Sherwood tanks...Asahi?? Any good??

[campbellj25]

I have decided to go with a pair of HP 100 tanks, my LDS sells Asahi tanks or Faber. From what I have found in searches Asahi is actually Sherwood branded, am I right? How good are these tanks? Compared to worthingtons or fabers. Everything I find in the search is about the older tanks with a special type of valve ect... My LDS has some on order to come in the next couple of days, said they are 3442, and have a better valve than the worthingtons. I dunno, I'm new to this. Anyone use these tanks? How is their bouyancy ect... More prone to rust than the others? Since I did not see these tanks yet, are they taller than worthingtons or the same size with the valve? Any opinions are appreciated. Thanks in advance.

 

[oxyhacker]

Last thing I knew, Asahi tanks were spun, or tube-formed, which means they are made from a length of seamless tubing which is heated and spun-formed on a special lathe to shape the ends, and the bottom spun welded shut . The problem with this is that spun welded tanks must have extra heavy bottoms to compensate for the fact the the bottom has been welded shut, Most other steel tanks like Farber, Worthington and PST are deep drawn from a single slug of steel so the bottom is continuous with, and only a little thicker, than the sides.
The extra bottom thickness means that spun tanks are generally significantly heavier, and more bottom heavy compared to deep drawn tanks. Some people like this, but many do not.
There have were at one point a lot of complaints about Asahi tanks rusting prematurely. Not sure if they have done anything about this yet.
Do a search for Asahi here at at the other forum, and you will find plenty to mull over. I personally would not buy a spun tank unless I could try it enough times to convince myself that it's buoyancy characteristics were acceptable to me.

 

[soamelt]

How much do they want for them? What LDS? Fill Express has Worthington HP 100's at a good price. I'm pretty sure though the Asahi's are a few pounds heavier which means you cab drop more lead out od your weight belt.

I haven't see any south FL LDS's carrying anything but The Worthington's and Faber's (mostly Faber). When I was in the market for tanks, I checked craigslist often for local sales. It seems the Genesis and Sherwoods are the only ones ever on there. So they used to be big down here, but don't seem to be anymore. Don't know if more shops stopped carrying them for quality issues or because there were better options out there (ie, Worthington and Faber).

I suppose if I was getting a killer deal on some new tanks, I'd consider them. However, there seems to so much good info/recommendations on worth/faber and so little on the others (good or bad). Either way, it beats an al tank.

 

[widget]

I agree with the above comments, if you only have a choice of the two (Asahi and Faber) personally I dont think you can go wrong with Faber cylinders.

I dont know what valve you get with the Faber, but I would assume if its supplied by Faber Italy its a San-O-Sub manufactured valve as they are the sole supplier to the Faber factory. Any cylinder shipped from Faber with a valve will be fitted with one of these valves and their quality is excellant. San-O-Sub are OEM manufacturers for many major brands and their valves are found all over the world under other names - no need to worry about this valve.

 

[texey]

Thanks campbellj25 for starting this thread. I own one Asahi steel HP 100 cu ft. tank. It was made in 2007. I bought it new a few months ago for $310 from my LDS. I have been using it as a single tank in cavern/cave diving. I am getting ready to buy another one soon to double them up for cave diving in Florida. So far I am happy with mine. The fact that it could be a little bottom heavy is a good thing for me. Helping to keep my head up or level while trying to stay horizontal for cave diving.