P weight (channel weight) idea

[Uncle Pug]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
Which one do you think would go best with my grey drysuit and white tank?

Now we are getting somewhere... and I think we have identified the root problem!

I offer you two different sizes and happen to mention the color. You key in on the color as being the determining factor rather than the amount of additional buoyancy needed.

So... what we have here is blatant sacrificing of function for form... or more crassly put, concern for style rather than utility.

It follows then that this mindset is at the root of your trim problem!

 

[JeffAustin]

"form follows function" that's one of my favorite sayings. You still gotta look cool, though. However, if you have a buoy attached to your tank, color should be the least of your worries!

 

[jonnythan]

I'm in the process of pouring a channel weight myself. There are pics of the mold (ha ha) at http://www.jonnythan.com/scuba/

The parts in the middle are aluminum sheets that I cut with some EMT shears to 2" wide and shoved through the camband slots, then covered with putty. Then there's putty on either end. Ideally, I'll get something that looks like UP's channel weights - http://www.scubaboard.com/attachment.php?s=&postid=219694

I keep running into problems.. namely, finding a place to do the pour. My yard is pretty unsuitable, and the only other place I can think of (a public park's barbecue area) is always crowded.

Any suggestions? :\

 

[Dryglove]

jonnythan once bubbled...

I keep running into problems.. namely, finding a place to do the pour. My yard is pretty unsuitable, and the only other place I can think of (a public park's barbecue area) is always crowded.

Any suggestions? :\

I did mine and my buddies in the garage with the door open.I used a single burner propane powered camp burner to melt the lead in the pot. Worked great.

 

[jonnythan]

OK, so I managed to do the melt&pour today. Went pretty uneventfully.

I used a turkey fryer I got at Lowe's for $30 and a stainless steel pot from Salvation Army ($3.99!). I used some welding gloves to hold the pot during the pour and a pretty simple spoon to skim the gunky stuff off the top. I put a little beeswax in, but no solder. The melt seemed fairly smooth.

It went fairly well, but the weight is messy - no big deal, I can fix it with the propane torch if I ever get the urge.

The BP could have used a little heating up prior to the pour - the lead solidified on contact and the channels under the cam band slots filled up, forcing me to pour into each of the three big channels separately.

The plumber's putty worked fine, but smoked a bit.

The final product weighs about 8 pounds and I can't even notice it on my back. The cam bands hold it in really well.

One tip: be careful you don't let any lead leak through the webbing slots in the bp. It'll pour over the other side and force you to do some chiseling or melting just to get the entire weight out

 

[Mo2vation]

Uncle Pug once bubbled...
It follows then that this mindset is at the root of your trim problem!

Focus, man.

Your trim issues are in your head.

"Be the P-weight"

K

 

[GearHead]

Are you going to take some "after" pictures for us, Jonnythan? I want to see the finished work.

 

[jonnythan]

GearHead once bubbled...
Are you going to take some "after" pictures for us, Jonnythan? I want to see the finished work.

It's ugly, so I figured I'd hold off unless someone asked

http://jonnythan.com/scuba

The bottom 3 pics are the weight. No reason to remove that extra weight if it's not in the way, right?

According to my scale, it weighs exactly 8 pounds

 

[GearHead]

Hey, it's lead, it doesn't have to be pretty to be effective. Which is a good thing because frankly, it's not.

 

[raybo]

Anybody got a feel for what the max you can get into one of these is?

I'm in the process of ordering a BP, and want to do this as well. I'm getting a 9# BP. Need 10-12 in a 3mil wet when I go warm/salt, and right now 26 total in a 7mil neoprene dry in fresh at +/-5000 ft altitude.

Figure the plate alone with a couple #s to drop in warm, but want to keep as much off a belt in the dry as I can. Just enough to ditch for emergency.

Am abandoning my Recon BC, so I'll have to see what I end up needing with the wing.