Posted by MHK on October 22, 2001 at 15:35:39:
In Reply to: So the Tank Explodes - What's the Big Deal??? posted by Ken Kurtis on October 22, 2001 at 15:03:48:
Ken,
I think you somewhat misrepresented the issue, although I don't believe you did it intentionally..
With respect to the Florida scene, such as it is, you are correct that many do pump the tanks to higher pressure than the US GOVERNMENT suggests that a tank should be pressurized. The same exact tanks have a greater rating in the European community so that is why you see a somewhat cavalier attitude with respect to pumping a set of 104's to 3500 psi. I'll note that in Europe they are rated to 4500.. The problem isn't with the specs as you incorrectly suggest, the problem is with the fact that many cave diver's plug the burst disks.. So in reality what you have are tanks getting pumped to 4500+ with the burst disk being plugged and that becomes a receipe for disaster..
Near in mind Ken I am speaking very generically about cave country and I'm specifically limiting my comments in this regard to the PST 104's as I don't want to get into minutae about every tanks specs, but I wanted to clear up the facts that the specs aren't the problem it's the govt's.. Moreover, last time I was in Florida I was told by a highly trusted source [ once again talking specifically about PST 104's] that the govt. has already approved a higher rating but hasn't released the announcement yet..
On a side note however, I have NO problem whatsoever with any boat or shop that wants to stay within recommended ratings I just wanted the record set straight.. And on a slightly different note I would recommend doubles rather then a larger single tank...
Later