Worthington HP Steel 100 or Fabre HP Steel 100?

[DitrasetMan]

Good afternoon.

I have decided to get a Steel 100. I am sick of my aluminum 80, and even more sick of having to wear so much in weight. I have decided on a HP steel 100, as I think it is the best of all worlds.

My dealer is selling a new Faber HP steel 100 for $350, and the same price for the HP steel 100 Worthington. They both seem perfect. The benefit of the Faber is that is has a nice high-gloss white enamel paint on it, but I heard that rust can form underneath the paint and will chip away. The negative of the Faber is that it is a little bit taller. The benefit of the Worthington are these plastic discs that change from green to red to let you know if the valve is open.

Any thoughts? How is this price?

 

[rongoodman]

The Fabers look to be about 2 lb lighter in the water, FWIW. The enamel can chip, as opposed to the galvanized finish on the Worthingtons. I would consider those goofy valves on the Worthingtons to be a bug rather than a feature and for me, the shorter length would be more likely to make them top heavy, especially doubled. Of the two, I would go with the Faber, but they're not going to stay pretty as long as the Worthingtons, especially around salt water.

 

[tomfcrist]

Fabers are made with a really porous steel, and if you ever get rust in the tank, you will spend 2 weeks tumbling it to get it all out....I use XS and worth ingrown nowadays. Great tanks and not one issue cleaning them.

 

[ft.lauderdale diver]

get the Worthington--not even a question here.. The white gloss is a gimick.. You don't want to deal with that. Price is very good.. you will not regret going for a 100. I made the switch a couple years ago and don't ever want to dive with an aluminum again (unless vacation diving where I have no choice) Having the green/red valve is a nice little feature so you can always be certain if you have turned on/off your tank.

 

[halocline]

The faber finishing process is definitely NOT a gimmick....give me a break. There are thousands and thousands of faber scuba tanks that have held up extremely well and you almost never hear of problems with them. It's nothing like painted AL tanks or the old painted 72s.

I have never heard about the 'porous' steel situation, but basically I don't buy it for a second. I would certainly think that the alloy for scuba tanks receiving equal DOT permits are highly regulated and won't vary from brand to brand.

Worthingtons are very popular and extremely durable as well. Usually they're a little more expensive than the Faber FX series, so $350 may be a better price for one of those than for the faber. There have been some cases of worthington SP tanks failing hydro; part of that might be due to inspectors not knowing about or not allowing the 'pre stretch' or 'round out' hydro procedure recommended by the manufacturer. I have read about cases in which worthington replaced tanks that failed hydro test at no charge.

Either one will work very well. I have one of the fabers because I got it used at a great price, and I like the closer-to-neutral buoyancy.

 

[vicp]

Fabers are made with a really porous steel, and if you ever get rust in the tank, you will spend 2 weeks tumbling it to get it all out....I use XS and worth ingrown nowadays. Great tanks and not one issue cleaning them.

Don't know about that. I have 6 Fabers and 4 are already on their second hydro. They have never been tumbled and all the insides are spotless - they are supposed to have "phosphatized" interiors that prevent rusting. Of course, if you agressively tumble a steel tank and remove any treatment, it will be more prone to rust.

get the Worthington--not even a question here.. The white gloss is a gimick.. You don't want to deal with that. Price is very good.. you will not regret going for a 100. I made the switch a couple years ago and don't ever want to dive with an aluminum again (unless vacation diving where I have no choice) Having the green/red valve is a nice little feature so you can always be certain if you have turned on/off your tank.

The white gloss is not a gimick. Fabers are zinc sprayed, epoxy primered, and polyurethane painted. All my Fabers have no external corrosion, even where they are scratched, But then again I dive fresh water (springs) lately, but 2 of the Fabers spent some time in salt water and they are still fine. Even with the boots, I get more corrosion on my aluminum tanks and no corrosion on the Fabers.

The big difference is actually the weight and bouyancy characteristics between Faber and Worthington, not as much for 3442 psig (FX vs. X-7 series) , but more significant for the (LP) low pressure versions. The (LP) Fabers tend to be a little lighter and become more tail light when low. More of an issue if you sidemount, but not much of one if you backmount singles or doubles. If you can, just try to rent some and see which you prefer.

 

[ajduplessis]

I like Faber, better buoyancy and lighter. The BS around rust and tumbling for weeks is major BS and that coming from an instructor

 

[Graeme Tolton]

Cant really go wrong with either. Personally i dont like the look of the fabers, but thats personal preference. I also prefer the worthingtons because they are made in Canada.