Question Why own an aluminum tank?

[broncobowsher]

Aluminum 80s are like red barn paint.
Ask a farmer why they paint the barn red, it is the cheapest paint I can get to protect the barn. Go to the paint makers and ask why the red paint is so cheap, because the farmers buy so much of it we can make it cheaper in volume.

For new dive shops that are buying 40 tanks to build there rental/training inventory, that is a lot of cash. Aluminum saves a lot of money.

The perception that Aluminum is lighter than steel. And steel rusts are additional reasons someone may take the economy route of aluminum. Add in that was probably what they had during there training.

For the experienced divers, those not afraid to spend a little more to get something better. Those get steel.

For the drysuit with AL80s, probably isn't a nice new high end drysuit. Old, used, maybe the economy model. Being cheap. You can buy a lot of lead for what you save in buying an aluminum tank over a steel tank.

 

[Cheizz]

Funny. At my local dive shop, a 12 L steel 200 bar tank (including basic valve, plastic foot support) is about € 300 (new, painted). An aluminum 11.1 L 200 bar (LP AL80 I assume), including basic valve, is about €314 (new, not painted). In terms of price, there's not much in it. So I never considered the price difference to be such a big factor.
But obviously, this can be very different elsewhere.

 

[Marie13]

Funny. At my local dive shop, a 12 L steel 200 bar tank (including basic valve, plastic foot support) is about € 300 (new, painted). An aluminum 11.1 L 200 bar (LP AL80 I assume), including basic valve, is about €314 (new, not painted). In terms of price, there's not much in it. So I never considered the price difference to be such a big factor.
But obviously, this can be very different elsewhere.

Pre-covid a new AL80 with valve was $200ish. For a HP80, smallest steel used single tank, $300ish. I know that price as that’s what I paid new 4 years back. I forget how much I paid for my LP85s I sidemount.

 

[Cheizz]

That $100 difference is significant. Didn't know that.

 

[Marie13]

That $100 difference is significant. Didn't know that.

Larger steel tanks are more $$ too

 

[icechip]

I find they learn on AL then tend to stay with them, then the cost thing when getting their own. That's what I initially did. Made the move to steel as I opted for mostly cold water diving locally here in New England.

 

[Bob DBF]

Way back when, I bought tanks I bought two AL tanks for the price of of one steel. Although the diving was local, I was still a pretty good trip, not to mention also a good trip for a fill, making getting a fill to make two dives a real pita, if not impossible. Renting tanks would have been two days, for one day of diving, one of the reasons for buying.

This was for cold water diving in a 1/4" farmer John. I dove that way for decades until I had the cash to buy steel.

 

[Jonn]

I own my Al80s because I bought six of them for $50. Not each, $50 for all half dozen, including the air inside. (‘95 was a very good year…) Couldn’t afford to not take that deal at the time but aside from cost I don’t see any advantage to them. If I can ever land a deal on some steel ‘huns I’ll snap that up.

 

[Tracy]

Not all diving is single tank diving. For a single tank in cold water, an AL80 is a horrible choice.
I use them for deco bottles, I like them to be neutral if I need to remove them.
I use them for stage bottles, they need to be neutral when I drop and pick them up.
I use them for rebreather bailout bottles, I may need to take them on and off through the dive.
I use them for sidemount bottles, they are easy to remove and push ahead being neutral.

You may notice a trend here.
Negative isn't always a positive.

 

[tbone1004]

For personal use exclusively, why would one want to own an aluminum tank?

It is not lighter than a similarly sized steel tank to carry on dry land, it doesn't carry a hugely different amount of gas. The main difference, as far as I can tell, is the buoyancy properties. And steel tanks seem to be much more consistent in that respect and need less lead weight to compensate. A steel tank, on the other hand, is more prone to corrosion, especially in saltwater. Am I missing something?

For my personal local dives (90% of which are freshwater dives), there would be no reason to buy my own aluminum tanks, it seems. If I just take proper care of my own steel tanks (as I would with all my equipment), there is no disadvantage over aluminum tanks, is there? The other way around - I think the buoyancy change of an aluminum tank during the dive would be a disadvantage over steel tanks.

Not reading all the responses and I'm sure it has been said already, but just to echo.

They're cheap
They standup without boots *though if on a boat, be nice and put a boot on there so it doesn't mess up the deck and it also helps for roll prevention*
If you are in very salty environments, you don't have to worry about corrosion nearly as much as you do with steel tanks

If I was on a boat all day every day and not doing cave/wreck penetration I would dive with AL80's with yoke valves and deal with the fact that they aren't as optimal from a total weight:volume ratio as steel with total weight including the lead required to sink them.