survive the normal enviromental temperatures it might be exposed to from the artic to the equator. Keep water out of it and keep fire away from it and it will last a long time.

 

[Geezer]

On the other hand, look at all that exercise you'd get from carrying tanks up and down the stairs.....

 

[JKPAO]

..... you will have a hard time making a AL 80 rust.......maybe corode
but even this has to be because of a bad fill by either bad technique or bad filters
for inside the tank. On the outside a few fish will not hurt your tank as long as
you do not use caustic paint. In your garage is fine!!! Your back will thank you!
See you topside! John