'Trim' issues with steel tanks and warm water diving

[Onewolf]

I wish I had paid more attention to people when they talked about potential 'trim' issues with steel tanks.
I recently bought a Faber HP100 steel tank that I've now done about 15 or so dives with. And, well, I hate it.

All my diving is warm water (shorty) diving and even though I'm rather round/rotund in a beer drinking sort of way, I only need about 3-4 lbs of weight when diving with the steel 100 tank. My underwater balance is way off and it feels like I'm always about to flip upside down because most of the weight is on my back. It makes underwater photography that much more challenging and frustrating.

Therefore I will probably be selling my HP steel tanks.

That is all.

Hopefully I can prevent someone else from making this mistake.

 

[mala]

sorry to hear that you dont get on with steel tanks.


i must admit i prefer them.

 

[ekremer]

hmm, when I dove my steel 130 on my zeagle with about 6-8 lbs in SE FL the only issue I had was the tank moved a lot on my bcd, and that made it almost feel like that.
Are you feeling your BCD shift, and that is taking you with it?
I fixed it by snugging the hell out of my adjustment straps and eventually shifting to a smaller sized BCD.

 

[Peter_C]

Does the tank flop on your back? Maybe you need a better BC? I don't roll around when just using a steel tank. Then again I probably tend to split my legs apart a little further and use my heavy fins to balance with.

Most likely there is a small issue that would resolve your complaints with the tank.

 

[TSandM]

Diving steel tanks is like learning to BE a bicycle -- you've got this big negative thing on your back, and if you rotate along your longitudinal axis at all, the tank wants to head for the bottom. If your BC allows slop, it will make this worse, but even if it doesn't, you have to learn to keep that tank in the middle of your back. The good news is that you CAN learn this, if you don't want to give up on your steel tank. It just takes a bit of practice, and pretty soon you'll be unaware that there was ever a problem.

(BTW, moving all of your other weight as close to the center of your body in front of you as you can will help.)

 

[chrpai]

Seems I just had this thread the other day. It didn't go well... before you know it, it seemed like people were jumping all over me for not knowing how to ride a bike and balance a rig...

Anyways a friend loaned me an HP100 the other day. Fresh water, 3mil, steel BP and steel tank meant the last 3lbs was removed from my weightbelt.

Now I only dived it once so I don't think this is the final chapter on the HP100 for me but here is my initial comments:

1) I had my BP/W straps as high on the tank as I could and I still felt like I was head heavy. But maybe that's really my finning doing that. In the AL80 it seemed like my trim was better in terms of head down, head up and feeling my atttitude change more responsively.

2) I could dive level no problem but yes, if I banked to the side I had to fin a bit to keep that position. With my AL80 and my weights in the front as a counter weight this wasn't an issue or atleast not very well pronounced.

I'm doing some pool work with a local NAUI instructor / DIR diver so it'll be good to get a second opinion on all of this. I really do want to dive that HP100 as that tank would rock out at the Flower Gardens.

 

[mblazer]

I've been using HP100s for about a year now, and couldn't be happier. I really do agree with some of the other posters that it could well be a fit issue with your BCD. It does need to be snug or you'll tend to get rolling and flopping. Mine got much better when I switched to a Mares Dragon - tight and streamlined, and the wings hold the tank snugly to the plate. Also definitely keep any weights (if you need any) in front and up a bit. Don't give up - you will eventually appreciate them.

 

[supergaijin]

I've found that the shape of the tank (long and narrow as opposed to short and squat) makes a big difference. I'm using a long and narrow one now without any balance issues, but a couple of years back in Djibouti, the short and squat steels were a right PITA to balance with.

If you can find a way to compare with another steel, it may prove to be informative.

 

[James R]

I wish I had paid more attention to people when they talked about potential 'trim' issues with steel tanks.
I recently bought a Faber HP100 steel tank that I've now done about 15 or so dives with. And, well, I hate it.

All my diving is warm water (shorty) diving and even though I'm rather round/rotund in a beer drinking sort of way, I only need about 3-4 lbs of weight when diving with the steel 100 tank. My underwater balance is way off and it feels like I'm always about to flip upside down because most of the weight is on my back. It makes underwater photography that much more challenging and frustrating.

Therefore I will probably be selling my HP steel tanks.

That is all.

Hopefully I can prevent someone else from making this mistake.

Which Faber tanks do you have? FX100 or HP100...big difference in buoyancy characteristics. The FX100 is -8.4 when full (it's rated for 3442psi) and the HP100 is -14.76 (it's rated for 3180 +10%).

I have four FX100s (two singles, one set of doubles), and couldn't be happier with them. They're very easy to dive, with only slightly more tendency to roll than an AL80. I don't even have to think about it, and I have no weights on my belt unless I'm diving dry.

I have tried the Worthington HP100 and found them to be a bit more unstable (they are ~2lbs more negative) and the other Faber HP100 3180 are even worse -- I hate them too, and would sell them if I had any!

 

[Brewone0to]

This link has useful info on various tank specs.
Scuba Cylinder Specification Chart from Huron Scuba, Ann Arbor Michigan