Steel tank boot alternatives?

[captain]

Just "a wondering" whats your reason for the dislike of tank boots?

I always find its easier to work with a cylinder that stands upright and if the boot has good drainage there should also be no corrosion issues.

There is no such thing as "no corrosion issues" with diving equipment just degrees of corrosion. No boots lessen it a degree or two

 

[tridacna]

It's kind of like why people blast air out of their tanks at the end of the dive onto their dust caps.

People get used to doing things a certain way, and that's the way they do it.

Nope. New divers get taught that as part of OW and they never question it until someone asks them why they are doing it. I ask occasionally. You get some pretty weird ass replies.

 

[calwolf]

Nope. New divers get taught that as part of OW and they never question it until someone asks them why they are doing it. I ask occasionally. You get some pretty weird ass replies.

Okay, so tell me why not to do it, since I'm still in the habit. The purpose of it (what I was taught) was to dry out the inside of the cap, since if it's full of water when you put it on the first stage inlet then all of that water can get inside the first stage, leading to corrosion. It's always seemed like a good idea to me, as long as the blast of air doesn't spray water into the same first stage opening. I guess you can take a towel to the inside of the dust cap, but if you've got all that compressed air right there, why not?

Anyway, enlighten me, please.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Okay, so tell me why not to do it, since I'm still in the habit. The purpose of it (what I was taught) was to dry out the inside of the cap, since if it's full of water when you put it on the first stage inlet then all of that water can get inside the first stage, leading to corrosion. It's always seemed like a good idea to me, as long as the blast of air doesn't spray water into the same first stage opening. I guess you can take a towel to the inside of the dust cap, but if you've got all that compressed air right there, why not?

Anyway, enlighten me, please.

If you don't bring the cap diving with you, there won't be any water in there to blow out. :cool2:

 

[Nemrod]

Okay, so tell me why not to do it, since I'm still in the habit. The purpose of it (what I was taught) was to dry out the inside of the cap, since if it's full of water when you put it on the first stage inlet then all of that water can get inside the first stage, leading to corrosion. It's always seemed like a good idea to me, as long as the blast of air doesn't spray water into the same first stage opening. I guess you can take a towel to the inside of the dust cap, but if you've got all that compressed air right there, why not?

Anyway, enlighten me, please.

Same here, the cap is attached to the yoke, I have enough trouble keeping track of large stuff much less leaving the cap in a dry bag. The cap has water trapped in it and around the O ring, a blast of air dries the cap. No big deal but it does prevent green verdigris from developing on the sintered filter and sealing surface. So, I think I will keep doing it even if it is not considered "cool" or DIR. YRMV

N

 

[widget]

For me it looks like the boot only masks potential problems, speeds up corrosion and is much better without it. For the air filling station, I guess it is easier with the boot.

I dove a few times with tanks that looked like Aluminium but were steel- probably Worthingtons? I fell in love with them from first sight.
However, nobody imports them to my location (Israel), not sure why- perhaps because of too much hassle with regulatory and importing license etc etc. Shame.

Yah, you have to remove the boot occassionally and check for issues, taking care of them there and then.
I also drill a few "extra holes" in the boot bottom to assist in drainage but if your paint work is in good shape and the drain holes are clear, a quick check every six months will do - and we run 160 Fabers every day - all with boots - and we have very little corrosion issues.

For my part, the hassle of handeling cylinders without a boot, far outways the inconvenience of removing it and checking every 6 or so months.

Yes, those flat bottom steels were "Heisers cylinders" made in Austria, but they were bought out by Worthington and dont manufacture scuba cylinders in Austria anymore.
We still have a few laying around although we dont use em much, Heiser made a very heavy cylinder compared to Faber so - well lighter is better - for me anyway.

 

[beanojones]

(The reason to not blast salt water is not to blast misted salt water into your first stage. No matter how "carefully" you do it, when you blast salt water with air, you turn the air into the exceptionally corrosive tropical "salt water suspended in the air" environment. And I can tell you just how unbelievably corrosive "salt water suspended in the air" environments are.)

Does no one remember the original cranky old man of diving? I know George Irvine calls people names so he gets more press, but Brett Gilliam was around asking "why?" long before him. (and he did it without the self-righteous attitude too).

As he rightly pointed out, licking it the dust cap makes far more sense than misting salt water into your first stage, and deafening everyone aorund you. Apeks actually thought about it even more and said "why the hell is there a cup to hold water in the first place?" It's not the plastic that the cap is made of that gets "wet", it's the dumbass design that holds water that's the problem. Change the design, problem solved.

Why I like Apeks regs. No cup in the cap. Balls are not cups. So why use a cup?

As far as the boot and tank issue, it seems like Faber tanks just in general sucked for corrosion. Steel 72s, booted or not, last forever. From what I hear, Worthington's do too. Fabers rusted with boots, rusted without boots, and lost paint and galvanization with boots, and lost paint and galvanization without boots.



But diving is the originally "change is bad" sport, so no one changes.

 

[crpntr133]

Go to DIN and you don't have to worry about a ball or a cup.