Should I grab these HP100s?

[rjack321]

Why not DIN plastic or Delerin plugs?

If the valve is accidentally cracked, the plastic will shatter and be expelled like a grenade. The proximity of your hand or thigh at the time will dictate where you need stitches. Plastic doesn't keep the DIN fitting round, doesn't keep your gas intact if the valve rolls on, AND creates a huge hazard. Total waste of money.

 

[rjack321]

The neck sizing is not obsolete, at this time no one is making tanks with 3500# over service pressure, once they do the 7/8 thread is required by DOT. As @Brian G said, valves are available, but not cheap because there is a limited market at this time.


Bob

Some non-scuba tanks are made in 7/8" UNF (still). SCBA and some others. Scuba tanks could be made in that thread again but seems unlikely

 

[aviator8]

If the valve is accidentally cracked, the plastic will shatter and be expelled like a grenade. The proximity of your hand or thigh at the time will dictate where you need stitches. Plastic doesn't keep the DIN fitting round, doesn't keep your gas intact if the valve rolls on, AND creates a huge hazard. Total waste of money.

All my 7/8 valves have a small hole in them. If the valve seat were to fail the pressure would escape there and not by blowing the DIN plug apart. Maybe I’m missing something.

 

[rjack321]

All my 7/8 valves have a small hole in them. If the valve seat were to fail the pressure would escape there and not by blowing the DIN plug apart. Maybe I’m missing something.

Crack the valve
It turns on fast
The plug blows out

Trust me, I have seen 2 (different) hands go to the ER with plastic shards in them. Those plugs are nothing but trouble and zero value

 

[Colliam7]

Thanks for the feedback everyone, I should just be patient. It's tough, I'm just starting out and there are so many toys!

Here's a somewhat contrarian thought. The only new, galvanized HP100s that are available are Faber, which retail for $335-$349, depending on the online retailer. (At least one actually lists them for $450 each, but that's an outlier.)

PST and Worthington cylinders are no longer manufactured and are therefore available only when someone decides to sell them, which makes for a fixed (and very limited) supply.

Yes, having 3/4" valves would be preferable. But, I have a couple of PST 120s with 7/8" necks, have dove them for years and the valves are fine. Any DIN regulator should fit.

$175 / cylinder would not be a bad price, even considering the presence of the 7/8" neck. If you are interested in them, making a lower offer does no harm. The worst thing that can happen is the seller says 'No'. Even if you don't get them, you gain some experience with buying, or at least negotiating for, used gear.

Don't be dissuaded by the spectacular deals someone else may have gotten. The issue is whether you want them, now, at a fair price. You could wait, forever, for the 'best price'.

 

[seeker242]

The neck sizing is not obsolete,

Are valves with 7/8 thread still being manufactured?

at this time no one is making tanks with 3500# over service pressure, once they do the 7/8 thread is required by DOT.

Who has plans to start making them again?

As @Brian G said, valves are available, but not cheap because there is a limited market at this time.
Bob

Just because you can find a limited amount of used parts doesn't mean they aren't obsolete. I can find parts for a horse drawn carriage, that doesn't mean they aren't obsolete.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

Are valves with 7/8 thread still being manufactured?



Who has plans to start making them again?



Just because you can find a limited amount of used parts doesn't mean they aren't obsolete. I can find parts for a horse drawn carriage, that doesn't mean they aren't obsolete.

@Brian G just linked them on DGX website. Unless I'm missing something and just old stock?

Tank valves for 7/8" necks are no longer hard to find. They aren't cheap though.
XSS Valve, 300 Bar DIN outlet, 7/8 UNF inlet threads | Dive Gear Express®

 

[aviator8]

If you want the slant neck Sherwood, Genesis or US divers 7/8 valves it is the used market only. XS scuba is still making a 7/8 valve which is linked above. I don't see getting valves as an issue, though I keep two spares on hand for my 7/8 tanks in case I need something but have to search around for awhile to find it. Now manifolds, if you want to double up, that's a bit harder.

A tank is only obsolete to me if I cant get it filled because I cant get a valve, cant get a hydro, cant get a visual, or cant get it serviced if there are issues (tumble, whip, valve rebuild). None of these are an issue for my PST 7/8 tanks so they are not obsolete for me. If anyone has any they feel are obsolete and want to pass them along I'll gladly take them off your hands.

 

[Bob DBF]

Are valves with 7/8 thread still being manufactured?

XSS Valve, 300 Bar DIN outlet, 7/8 UNF inlet threads | Dive Gear Express® for SCUBA valves, I don't know who makes the SCBA, or any other HP tank.

Who has plans to start making them again?

I don't know if HP scuba tanks over 3500# will be made again, however SCBA tanks are, and are required, because of their service pressure, by DOT to use the 7/8 thread, which size you said was obsolete.

QUOTE="seeker242, post: 8842339, member: 468116"]Just because you can find a limited amount of used parts doesn't mean they aren't obsolete. I can find parts for a horse drawn carriage, that doesn't mean they aren't obsolete.[/QUOTE]

The thread size, which is what you called as obsolete, is a current DOT standard and is used for other HP tanks, and would apply to scuba if new HP tanks are made for the US market.

From the definition below the old HP tanks would be obsolete under definition b, but not under definition a.

Merriam-Webster
Definition of obsolete

a: no longer in use or no longer useful an obsolete word
b: of a kind or style no longer current : OLD-FASHIONED


Since I dive vintage gear the second definition holds little intrest for me.


Bob

 

[-JD-]

XS 7/8" manifolds: XS Scuba Thermo DIN Manifold 7/8-UNF 3500psi