First set of Doubles

[MASS-Diver]

Well although I've enjoyed diving with my 120hp and 40cu stage, I think I'm ready for doubles and I plan on devoting a chunk of my tax refund toward them. Any advice on all aspects of doubles would be much appreciated.


My short terms goals include a couple a wrecks in 130-160' of water.

I plan on purchasing an explorer wing, highland bands, and a halycon manifold.

I'm not sure about the tanks yet. I already have one 120hp so I could save a good ammount of money by buying just one more. I dive dry year round so I could some heavy tanks as well. And 240 is a lot of gas. But, for topside, is this rig going to be alot heavier than 104lps; I'm not a small guy but I don't really want to hurt my back either with an unnecesaarily heavy rig?

I've heard double 80al create bouyancy problems (because the swing is so much) and as result less and less people are diving them, is this ture? Anyone think that is a good setup for me?

Should I try to purchase the whole setup through an LDS or is it something one can/should get online (from EE). Is it diffiuclt to setup the bands, install the manifold etc?

Oh and here is a pretty basic question: how do you carry doubles. I see people carrying them attached to thier BCDs down to the boat, but, what about just taking them for a fill? Do you take off the mainfold, etc?

Thanks for any feedback.

 

[Scubaroo]

Do a search on Sea Elite - their manifold is almost identical to the Halcyon one, and much cheaper. I just picked one up new from eBay for $126.50, versus $250 for the Halcyon one. With some Gary Hoadley tank bands also from eBay (about $82 shipped), I'll have a quality manifold and set of bands for less than the price of the Halcyon manifold alone.

I'm waiting for the new PST E7-100 tanks due out in March - 200cf of gas will be plenty for the dives I plan on doing with them.

 

[MechDiver]

MASS-Diver once bubbled...

I plan on purchasing an explorer wing, highland bands, and a halycon manifold.

I've heard double 80al create bouyancy problems (because the swing is so much) and as result less and less people are diving them, is this ture? Anyone think that is a good setup for me?

There is no more swing with alum, (actually, LP steel has more) its just that the swing goes positive and forces you to use more weight to counter. Also, you can't pump up alum tanks like you can LP steel. Alum doubles are generally preferred if diving wet.

Is it diffiuclt to setup the bands, install the manifold etc?

As you apparently haven't setup doubles before, I would recommend you find someone who knows how. You can screw up the manifold if done incorrectly.

Oh and here is a pretty basic question: how do you carry doubles. I see people carrying them attached to thier BCDs down to the boat, but, what about just taking them for a fill? Do you take off the mainfold, etc?

You carry them c a r e f u l l y . You carry them by one hand on each valve and in a hurry. Do NOT carry them by the manifold. You have to take them apart to remove the manifold. As I suggested, find someone who knows these to set them up for you.

As far as the tanks themselves, I have LP-95s from PST. HP tanks have pros and cons, I prefer the LP tanks for doubles. I would also hope you are taking additional training to go along with the potential for added depth and possibly deco.

MD

 

[roakey]

Lemme see, where to start…

The only consideration about the “swing” of cylinders is how much lift you need in your wing. Swing is about 1 pound for every 13 CF of air or Nitrox, and contrary to popular opinion it has NOTHING to do with the cylinder material. Al, Steel (LP or HP) and even carbon fiber swings about 1 pound for every 13 CF of air you pump into them.

What IS interesting is what the buoyancy is when empty. Als typically are more buoyant when empty than steels, and THAT’S the interesting datapoint, not the swing. Count on double AL80s to go on the order of about 5 pounds positive when empty. LP 104s by contrast are still several pounds negative when empty.

If you have mechanical aptitude and patience you can assemble doubles yourself without help, there’s plenty of information on the web.

The Halcyon and SeaElite manifolds are the same, except for price and the SeaElites don’t have the Halcyon “H” on them.

Roak

 

[metridium]

MASS-Diver wrote...
I plan on purchasing an explorer wing, highland bands, and a halycon manifold.

I echo the comments to get a SeaElite manifold...and Diver's Supply, who carries SeaElite, also had the best prices I could find for Highland Mills bands last I checked. If they're still not on the site, just call.

Be sure to specify that you want a manifold cleaned for 100% O2.

MASS-Diver wrote...
Should I try to purchase the whole setup through an LDS or is it something one can/should get online (from EE). Is it diffiuclt to setup the bands, install the manifold etc?

I bought my tanks via mail order, the bands and manifold came from Diver's Supply, and I set it all up myself. It took a bit of practice and care, but it wasn't very difficult or annoying to do. Highland Mills has a great set of instructions to work by.

MASS-Diver wrote...
Oh and here is a pretty basic question: how do you carry doubles. I see people carrying them attached to thier BCDs down to the boat, but, what about just taking them for a fill? Do you take off the mainfold, etc?

I wear them around when possible; otherwise, I carry them by each valve handle (not the manifold, but you knew that).

 

[MASS-Diver]

Thanks guys

 

[Padipro]

I too purchased a Divers Supply manifold from Ebay. Just remember to make sure you get the 300 Bar version because the one on Ebay is the 232 Bar version with the screw in inserts. They are the same price but you have to ask them to send you the 300 Bar version.

I dive wet so I use AL 90cuft, 3300 PSI tanks. They're hard to find because they don't make them anymore and it seems that a lot of people are trying to do the same thing I did. I had one tank originally and found a second one on Ebay for about $80. Not a bad price considering others I had been watching had sold for upwards of $160. I don't think the seller knew what he had because it was advertised as an AL 80.

Check out this link to Dive Rites site. They have some good info on equipment assembly.

Assembling Doubles

Scott

 

[Popeye]

Scubaroo once bubbled...
Do a search on Sea Elite - their manifold is almost identical to the Halcyon one, and much cheaper. I just picked one up new from eBay for $126.50, versus $250 for the Halcyon one. With some Gary Hoadley tank bands also from eBay (about $82 shipped), I'll have a quality manifold and set of bands for less than the price of the Halcyon manifold alone.

I'm waiting for the new PST E7-100 tanks due out in March - 200cf of gas will be plenty for the dives I plan on doing with them.

Sea Elite manifolds:

http://store.divers-supply.com/sear...=Show+Matches&numresults=25&viewfrom=1&step=2

Home: http://store.divers-supply.com/

 

[Rush]

I prefer the buoyancy characteristics of the steel tanks as compared to the alumunim (and I can't stand using V-weights), so I went with the OMS/Faber LP Steel 112's. Each tank weighs 41 lbs, so the tanks themselves are at 82 lbs without the manifold. The previous posts already answered you question as to how to carry them, but fear not, once you get used to doing it, it is not as bad as it may seem at first.

 

[Northeastwrecks]

I've tried double HP120's, LP104's and LP95's. I finally settled on 104's.

The 120's were not as negative as the 104's and the 95's. I still needed weight.

The 95's were fine and I didn't need weight; however, the 104's were not much heavier, so I decided to go with them.