Tank for Beginners in Cold Water?

[goldenwar]

hi all,

after some researching, i decided to ask questions that is tailored to my needs and hopefully i can get some advises.

i'm in Southern California and i just bought all my gears(BCD,Reg,7mm wetsuit) except for tanks.

like most of people, i like to increase my diving time and remove some weights so i figured i need to get steel tanks but i just don't know if i should get HP or LP and tank size.

here's my current set up, hoping that detail will make it easier to figure out what tank i need.

7mm wetsuit
24 lbs of weight(two 5lbs weight in trim pocket + two 7lbs of weightpocket)

i'm currently leaning towards to two sets of Faber hp-100 or Faber fx-100 or faber lp-95 or lp-108 or 1 hp and 1 lp because i heard most of the boat don't fill at hp so i thought it will be better to take LP tank to a boat dive and both tanks to shore dives.

i will mostly be doing shore diving and occasionally boat dives out of Los Angeles area. i believe there are multiple shops that are capable of HP refill(scuba.com store).

my current BCD(scubapro Hydros pro) can't do double tank so double tank is not an option for me.

i appreciate any advise.

thank you!

 

[kelemvor]

If you can't get HP fills then the HP tanks are kind of a bummer. If you're bringing your tanks, you probably don't get them filled by the boat operator though. Check with your local dive shops to see if they can fill the HP tanks.

It might be a problem in California, but in central/west Florida it's pretty common to significantly overfill the LP tanks so we get a lot more gas in there. You'll have to check with your local shops again. Also, some shops may take offense to the idea. I'm not really sure how I would approach the conversation. In FL, I've found that many shops just do it without having to be asked.

The drawback to the LP tanks is that they tend to be very heavy compared to HP.

Given the weight you need, I'd go with LP for sure. Even if you're only filling to 2640, It'll be a little less lead that you have to deal with.

 

[goldenwar]

If you can't get HP fills then the HP tanks are kind of a bummer. If you're bringing your tanks, you probably don't get them filled by the boat operator though. Check with your local dive shops to see if they can fill the HP tanks.

It might be a problem in California, but in central/west Florida it's pretty common to significantly overfill the LP tanks so we get a lot more gas in there. You'll have to check with your local shops again. Also, some shops may take offense to the idea. I'm not really sure how I would approach the conversation. In FL, I've found that many shops just do it without having to be asked.

The drawback to the LP tanks is that they tend to be very heavy compared to HP.

Given the weight you need, I'd go with LP for sure. Even if you're only filling to 2640, It'll be a little less lead that you have to deal with.

If you can't get HP fills then the HP tanks are kind of a bummer. If you're bringing your tanks, you probably don't get them filled by the boat operator though. Check with your local dive shops to see if they can fill the HP tanks.

It might be a problem in California, but in central/west Florida it's pretty common to significantly overfill the LP tanks so we get a lot more gas in there. You'll have to check with your local shops again. Also, some shops may take offense to the idea. I'm not really sure how I would approach the conversation. In FL, I've found that many shops just do it without having to be asked.

The drawback to the LP tanks is that they tend to be very heavy compared to HP.

Given the weight you need, I'd go with LP for sure. Even if you're only filling to 2640, It'll be a little less lead that you have to deal with.

thanks Kelemvor!

i believe my LDS can do HP and also overfill LP tanks as well but i don't know about how much. if i were go to with HP tank since it's lighter i wouldn't loose too much in my weightpocket?
for example, Faber LP-108 is 41lb at empty and Faber FX-100 is 34.3lb at empty. they have almost the same Buoyancy when empty. Since LP is about 7lb heavier, i can lose about 7 lbs in my weight pocket? sorry for what might sound like obvious questions but i'm little bit confused about what you meant by "Given then weight you need, I'd go with LP for sure". thanks again.

 

[ScubaSteve858]

I live in San Diego, but know you have access to HP fills in LA. I wish someone would have told me to pickup a couple HP 100's when I started. It is all myself and my buddies use. It is also the most common tank I see others with. I prefer the hot galvanized tanks over the painted but... I'm sure you will hear arguments for both. HP 100 all the way. Now some of the boats going out of San Pedro only fill to 3000psi. Which is pretty close to 80-85 cu ft, so I wouldn't recommend a dedicated LP boat tank.

 

[goldenwar]

I live in San Diego, but know you have access to HP fills in LA. I wish someone would have told me to pickup a couple HP 100's when I started. It is all myself and my buddies use. It is also the most common tank I see others with. I prefer the hot galvanized tanks over the painted but... I'm sure you will hear arguments for both. HP 100 all the way. Now some of the boats going out of San Pedro only fill to 3000psi. Which is pretty close to 80-85 cu ft, so I wouldn't recommend a dedicated LP boat tank.

thanks! i was also looking at galvanized because i heard they have higher rust-proof than regular ones. before i go on a boat dive i would call them and ask if they can fill at HP but i'm just worried my options will be limited, it seemed like most of boat can only fill at 3000 or 3300. that's why i was thinking of getting 1 hp and 1 lp, how does this combo sound? although i will carry them all to my all shore diving.

 

[RyanT]

@goldenwar, if you are going to be doing two tank dives (which most people do), get two matching tanks. You don't want to be fiddling with buoyancy differences between dives. As for the 108 versus 100 with respect to buoyancy, the only thing that matters is their in-water buoyancy characteristics. The LP 108 is actually little bit more floaty in the water than a HP 100. If your local shop can fill an HP tank, just get a couple of HP 100s and be done with it. They are really great tanks.

 

[goldenwar]

@goldenwar, if you are going to be doing two tank dives (which most people do), get two matching tanks. You don't want to be fiddling with buoyancy differences between dives. As for the 108 versus 100 with respect to buoyancy, the only thing that matters is their in-water buoyancy characteristics. The LP 108 is actually little bit more floaty in the water than a HP 100. If your local shop can fill an HP tank, just get a couple of HP 100s and be done with it. They are really great tanks.

hi RyanT.

thanks for your input! i'm leaning towards HP 100 like you said but i'm little confused between faber fx-100 vs faber hp-100. would you know what would be better for my needs?
PSI empty weight Buoyancy Empty Buoyancy full
fx-100 3400 34.3 -0.59 -8.41
hp-100 3180+10% 38.7 -7.26 -14.76

there is not much difference in weight. just by looking at this it seems like HP will be easier to fill since it has lower pressure than FX model but has -7.26 buoyancy when empty. what difference would this make?

thanks.

 

[runsongas]

Hp100 unless if you are tall, then 120 is better. Lp72/lp85 are decent but require overfills to be better option than hp100.

Do not get the 3180 tanks. Those are built to lp 3aa standard and a lot heavier. Hp100 means the 3442/3500 exemption / special permit tanks. They are about 34 pounds empty and slightly negative.

 

[goldenwar]

Hp100 unless if you are tall, then 120 is better. Lp72/lp85 are decent but require overfills to be better option than hp100.

Do not get the 3180 tanks. Those are built to lp 3aa standard and a lot heavier. Hp100 means the 3442/3500 exemption / special permit tanks. They are about 34 pounds empty and slightly negative.

thanks! i'm 5'7". i will stick with 100 lol. so go for FX models!

 

[RyanT]

What @runsongas said. 3180s are not HP tanks and they are certainly "odd" tanks. I'm not sure I've actually seen any of them. The standard HP100 (3442 pressure) are great tanks. They remain negative when empty and they are a nice size tank for the diver of average stature. Compared to an aluminum 80 you can shed about 5 lbs of lead with the HP100. They are also a nice manageable weight on land as well.