advice on new doubles

[Mike Edmonston]

oh sure ... ya

ya betcha ya...

Are you from Minnesota?

 

[H2Andy]

hehehe... nope, Jean is

 

[Arcaporale]

I am not disputing your success. But as a Dive shop owner, I cannot float the liability of overfilling past stated pressures. I'll stay on the side of caution.

I'm just a little surprised that you guys are discussing increasing the pressures by 30% and changing burst disks to achieve that purpose.

I have some pictures of exploded tanks that I could upload if you wish. (They're buried somewhere...) But just remember that when a tank blows, it's like a claymore going off. You can justify it any way you like, but if it happens on the boat, you will take out the better part of a 10ft radius. Is an extra 15 minutes of bottom time worth that? I don't care if it worked the first 9999 times. the 1 time it blows, you could take out a family. :shakehead

Yes I can understand, as a dive shop owner you may be weary of this, I know DOT can fine you at a min. of $10,000 if your caught overfilling tanks. Aluminum is a big no no on overfills as far as im concerned, but steel is alot stronger and more elastic. Also steel doesn't crack at all like aluminum does. I've heard of plenty of aluminum tanks exploding, even with valid VIP and HYDRO, but never a steel that had a VIP and HYDRO. A properly cared for steel tank should last you 30+ years of overfills. Yes, an exploding tank can be quite devistating, I read somewhere that an AL 80 @ 3000psi has 1.3 million pounds of explosive force, however I wouldn't say it's like a claymore, because tanks don't fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces when they go off, they just burst wide open into one or two big ones. If you have any pics of STEEL tanks exploding I would like to see them if it's not too much trouble, I've only heard of AL ones going off, and most of them are the ones with the bad alloy. There is always a risk involved when filling tanks regardless if it's a legal fill or not

 

[Mike Edmonston]

Yes I can understand, as a dive shop owner you may be weary of this, I know DOT can fine you at a min. of $10,000 if your caught overfilling tanks. Aluminum is a big no no on overfills as far as im concerned, but steel is alot stronger and more elastic. Also steel doesn't crack at all like aluminum does. I've heard of plenty of aluminum tanks exploding, even with valid VIP and HYDRO, but never a steel that had a VIP and HYDRO. A properly cared for steel tank should last you 30+ years of overfills. Yes, and exploding tank can be quite devistating, I read somewhere that an AL 80 @ 3000psi has 1.3 million pounds of explosive force, however I wouldn't say it's like a claymore, because tanks don't fragment into hundreds of tiny pieces when they go off, they just burst wide open into one or two big ones. If you have any pics of STEEL tanks exploding I would like to see them if it's not too much trouble, I've only heard of AL ones going off, and most of them are the ones with the bad alloy.

Thanks for the info

 

[Mike Edmonston]

Awesome...
Another NOMADer...

Jeano Beano

P.S. Andy , let me know when you try it out...I'd like to come along...I can always use the pointers myself.

Just for S**T and Giggles, I'm taking my NOMAD on an Ice Diving trip to Wisconsin in 2 weeks. I'll let you know how it does zipping between the ice . I'll post pictures once I warm back up .

Hopefully, the Ikelite housing on my camera will take the cold. BRrrrrrrrr...

Cheers

Mike

 

[Soggy]

Well if you got them in a VIP class, that would indicate that the explosion was VIP related, not overfilling.

Yeah, I have those same pictures from my PSI class. I pressed our instructor and he couldn't come up with a single example where cave fills have caused an explosion.

Now, they likely reduce cylinder life, but that's a whole other issue.

 

[Arcaporale]

I've started a thread looking for the actual difference between LP and HP tanks and why one is rated higher than the other.

 

[Nic160]

Hey Guys,
I just quadruple disc'd my dbl al80's !!!!! hey Rich, can you fill them to 9000psi ? Rich, Rich, where you going? What are you doing with that hacksaw.............. Guys the consesus says, your aluminium tanks will fail if you try to overfill them.

 

[Arcaporale]

So andy what tanks did you end up deciding on?

 

[Dive-aholic]

Andy, your Worthingtons weigh 34 lbs empty and are -6 lbs in the water full. Faber 120s are 39 lbs empty, and -9 lbs in the water full. Those might work for you.

Another option, no matter what tank you use, is to cart your tanks to the water and put them on there. Peacock has the benches and you'd only have to walk down the steps. Devil's could be a little bit of a problem. Little River is a bigger issue. Or you could come over to JB and leave the tanks right at the water, walk around into the water and grab tanks from there.

Of course, sidemount is probably the best option in all situations. My next gear purchases will be towards getting set up in sidemount. Besides, think of all the extra caves and passages you'll be able to dive in sidemount.