Worth doubling?

[msgmotor]

I picked up 2 tanks for cheap, a al 80 and a lp 80 steel. The steel is old scubapro 2400. I'm thinking about making it a dbl if I can find another at a reasonable price it's the gal steel and on the website I only see the coated tanks now. Any thoughts on this?

 

[sig]

How old is it. You might be able to find one on eBAY.

 

[Uncle Pug]

msgmotor once bubbled...
I'm thinking about making it a dbl if I can find another at a reasonable price

Good bands and manifold are going to cost more than the tanks and the size will be of dubious value when done.

What do you need doubles for... what kind of dives?
How much gas do you need to carry for diving thirds?

I though about doing the same thing back when I thought about such things... after evaluating it I realized that for most recreational dives a single LP104 filled with EAN32 was the ticket and for technial dives the double LP104s filled with standard mix for the dive at hand was the ticket.

So... we each have a set of double LP104s and two single 104s with a right and left hand valve with plugged crossover ports. We each also have a crossover and set of bands on the shelf so that if we want to take two sets of doubles with us on a trip we can put the singles together in short order.

Perhaps more than your question called for .... but is was the end result of asking the same question myself some time ago.

 

[msgmotor]

Thanks UP
It was just a thought,I was thinking that to go to the quarry that it would be nice and much lighter than the lp 98's I'll probably go with that is the popular setup out here.

 

[diveaway]

You say you have a AL and a Steel 80. I don't think mixing them up seems to be a good idea.

I think that could screw up some of your trim - one side is "lighter" then the other when the tanks are empty. Doesn't seem like a promising thought ...

Plus are the tanks the same size (lenght, diameter)? All in all it seems you would be getting more trouble then advantages from mixing those two tanks.

Has anybody mixed the two tank types in a set? Just curious about the outcome.

Ray

 

[Uncle Pug]

I think the idea was to find another steel and double them up... not mix the aluminum and steel... I can see where the confusion came in though since he mentioned buying an aluminum at the same time... and you are right... mixing isn't the best idea

 

[msgmotor]

Exactly UP I was pondering picking up another lp steel 80 to dbl. I got both tanks as a package for a great price, just hydroed, vis and free air. As bonus the al 80 had to have a new valve put in for free!!!!

 

[Uncle Pug]

double up the LP80s... I do know a guy who has a set and dives them all the time... he thought about getting LP104s but for the dives he does the 80s work.

Personally I don't think that they are optimal for the reasons I stated above plus two others:

The 80s are shorter than the 104s and don't give the correct balance unless you're a short little fella.

Also you need to consider... what size tank(s) are your buddies diving? The fact that Shane and I dive identical LP104s makes gas planning a lot easier. When I go diving with other folks with different sized tanks we need to do a little math... I hates math Course if all your buddies were diving double LP80s then that would be the ticket.

The Al80 will make a nice stage bottle.

I have one filled with O2 (appropriately cleaned for O2 and labelled) that we can take on the boat as an emergency surface O2 supply.

 

[diveaway]

UP

Yes you are right, I didn't see that msgmotor was talking about buying another steel.

Reading the post thoroughly would help. :brain: I guess I was just envisioning the sight of a mixed double ...

Ray