Interesting Scuba Cylinder Facts

Interesting Scuba Cylinder Facts #top10 #scuba @ScubaDiverMagazine
Ten random things about scuba tanks that I've learnt over the years
#cylinder #scubadiving #scubadiver
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00:00 Introduction
00:40 Working Pressure
02:35 Cylinders Can Float
04:27 Flat Bottom Cylinder
06:11 Final Breath
07:22 Stale Air
08:44 Strong Yet Fragile
10:05 Finger Tight
11:24 Shoulder Stamps
13:02 Colours Have Meaning
14:31 Cylinder Testing We partner with www.scuba.com and www.mikesdivestore.com for all your gear essentials. Consider using the affiliate link above to support the channel. The information in this video is not intended nor implied to be a substitute for professional SCUBA Training. All content, including text, graphics, images, and information, contained in this video is for general information purposes only and does not replace training from a qualified Dive Instructor.

[@jimmymoore1982]

Impressed by your explanation of the hydro test, I work for a company that does that and that was an extremely accurate description, usually people think you just pump the cylinder up and make sure it doesn't explode lol

[@scubaz4085]

BRING BACK THE OLD SHIRT WITH THE BOLT SNAP THERAPY !!! I was sad when I wanted it and found it no longer for sale. Finger tight....something I didn't know thank you...I love your videos...

[@josephdracula7487]

👍😎🤿lots of good information Mark! Thanks!!!!!

[@kennethjmcarthur2428]

Prefer steel and a standard sizes when traveling/renting. Just easier to determine weights as I usually wear the same rash guard, shorts etc when in warm water. From Canada & no longer want to dive in cold water. Great video, I learn something new every time.

[@quickdry3]

How did you know? I'm booked in for my fill and inspection course tomorrow. Timely refresher

[@gamernick1533]

On the second dive out on the first tank that I bought, the site that I filled it at dropped another cylinder on my valve as they were shuffling them around. I didn't think anything of it but my regs were a little more difficult to get in on the next use. Fast forward to a series of boat dives a few weeks later and they refused to fill, the dink had actually dented the top of the valve and crushed the threads. £50 to replace, I was grateful that they could do it without me needing to scrub the dives, but man, I was upset. Were it not for the fact a) I can't prove it now and b) I'll never be going back to the muddy pond they call a 'site' I'd have had a pop. Accidents happen but I was a new diver at the time and had no idea it could or would damage it like that.

[@toadou8127]

Do not buy 7 thread DIN only valves. They are too easy to knock out of round. Use the convertible (Pro) 5 thread valves with Yoke insert removed.

[@Buraqdiscovery2379]

👍

[@henrygoleau]

I briefly worked in a dive shop and one day I was tasked with filling tanks for the local (US) fire department. Those weren't actual scuba tanks, but they still needed to be filled with compressed air (I can't remember what the service pressure was but it was not as high as scuba). I was terrified of what could happen if I were to screw up with the compressor and started on the job, filling one tank after the other quite meticulously. Then a customer walked in the shop with a question while I was in the middle of filling a tank and the question brought on another question and I lost track of the time and had to step out of the compressor area in the back of the store and sure enough, BAAAANG! immediately followed by a loud prolonged hiss of air escaping. The safety valve had done its job, so it's not like the tank had acted like a cannon ball and gone through any walls, in fact it was right where it had been while being filled, albeit on its side iirc, but what a scare. The customer left, the boss bitched me out and I never forgot my lesson.

[@billthomas2431]

How is the best way to dispose of an old cylinder ?

[@SteffiPeffi-gk3ws]

How long you can use a steel tank in saltwater if you’re careful with your cylinder? 🤔 I am thinking of buying one. Thanks for your great content! 👍👍👍

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

The lifetime of a steel cylinder can be decades if you look after them. The main killers are letting rust form on the outside from a scratch in the paint. And moisture getting inside from a bad fill or empty cylinder.

[@stefanie3539]

Thank you so much! That was the answer I wanted to hear🤘😍, but then I am broke again. 🤣 lol

[@peterjulianphotos4659]

My LDS has a policy that every tank that is sold is retested prior to customer handover, so you always get a tank with a current month stamp.

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

Nice! It sucks when you buy a cylinder and it's already 6months old. Little touches like that mean you know you have a good dive centre that cares more about their customer than earning a bit more money.

[@peterjulianphotos4659]

​@ScubaDiverMagazine #askmark howabout a video on how to choose the best cylinder size for your scuba diving. In Australia most rental tanks are AL80s at 200bar whereas in Europe it sees to be the Steel 12 at 232 Bar. Commercial dive charters seem to work on a 45 minute total dive time which works well with with the alloy tank and 20- 24M depth but rec diving can be quite varied - would love ro see you deconstruct tank sizing and diving

[@amadeuss3341]

Pink cylinder means - with raspberry flavor 😆 that's my girlfriend loves is so much

[@simpel_2019]

My girlfriend is using pink cylinders. She likes the taste😂 My cylinders are green but I can not notice any flawor. Is it a defect? 😕

[@amadeuss3341]

@@simpel_2019 should be a Kiwi flavor. Double check with your dive store 🤣

[@nutsinbolts7548]

Please address the issue of Walter Kiddie scuba tanks. 6061 vs. 6351.

[@psarmstr]

Note that aluminium cylinders are actually usually heavier than steel cylinders. Because it's a softer metal and they require substantially more material for the same pressure, this usually causes them to outweigh the equivalent steel cylinder.

[@davidbonnichsen2901]

It’s not the weight differential, it is the buoyancy difference. Steel is always better. Period.

[@davidtillotson291]

I'm not sure whether the "stale air" comments are really factual. If your cylinder is dry inside, there's not much that can change, and if it isn't, you have bigger issues than "stale air"! Some of mine have currently sat for nearly 3 years (thanks to that annoying bug that is going around), and a quick analyse and taste would indicate that nothing has changed. I did have to give them a good shake as the nitrogen and oxygen may have settled in the time they've been sat there. 😜

[@eric802]

I had an AL80 filled in the mid-90's; I got out of diving shortly thereafter, and that tank sat in various garages and basements for over 25 years. Last year I got back into diving and I took that tank to the local quarry and had a very nice 40 minute dive on it. The air was just fine.

[@dtt3426]

when filing a tank will dive shops remove the air in the tank first

[@LeeLeatherbarrow]

If it's "Air" in the tank (21% O2 content), and you only want the "Air" topped up, then no, the fill station will not drain the cylinder first. But, if an eANX or Tx breathing mixture is required, then draining the tank might be required. But this changes fill station to fill station and with the experience of the blender doing the mix. For instance, if the fill station has banked eANX 32% (a large bank of cylinders already containing pre-mixed 32% eANX) , and you have a tank already partially filled with 32% eANX from the same fill station, there will be no need for them to drain the cylinder to top it back up to a full cylinder of 32% eANX. But if the fill station uses a fill method known as "Partial Pressure Blending" (rather than banked eANX 32%) and/or a mix other than 32% eANX is required then it is more than likely that the cylinder will need to be drained before it can be re-filled.

[@naa62]

what is the difference between a high pressure steel 80 and a low pressure steel 80 ? don't they both just have 80 cubic feet of air ? does one last longer than the other ? thanks

[@psarmstr]

The "size" of the cylinder is the number of liters of water it can take (converted to cubic ft for the US market, because they just have to be different). A high pressure cylinder takes that volume and can compress it to 300 bar. A low pressure cylinder is, well, lower. So, if you take an 11.1 liter cylinder (that's what 80 cf is) and pressurise it to 300 bar, you end up with a total of 11.1 x 232 = 2,575 liters of gas available for the dive. If you take the same cylinder and can only pressurise it to 207 bar you only have 2,298 liters of gas available for the dive. If you want 300 bar, you have to go steel. At a SAC of 15 liters/min, this will give you an extra (2575 - 2298) / (15 * 4) = 4.6 minutes of gas at 30 meters. Note that if you're masochistic, you could do all this in lb and ft and cubic ft etc. Complete waste of time and very error prone. Make your life easier and just use the metric numbers for this stuff, you can do most of the calculations in your head which makes it both easier and safer.

[@LeeLeatherbarrow]

@@psarmstr Why would the calculation be 11.1 x 232 if an 11.1L cylinder is pressurised to 300 bar? I quote "So, if you take an 11.1 liter cylinder (that's what 80 cf is) and pressurise it to 300 bar, you end up with a total of 11.1 x 232 = 2,575 liters of gas available for the dive."

[@psarmstr]

@@LeeLeatherbarrow Because I originally did it as 300 bar because I think of high pressure as 300 bar. Only steel goes to 300 though. High pressure in the context of aluminium is typically 232-237 (ish). So, I switched it all over to be more relevant to your question.

[@KITsune-ICHI]

@psarmstr That's not correct. Tanks marked with a metric unit are showing the water displacement of the tank. Imperial units are showing the total amount of compressed gas (at 1 atm) in the tank when compressed to its working pressure. The math you have was correct for metric tanks but it's completely wrong for imperial ones because the two numbers mean different things. @naa62 a high pressure 80 and a low pressure 80 have the same volume of air in them they only differ in working pressure. The high pressure tank has 80 cubic foot of air when filled to ~3300psi (the working pressures can be slightly different depending on the tank but will be marked). The low pressure tank has 80 cubic foot of air when filled to ~2400 psi. Some shops will "cave fill" LP tanks which will drastically increase the volume of air in the tank but is generally unsafe and will shorten the life of the tank. A 2400 psi lp80 filled to 3200psi will have 100 cuft of air. As you can probably guess, having the same amount of air in them at different pressures means the actual size of the tank differs. TL;DR LP tanks will be slightly larger than HP tanks with the same number but will hold the same amount of air.

[@joshs3916]

It’s 5 years for hydro in the states. 2 years seems very short?

[@ScubaDiverMagazine]

They were once trying for yearly tests, that was met with some resistance...

[@joshs3916]

@@ScubaDiverMagazine Thank you for the information