Steel 100 vs Aluminum 100

[lionfish-eater]

if 4 divers are on a private charter and you all have larger tanks, you might have a longer dive if you don't exceed ndl or dive time limit. If the shop limits dives to a set time and you are all good on air then it might be a waste. As a one day cruise ship customer with a shop that doesn't know your skills, you are probably not going too deep for too long.
You will need more weight because the 100 al are more positively bouyant than the 80 when empty and trying to hold a safety stop.

 

[tbone1004]

@lionfish-eater that is not true for standard al80's and standard al100's.

 

[ronscuba]

Emailed DWM to clarify if 100's are aluminum or steel. Might be a moot point because the 100's are only air and we like to dive nitrox. They did say we could do 100 air 1st dive and switch to 80 nitrox on 2nd dive. I am thinking they will probably do a short SI so nitrox on both dives would be better.

 

[DjDiverDan]

I dove with them a few trips ago & got (by request) AL 100's which is what I normally use in Cozumel. I need about 2 to 3 extra pounds of lead vs an AL 80.

I think you have that backwards. I have used AL 100s many times with Dive with Martin, and when I use an AL 80 for a night dive, I need to add 3-4 lbs of weight to compensate for the lighter tank. In 2012, I dove with Dive Paradise with the ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion, and used AL 100s all week. When I went on the night dive, the DM asked how much weight I needed, and (without thinking) I told him the same weight that was working perfectly during the day - I never thought about the fact that they only brought AL 80s for the night dive. When I got in the water, I couldn't descend at all - needed an extra 4 lbs just to get down.

 

[amoses]

I think you have that backwards. I have used AL 100s many times with Dive with Martin, and when I use an AL 80 for a night dive, I need to add 3-4 lbs of weight to compensate for the lighter tank. In 2012, I dove with Dive Paradise with the ScubaBoard Cozumel Invasion, and used AL 100s all week. When I went on the night dive, the DM asked how much weight I needed, and (without thinking) I told him the same weight that was working perfectly during the day - I never thought about the fact that they only brought AL 80s for the night dive. When I got in the water, I couldn't descend at all - needed an extra 4 lbs just to get down.

Maybe so. I have slept since then. I needed less weight with the 100.

 

[BRT]

I certainly use less lead with AL80's. Just looked to see and the Luxfer AL100's are 3.5lb more buoyant than the Catalina aluminum C100's. My AL100's are Luxfers and that is the difference. Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan

 

[tbone1004]

I certainly use less lead with AL80's. Just looked to see and the Luxfer AL100's are 3.5lb more buoyant than the Catalina aluminum C100's. My AL100's are Luxfers and that is the difference. Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan

al80's are still +4.4, so you should be able to take 1-2lbs off of your belt from an AL80 unless you are using the Catalina C80's, or Luxfer S80's which are strange tanks.

 

[Ron Lee]

Aldora can probably do nitrox on both dives and give you steel 120s as well.

Is that "convenience" of location versus a five minute taxi ride still the most important issue?

 

[ronscuba]

Aldora can probably do nitrox on both dives and give you steel 120s as well.

Is that "convenience" of location versus a five minute taxi ride still the most important issue?

Nothing in Cozumel takes 5 minutes. Surely not the difference between a dive shop and their boats located right at the cruise ship pier vs. taking a taxi from the cruise ship pier to the aldora shop, then walking to the downtown pier where their boats depart, the return boat ride and getting back to the cruise ship. A 5 minute difference round trip ? No way. The walk from the Aldora shop to the downtown pier one way takes 5 minutes.

I dive with Aldora when I vacation in Cozumel. For a 1 day cruise ship stop, it makes more sense to give Dive with Martin a shot.

 

[noj3333]

In February I did a trip with Liquid Blue Divers Cozumel. Getting from the cruise port to Marina Fonatur (where the dive boat left from) was pretty easy and straight forward, the taxi ride took no more the 5-6 minutes.

The worst part was lugging 2 sets of gear around... that really sucked. In retrospect, if I had known there was an operator on the cruise pier I would have more then likely used them as opposed to dragging gear down the cruise pier and through the 'cruise stop fake shopping area'.