Diving with 11lt aluminum tank + pony bottle

[kelemvor]

You will not find anywhere in Europe that will overfill. Alu tanks tend to be 200bar (about 3000psi) and most European countries fill to 200 bar. The compressor or mix panel will cut off at 200 or you can have 300 bar if you have the correct DIN fitting and a 300bar tank.

Here in the UK we have 232 bar (I don't know why the difference). However if you take your tank to most other European countries you get a 200 bar fill.

Filling a tank beyond it's design pressure is a massive failure of basic safety regulations and anyone doing it would be sacked, if it were the dive shop owner they still would find themselves in very big trouble. Most customers also would be upset to find that their tank had been overfilled.

If you need more gas then buy a bigger tank, if you want a higher working pressure buy a tank that is rated for a higher pressure. I have no idea why this practice is acceptable in other parts of the world. High pressure gas is probably the most dangerous thing there is in scuba diving.

You guys have a different way of life for sure. In a few cases I envy you and in others, I pity you. I didn't intend to start a debate on the merits or risks of overfilling tanks, there are plenty of those on SB already. I intended to say that if you live somewhere that it's possible and you desire to do it, then overfills might be worth considering at purchase time.

 

[chrisch]

You guys have a different way of life for sure. In a few cases I envy you and in others, I pity you. I didn't intend to start a debate on the merits or risks of overfilling tanks, there are plenty of those on SB already. I intended to say that if you live somewhere that it's possible and you desire to do it, then overfills might be worth considering at purchase time.

Understood - not wishing to start a debate, just that this "benefit" is not available to the OP. As best I understand it some tanks in the US were stamped with a WP that is below the safe WP for the tank and so this is a workaround. No one overfills Alu here and for good reason.

 

[chrisch]

Newer steel tanks are almost always 232 bar? Its the old ones that are 200bar.
In Belgium and the Netherlands they always fill them around 230bar. It’s aluminium that they don’t overfill.

Good to know. Been a while since I dived there. Really look forward to going again.