Steel or Aluminum For Tanks That Stay On Boat

[sdavo]

I am setting up a skiff that will live in a saltwater slip. There is a dive shop that fills tanks in the harbor, so I plan to keep a couple of tanks on the boat. They will get rinsed with fresh water occasionally, but other than that they will just sit in the boat. What will hold up better - steel or aluminum?

 

[Compressor]

A great question indeed. Will let the experts chime in. You should specify if the steel tanks are galvanized or painted.

 

[happy-diver]

My only consideration would be to have the tanks I prefer diving

 

[runsongas]

aluminum definitely. even with HDG tanks, the combination of constant salt air exposure and possibly wet fills is going to be rough on steel.

 

[tbone1004]

Aluminum. No question.

 

[OTF]

Aluminum.

And I'd add they should be raw finish not painted, the paint will just peel. Inspect them often.

 

[broncobowsher]

I start with what do you normally dive with? Match that.
Now if you don't have a preference, any size will do, just a tank of air. The only consideration is material it is made of.
For where you are going to keep/use it, Aluminum

Personally I would prefer steel. For cold water diving it preforms better for me.

 

[sdavo]

I started out with an Aluminum 80. Eventually I switched to steel tanks to lower my total gear weight for shore diving. I now have an HP80 and various LP tanks, all hot dip galvanized.

I'll pick up a couple of aluminum 80s to keep on the boat.

 

[tbone1004]

I start with what do you normally dive with? Match that.
Now if you don't have a preference, any size will do, just a tank of air. The only consideration is material it is made of.
For where you are going to keep/use it, Aluminum

Personally I would prefer steel. For cold water diving it preforms better for me.

I think just about everyone prefers steel for their diving, just as most everyone prefers DIN for their diving. If it were me in this situation though, those bottles would all be AL80's with yoke valves on them. No threads to worry about getting knocked out of round or having salt buildup causing issues, no water retention in the back side, no rust to contend with, etc etc.

 

[Stoo]

Given that the vast majority of dive resorts use alu, that's likely a good clue. Ultimately, they'll all suffer if you don't rinse them, but then again, a lot of resorts don't really do that too well either.