Aliminium or steel tank Which one to buy???

[Murat]

What does Scubaboard think?

 

[crazyc]

What environment do you plan to dive in?

What type of exposure protection do you use?

What kind of equipment do you have already?

Ask yourself a bunch of questions...give the board more to go on than what you have just thrown out.

 

[ninja]

Most people will tell you steel!

i would agree with this mainly because of the Bouyancy characteristics most either stay neutral when empty and some remain negative they won't become floaty. This in turn can lessen the load on your weight belt!.

Also most of the low pressure ones 2460 are nice because they run at higher volumes and low pressures a nice combination!!

Remember a high pressure cylinder like a 3500 psi steel is only full @3500 and an aluminum 80 is only 77.4 cyft @3000psi

down side they are generally cost double that of an aluminum tank or more! I think that the positives far outway the negatives!


Len

 

[LUBOLD8431]

If thats all I have to go on, and you give no other info, like where you are diving (fresh or salt water), how many times per year you plan on diving, what type of exposure protection you are going to use with it, what type of diving you are doing (deep, wreck, cavern, etc.) i would have to go with STEEL!!!!!!

the buoyancy of steel tanks are much better than aluminum, and they usually hold alot more gas. The only thing is they are more expensive than aluminum... but that hasnt stopped most of us from getting the steel tanks... \

Good Luck.....

 

[redacted]

an Al tank with 5 Lb of lead is one hell of a lot cheaper than steel and basically overcomes the bouyancy issue.

 

[Rick Murchison]

Money aside, I much prefer steel for most applications. But Aluminum is definitely my choice for stages, deco bottles, hang tanks & such.
Rick

 

[Bob3]

If you average the maintenance cost over a number of years, steel comes out the winner.
If your shop requires a Viz Plus on aluminum tanks, the $20 or so extra per year adds up quick. That's an extra $100 during its first 5 years !!
Steel tanks do not require the Viz Plus, nor do they require tumbeling IF you get good clean dry air.
I have steel tanks over 40 years old that have never been tumbled.
Besides, you can plaster refrigerator magnets all over a steel tank.

 

[cudachaser]

I use AL 50's, 63's and 80's. I like the trim. Used Steel 80's (2400). Felt the additional negative on my back was trying to roll me.

Years ago I used steel 72's (2250). They unquestionably had the best trim for me

 

[SeaJay]

Bob3 once bubbled...
If you average the maintenance cost over a number of years, steel comes out the winner.
If your shop requires a Viz Plus on aluminum tanks, the $20 or so extra per year adds up quick. That's an extra $100 during its first 5 years !!
Steel tanks do not require the Viz Plus, nor do they require tumbeling IF you get good clean dry air.

What's this, now? AL tanks have to be visually inspected every year?

Tell me more about this maintenance issue. I was under the impression that AL tanks don't have the corrosion problems that steels do. Am I wrong on this?

I have a chart on my site that posts many buoyancy characteristics on all of the major name brand tanks... Both steel and aluminum. I was under the impression that in the water, most steels are heavier (and therefore less buoyant) than aluminum tanks. Simply put, that rule of thumb, it appears, has been broken so many times that it can not be considered the "rule" any more. I've found that most AL tanks are emulating steels quite well. Sure, we are all familiar with the cheapo al tank that is 4 pounds positive when empty, but it appears to me that most manufacturers now are making both steels and al tanks that are just about neutral empty (which is ideal, right?) Well, give or take maybe a pound.

I am attracted to the idea, though, that the same physical-sized steel is lighter and holds more air than AL tanks... But I've always shyed away from them because I've had the impression that they rust in salt water. Yes, I know that al also corrodes, but I was under the impression that it wasn't nearly the problem with al as it was with steel. Is this wrong?

Pressed Steel makes some awfully nice stuff... In fact, I believe that their HP100, which is ten pounds lighter on land than a typical al80, five inches shorter than an al80, and holds the same amount of air that an al80 does at 3000 psi, will then go to 3500 psi (dive shop permitting) and can therefore hold 25% more air. That sounds like a win-win-win situation. Best of all, it's neutral when empty, the same characteristic that I like about the better al80's.

Price... Well, they're more expensive, but I'm willing to pay more for a tank that requires less maintenance. Is this true?

What about rust?

And what about those pesky DIN valves? I was planning on the purchase of a new Scubapro MK16... Does that come in a DIN style?

 

[SeaJay]

Can I get a Pressed Steel HP100 with a K-valve? I thought K-valves were good up to 4000 psi...