This might be a silly question about tank boot

[jetracer]

I am wondering if it's ok to spay a little silicone lubricant on the tank before installing a tank boot on the tank?

The reason that I think a little silicone might help is that it should make it a little easier to remove the tank boot for thorough cleaning, drying, inspection of corrosion etc.

I am thinking that since tank boots fit pretty snug on tanks, a little silicone spray should not make them slide off inadvertently during normal use.

Is this ever done or am I again over-thinking it?

Thanks

 

[Jim Lapenta]

What kind of tank? If they are aluminum just leave the boots off. Trap water and are an entanglement hazard. If steel I only have the boots on for filling other than two of my 72's I only use for servicing regs. They never see water anymore. My steels are either doubles or now set up for sidemount. They get stored leaning. Even the 95's are just loosely sitting in their boots. Come off easily and are allowed to dry bootless after diving them.

Sent from my DROID X2 using Tapatalk 2

 

[tursiops]

The answer to your question is no, people don't use the spray. Best to have the boot hard to get on/off than to have it come off.

Boots are not always personal choice. For example, the pool we train in requires boots to avoid chipping of the floor tiles.
Boot can help keep a tank from rolling. And for single steels (round bottoms), it is sometimes nice to allow the tank to stand up unattended (briefly! carefully!), or it makes it easier to put the tank on a hand-cart to move it somewhere.

I see more and more people using steel sidemount tanks with boots. I don't see the problem unless you are doing serious cave/wreck exploring in tiny holes.
For AL tanks it is easier not to have the boots, unless the circumstances are special like rolling or tile-chipping.

 

[jetracer]

Sorry for not being specific.

I just got this old painted Scubapro tank yesterday and I read all about the need to stay on top of these older steel tanks on corrosion both on the inside and out.

This morning I took the tank boot off with a piece of 2x3 and a hammer (as suggested by a dive shop guy) and luckily it was all nice and clean down there except for a couple of nicks that has a bit of rust developing in them which I will be repairing.

What I plan on doing going forward is to remove the boot after each dive trip and store it without the boot on to minimized the chance of moisture trapped in it.

The reason I was wondering about silicone lubricant is I want to make it easier (can't imagine the pounding with a hammer is good for the tank boot) to get the boot off and also lessen a little bit of wear to the paint since I will be taking it on and off a lot more often than say my XS Scuba tank which was hot dipped galvanized.

 

[tursiops]

In this case, I'd suggest no boot at all, and live with the round bottom.
Get the tank inspected by someone who knows that they are doing...."rust developing" in "a couple of nicks" can easily invalidate the tank.

 

[jetracer]

In this case, I'd suggest no boot at all, and live with the round bottom.
Get the tank inspected by someone who knows that they are doing...."rust developing" in "a couple of nicks" can easily invalidate the tank.

I hope not. I will be sending it for hydro this week and we'll see what happens.

I wish this tank was not painted so I won't not be as worried about nicks turning into rust under the paint eventually killing the tank.

 

[Scared Silly]

I too would leave the boot off. Much simpler that way. All of our singles are bootless. As said solves all kinds of issues.

 

[halocline]

The faber paint process uses a galvanized primer and is very durable, I wouldn't worry too much about the boot. It's a good idea to rinse everything off if you dive in salt water. My faber tank goes in fresh water frequently, salt almost never, and I rarely take the boot off between inspections. No problems after several years.

 

[plot]

I would skip the boot too, but if you insist you can always get something like the xs scuba boot that has holes in the bottom, then tie some rope to those holes to use as handles to pull the boot off. Slip a screwdriver through the rope when time to remove the boot and wiggle.

Hammering on it probably won't make much of a difference, might loosen up after time but it'll still stay on. If you break it, they are cheap to replace.

 

[jetracer]

I too would leave the boot off. Much simpler that way. All of our singles are bootless. As said solves all kinds of issues.

I think I will get over this babying crap with this tank

I never owned a painted steel tank until now so I'm still trying to get used to it and reading all the post talking about bubbly rust spots under the paint is making me mucho paranoid.

---------- Post added November 12th, 2013 at 07:34 PM ----------

The faber paint process uses a galvanized primer and is very durable, I wouldn't worry too much about the boot. It's a good idea to rinse everything off if you dive in salt water. My faber tank goes in fresh water frequently, salt almost never, and I rarely take the boot off between inspections. No problems after several years.

That's good to know. The paint on my tank looks quite good for a 1992 tank and I want to keep it that way as much as I can.

I was just thinking to myself that I can do the same thing, use my HP100 (hot dip galvanized) for boat dives in the ocean and use both tanks when I go diving at the river or the lakes in AZ. No salt = a less rusting.