Rental tank for liveaboard use out of Miami?

[WOODMAN]

I know I asked about this some months ago, but the timing changed considerably, and now it is happening in late April and so I thought I would address this again. I am going out on a liveaboard to the Bahamas from Miami, and have a tank problem. I am a certified, card carrying air hog, and I need bigger tanks than the usual 80's that are normally available. I talked to the boat operator, and they do not mind if I bring along a special tank for my use. Now comes the problem. I would like about a 120 cf tank, as this will give me bottom time which approaches the others with 80's ( I will still be the first out of the water, no doubt) and I should have no problem handling the weight, as I am 6'3' and built like a battleship (hence the air usage). What do you guys recommend for a rental tank for a week in or near the harbor of central Miami? I tend to lean toward a LP steel tank, as I am not sure if the boat can fill a HP tank, but I don"t know what is available. My rig will have no problem with a big tank (Ranger BC) and I am certainly tall enough to handle it. Any ideas from you guys down there? :06: Woody

 

[scubafanatic]

...well, make sure the tank diameter you choose will fill the boat tank racks, some boats that only offer Al80's only use 7.25" diameter racks, which would eliminate most of the big 8" diameter LP steel tanks from your options......even if you can use 8" diameter tanks, it's can be hard to find them in rental, as steel tanks aren't in most dive shop rental fleets, however, it shouldn't be too hard to obtain an AL100 tank, that's your most likely bet. Another option is the HP 120, which is only 7.25" diameter, and so will fit an AL80 boat rack, and even @ 'only' 3000 psi will still hold about 105 cu. ft. of gas.
When I dive my local coastal liveaboards, (road trips) I use my own HP120's.....and I've special requested AL100's on a liveaboard I did last year .

Karl

 

[SubMariner]

I know I asked about this some months ago, but the timing changed considerably, and now it is happening in late April and so I thought I would address this again. I am going out on a liveaboard to the Bahamas from Miami, and have a tank problem. I am a certified, card carrying air hog, and I need bigger tanks than the usual 80's that are normally available. I talked to the boat operator, and they do not mind if I bring along a special tank for my use.

I find it odd that the liveaboard operator THEMSELVES are not able to provide you with a larger tank. On any of the boats we have used they have been more than willing to supply a larger tank for my husband; we simply had to arrange with them AHEAD of time for them to have the tank available. There was a small upcharge for this, but it was worth it.

 

[HowardE]

There is a place in Pompano, FL called Fill Express... http://www.fillexpress.com/

They rent steel tanks... daily and/or weekly.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

The comment about the racks on the boat is a very good thing to consider. If the boat can accomodate a high pressure 130 I would go for that, if you need to get a smaller diameter tank then a high pressure 120 would be my choice. Remember, just because a tank can be filled to high pressure does not mean that it must be filled to high pressure. If the boat can give you a good honest 3000 PSI fill on the 130 you will still have about 113 cubic feet of gas, and that 120 will hold about 105 or so cubic feet of gas. One advantage of a high pressure tank over a low pressure tank is that the boat crew will not need to pay special attention to your tank to keep from over filling it like they would with a low pressure tank. You have the physical size to deal with either of the larger tanks I have mentioned, or there are others as well.

I think your idea of getting the larger tank is reasonable since I am 6' and 220 lbs, and while I have a reasonable SAC rate, I will never be able to match most smaller women, even some really new women divers can outlast me on one tank of air.

You should check with both the boat and the tank rental place you use to make sure that everything is OK with both of them. It is possible that you could get a tank that has been cleaned for "Oxygen Service" and filling with standard air will render the tank no longer safe for Partial Pressure NITROX blending, or the reverse might be the case where you want to dive NITROX but rent a tank that is not ready for the method the boat uses to provide you with NITROX. If you don't understand what I am talking about just make sure that the tank rental company knows what you are planning, and if they have any questions just give them the number of the boat and let them work out the details.

Have fun,

Mark Vlahos

 

[Warren_L]

You don't mention which liveaboard, but I have done a couple of blackbeard trips from Miami. Though they have moved to Freeport, I think they still are running a few more out of Miami.... but on a blackbeard's boat, the tank holders were designed for the 7.25" tanks, and an E8 would be difficult to deal with. The compressor on board should be able to handle a fill up to 3500.

 

[oxyhacker]

Uhmm, this is FLORIDA he is talking about, so the crew may not be paying quite as attention to not overfilling as one might think.

I think the essential question he should be asking the boat people is what pressure they normally fill LP and LP steels to. If they, like a lot of boats, are just blowing 3000 psi into everything, then an LP is the way to go. But if they are filling to rated pressure, then an HP makes sense.

I would worry less about the tank racks if they don't bring up the issue - even if they are too small, they should be able to fit one or two larger tanks in somewhere.

One advantage of a high pressure tank over a low pressure tank is that the boat crew will not need to pay special attention to your tank to keep from over filling it like they would with a low pressure tank.

 

[Mark Vlahos]

Uhmm, this is FLORIDA he is talking about, so the crew may not be paying quite as attention to not overfilling as one might think.

I think the essential question he should be asking the boat people is what pressure they normally fill LP and LP steels to. If they, like a lot of boats, are just blowing 3000 psi into everything, then an LP is the way to go. But if they are filling to rated pressure, then an HP makes sense.

I would worry less about the tank racks if they don't bring up the issue - even if they are too small, they should be able to fit one or two larger tanks in somewhere.

Vance,

I own both Faber low pressure and PST high(er) pressure cylinders and personally I do not worry in the slightest if the Fabers get a 3000 PSI fill, frankly I like a good fill. Others do not share this opinion.

If someone said you can take either an older PST 104 or an E8-130 on a trip I would choose the 130. They are essentially the same cylinder, I do know that there are differences, but one of the big differences is that the 130 is rated to 3442 PSI while the 104 is not. From my perspective the 130 is a better choice because it will give those around me better peace of mind than the 104. So I still think that the high pressure cylinder is a more appropriate choice when the expectation is, as you stated, that the cylinder will most likely be filled to 3000 PSI like every other cylinder on the boat.

Mark Vlahos