Just buy a drysuit or 7mm Farmer John and dive the things all winter. Why waste good air?
Tank Storage for Winter
- Thread starter Darrel Conger
- Start date
Please register or login
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
- Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
- A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
- You can make this box go away
- Messages
- 1,075
- Reaction score
- 214
- Location
- Harker Heights, Texas, United States
- # of dives
- I'm a Fish!
Im not saying that there is only one way to get moisture in a cylinder. I am just saying that it can happen by cracking the valve wide open. I have seen it myself.
GrumpyOldGuy
Contributor
I don't doubt you have seen condensation on a tank wall when the tank was bleed down fast.
I think what you are seeing is water vapor already in the cylinder condensing on the walls as a result of the cooling process and becoming visible once you pop the valve.
If you crack the valve and bleed slowly, the water vapor will bleed out with the air and you might not see the condensation, but the water vapor has already has its chance to cause rust assuming its been in the tank a while. Its probably also condensed on the walls of the cylinder when diving in cold water and re-evaporated as the tank warmed up in the sun.
Just my opinion....take it for what its worth
Them
Contributor
There will be condensation on the outside of a tank when it bleeds down in a high humidity environment. Since the OP is in North Texas it's basically guaranteed.
There may be condensation inside the tank if the tank ends up with humid air inside. That could be due to bad fills or - perhaps more likely - taking the valve off and letting ambient air into the chilled tank. It is a valid concern with an easy fix... Get fills from people with good equipment, and bleed the tank down to a few hundred PSI (e.g. by diving or opening the valve) then let it return to ambient (e.g. leave it overnight) before slowly bleeding the rest. Better yet, leave it in your car all day in the Dallas area so it gets nice and warm.
Of course since the op has aluminum tanks it doesn't matter anyway.
There may be condensation inside the tank if the tank ends up with humid air inside. That could be due to bad fills or - perhaps more likely - taking the valve off and letting ambient air into the chilled tank. It is a valid concern with an easy fix... Get fills from people with good equipment, and bleed the tank down to a few hundred PSI (e.g. by diving or opening the valve) then let it return to ambient (e.g. leave it overnight) before slowly bleeding the rest. Better yet, leave it in your car all day in the Dallas area so it gets nice and warm.
Of course since the op has aluminum tanks it doesn't matter anyway.
OP
Darrel Conger
Registered
Yes Scubatoys! A great place by the way.
Them
Contributor
As long as the tanks are in good condition and secured against rolling/sliding/banging around, yes it's safe. Look at it this way: the 5-year hydro requirement is a DOT (dept of transportation) reg., at least in the US. Tanks are designed to be transported in trucks, full, with normal care.
As for exploding...
The last time I was in a scuba shop there was a repair tech working on a tank, reassembling a tank valve. We were talking a bit and he handed me a bent brass shaft and a broken hand wheel and asked, "What do you think happened?" I looked at it for awhile and offered, "Someone had their tank in the back of a truck without securing it?" "That's exactly right..."
That's the most likely outcome.
As for exploding...
The last time I was in a scuba shop there was a repair tech working on a tank, reassembling a tank valve. We were talking a bit and he handed me a bent brass shaft and a broken hand wheel and asked, "What do you think happened?" I looked at it for awhile and offered, "Someone had their tank in the back of a truck without securing it?" "That's exactly right..."
That's the most likely outcome.
captain
Contributor
If tanks exploded as easily as some people believe they can I would never go near one much less put it on my back. I once found a size E oxygen tank on the side of the road that had obviously fell off a delivery truck, the valve was damaged and it was a scratched up and was full. I replaced the valve and still use it.
I have left tanks stored full for months on end, from one season to the next and dived them. Never seen or had a problem with this. I am quite sure some of them may have been stored full up to a year before I dived them. I have never had a reason to bleed them down. I like to keep full tanks around for that spur of the moment dive without having to go by the LDS for fills.
Shftrdog
Contributor
Leave them full, they will be fine, they air will stay good. As far as bleeding them off you need to do it very slowly otherwise it creates condinsation and they you will have moisture inside the tank. Leave them full you will be fine.
Similar threads
