tank painting

[Squalus]

There is a way to paint your tanks, does not require heating the tanks therefore, they do not loose their integrity. An airbrush artist around here does do custom paint jobs on tanks. His technique does not require heating of the tanks, he was informed of the safety issues.

 

[TwoTanks]

There is a way to paint your tanks, does not require heating the tanks therefore, they do not loose their integrity. An airbrush artist around here does do custom paint jobs on tanks. His technique does not require heating of the tanks, he was informed of the safety issues.

Obviously a tank can be painted without heat but Jonnythan has a point:

The problem with painting anything cool on your tank is that tanks get scratched up.. the fancier it looks new, the worse it will look when it's scratched up

Even if you put several coats of clear over the murals and handle them carefully others won't, like the guys doing the fills, VIPs, Hydros, and some boat operators so they will get scratched. Then how do you get it off without heat or tank damage?

Also, some shops like South Shore Divers wont fill a tank with anything other than factory paint. By the way, they have one tank in the shop that was stripped with heat, painted and burst during a hydro that they insisted on before they would fill it.

You can put murals on the tanks but it will cause more aggravation than it’s worth.

There are wrap around stickers with art on them that will cover most of a tank and if they get torn up you can get them off with some solvent.

I would suggest that you just leave them the way they are.


TT

 

[Maya]

Even if you put several coats of clear over the murals and handle them carefully others won't, like the guys doing the fills, VIPs, Hydros, and some boat operators so they will get scratched. Then how do you get it off without heat or tank damage?

Also, some shops like South Shore Divers wont fill a tank with anything other than factory paint. By the way, they have one tank in the shop that was stripped with heat, painted and burst during a hydro that they insisted on before they would fill it.

You can put murals on the tanks but it will cause more aggravation than it’s worth.

There are wrap around stickers with art on them that will cover most of a tank and if they get torn up you can get them off with some solvent.

I would suggest that you just leave them the way they are.


TT

Great idea!

 

[jchaplain]

any divers out there who know of some one in the New England area who can paint some mirals on my tanks. got two new white tanks fron Santa and thought that would be nice to do. Thanks for any help.

nite_diver

Hey Bernie, how about some nice decals instead?
Lets get out diving and bang those new tanks up! When it gets a bit warmer I guess....sigh.....

John C.

 

[mike_s]

There is an arcitle in either this month or last months Scuba Diving or Dive Training magazine about tanks and tank maintenance including a tour of one of the tank factories. It says you should never "heat" a tank before or after painting it ( or ever) as it will increase the likelyness of exploding.

check out those indicated magazines for the articles.

 

[scubastew]

airbrushing or just spray-painitng is okay. Though as previously noted any painted tank is likely to get scratched. I'd agree that heating a tank is not a good idea

Also if you paint a tank no matter the manner, you will still need to get it Re-Hyrdo'd and inspected. (so the extra cost to re-hydo may not be worth it)

I have spray painted a few steel 72's in the past.

 

[pgdive]

I will say as a shop owner/fill station attendent tanks with home paint jobs send up all sorts of warning bells. What is the paint hiding? Was heat used to do the job? In my opinion it's now worth the hassle you are going to get when you go to get it filled.

Paul

 

[Mako Mark]

Those tank covers do look funky, but you have to remember that they will retain salt water and crystals behind them which will eventually lead to pitting on both aluninium and steel tanks. If you have ever taken the plastic boot off a tank you will know what I mean.

 

[PaulChristenson]

Do you have a link to a story about that, Maya? I've read several articles about tanks exploding, but have never read one that could actually attribute the accident to a heat-treated tank.

http://www.wahoo2001.com/Divingincidents/dangerous tank explosions.htm

 

[jonnythan]

I couldn't find anything in the linked article that attributed the explosions to excessive heat. Did I miss it?