Size of Doubles

[Nomaster]

I think he's referring to the San Juan Islands in north western Washington State...

It may sound tropical, but I certainly don't consider 48F to be warm.

Yes, that's where he is and it is not tropical. It is beautiful.

Tom

 

[Scuba_Vixen]

I think he's referring to the San Juan Islands in north western Washington State...

It may sound tropical, but I certainly don't consider 48F to be warm.

Then a dry suit it would be, lol .... Being I'm 40 miles from Puerto Rico, that's the san juan that ususally comes to mind, not the PNW .... Come to think of it, isn't that where they have those nasty down currents?


Darlene

 

[South Pacific Diver]

Darlene, this is a very good point. With my HP80's, as others have mentioned on this board, I never get a full fill. Usually I hit the water right at 3200-3300 psi after the fill has cooled down. Let's see if I can remember this:

160 cu' / 3500 psi = 0.046 * 3200 psi = 147.2 cu' of actual gas.

If I had the choice, I would take the LP85's over my HP80's but at the time I put my doubles together, I was moving up to my first set of doubles, I had two single HP80's in the garage and my LDS had a sale on a manifold and bands so I decided to do it. I've considered selling them and purchasing some LP85's but I guess I'm sentimentally attached to them now.

The trick is blend your own. Then you control fill rate and pressure lost on cool down. I routinely hit the water with 230 ft3 in my 100's and thats just slightly over the 10% overfill for standard tanks. The important part is allowing plenty of time for the helium to cool and recheck the desired pressure before continuing the blend. Then again, you should see what we pay for steel tanks out here.

 

[Captain Ron]

Let me clear up a few things.
First befor I get in open water I always test new gear in a pool, not much in to the ooops factor especialy now that I am moving into the world of tech.
I do live in Washington State and yes Dive in the San Juan Islands in 45-55deg water in a dry suit.
We do have at times some strong upwellings and down wellings. it is important to dive
in areas that you know or with someone that knows the site. Watch the tide and current tables for good days but remember that they are only a guide and are based on predictions and calculations and arn't always acurate.
I own a dive charter boat with onboard compressor that pumps to 3700psi (it auto shuts down at 3800) so hp fills are not a problem.
I was sent a PM about doubling up my birst disks, I have heard about this before and will be doing it.

Here is a new question:
Stage bottle types, what kind. check new thread.

 

[kramynot2000]

The trick is blend your own. Then you control fill rate and pressure lost on cool down. I routinely hit the water with 230 ft3 in my 100's and thats just slightly over the 10% overfill for standard tanks. The important part is allowing plenty of time for the helium to cool and recheck the desired pressure before continuing the blend. Then again, you should see what we pay for steel tanks out here.

I haven't ventured into that voodoo you all call blending... yet. I probably will after trimix though. The last time I picked up my tanks the mix was... well not exactly what I ordered. Not a real big deal and it didn't present any safety issues for the dive we were doing, it was just inconvienent cause it caused us to make some changes in our dive plan which meant erasing a bunch of slates, etc.

 

[South Pacific Diver]

I haven't ventured into that voodoo you all call blending... yet. I probably will after trimix though. The last time I picked up my tanks the mix was... well not exactly what I ordered. Not a real big deal and it didn't present any safety issues for the dive we were doing, it was just inconvienent cause it caused us to make some changes in our dive plan which meant erasing a bunch of slates, etc.

That is the very reason one should become a blender. I don't like any aspect of a deep dive being out of my control. That includes servicing all of my own equipment on a regular basis. The only thing that I can not do is hydro my tanks. Very little is left on someone elses shoulders. That way if Mother Ocean decides to be very unforgiving one day there will be no one to blame but me.