Marking my new tanks?

[Georgia bubble blower]

Ok, I know some of you are gonna read this and think I know he didn't just ask that but...I have never owned my own tanks before now and I just recently bought new Worthington steel tanks for myself and my wife and was just wondering what everyone uses to mark their tanks with. Do i just grab a permanant marker and use that or should I use one of the paint pens or should I use something a little less permanant? Thanks, and please go easy on me for this one.

 

[dsteding]

A sharpie to put my initials on the crown of my tanks was enough for me . . . seems durable enough, and I'm sure it would come off with a little rubbing alcohol if needed.

 

[markfm]

Steel tanks have a round bottom, so you'll use them with boots, correct? I wrote my initials on the black boots, with a red paint stick.

 

[CompuDude]

I see a lot of people using paint pens and write their initials on two sides of the crown.

I prefer to use said paint pen to draw a simple repeating pattern in a ring around the tank (a ring of isosceles trapezoids, to be absurdly precise ). Makes my tanks very easy to pick out of a bunch (from any side), yet does not inconvenience the next owner with my initials all over their tank, should I decide to sell at some point.

 

[H2Andy]

i don't mark my tanks, i can tell them apart from others by the visual inspection sticker, if need be

Georgia bubble blower, what size Worthies did you get?

i have a doubles set of steel 85's ... love them

 

[spectrum]

I have our last name just below the crown in 1-1/2 inch letters. I used a black paint pen and laid them on bold. Anything to avoid confusion if you leave them overnight at the dive shop. Each tank also has a number. 1,2,3......

Before the paint pens I used a permanent marker. It worked OK but the paint pen is holding up better.

While you are at it be sure to record all of the stamped numbers on the cylinder. it could be handy if they end up in sombody elses possesion.

Pete

 

[Georgia bubble blower]

Thanks everyone! All great ideas. I really appreciate the input. I just wasn't sure if there would be adhesion issues with the paint pens in particular or possibly even the markers on the galvanized finish but I had not even considered marking the boot. I was actually thinking only of marking the crown. I thought it would be much easier to identify them that way if they were mixed in with a bunch of other tanks.

H2Andy, I picked up 2 HP 100's for myself and 2 HP 80's for my wife.

 

[spectrum]

I cleaned mine with denatured alchohol before marking just to be sure there was no residue. If you go on the crown give the next VIP applicator enough room to work. Between the VIP and stampings it will be crowded. This assumes a crown style VIP sticker I suppose.

Pete

 

[Iruka]

One other more "permanent" suggestion to add to the others....we just use aluminum tanks here, so I don't know if there'd be any difference with steel....you could put your initials or whatever on the tank with one of those metal stamps...a die set, I think it's called? That's what I have on my tanks, along with painting...if your paint job is similar to someone else's (if you paint them at all) having your initials on the tank would eliminate uncertainty....and since the hydro info & serial numbers, etc are already stamped on the tank, it wouldn't cause any harm to the tank.

 

[keyshunter]

A method I have used for more than 20 years, is to put my initials on both the shoulder, and the bottom UNDER the boot. I use auto touch up paint. It lasts very well, is relatively easy to remove, and comes in dozens of colors.