Equipment

Another Quick Reference Study Guide By Zane Bilgrav

To Help Equip You For The IE! RRRRRRRR

TANK MARKINGS: DOT/CTC – US Department of Transportation or Canadian Transportation

Commission, which are governmental agencies that regulate scuba tanks
3A or 3AA: Designates a steel tank (which have round bottoms).
AL, SP6496, or E6496: Designate aluminum tanks (which have flat bottoms).
Working Pressure: Designate the tank’s fill pressure (i.e. 3000 psi).
Some tanks have a “+” symbol after the working pressure. This indicates that the
tank can be overfilled by 10%. If the tank is re-hydroed the hydro date must bear
the “+” symbol if the tank is to be overfilled.
Serial Number: Each tank has its own number.
Manufacturer Symbol or Number: i.e. Kiddie or Luxfer.
Hydrostatic Test Date: Current for 5 years. To test the metal, the tank is put into a chamber of
water and the tank is also filled with water, which is then pressurized to 5/3 of the tank’s
working pressure. The expansion of the tank metal causes some water from the chamber to spill
over into a calibrated tube – which measures the tanks expansion. If the metal is weak, too much
expansion occurs upon pressurization and the tank is condemned. If the metal is acceptable, a
new hydrostatic or pressure test date is stamped and is good for another 5 years.
Hydro Tests are required if the tank has been tumbled, damaged due to impact, exposed to heat
in excess of 180 degrees, or left unused for 2 or more years.
Visual Inspection (VIP): Is a scuba industry requirement, although it’s not required by law.
Checks for corrosion or pitting inside of tanks. This also minimized tank valve electrolysis and
allows for annual replacement of tank neck O rings.

Note: Reference 3-54 “Tank Neck Markings” in the Encyclopedia of Diving (EOD).

Steel Tanks: Are very rugged, lighter, have high internal volumes and are more
prone to rust (iron oxide) than aluminum tanks. Each 100 psi equals 2.87 ft3 of air.
Aluminum Tanks: Are softer, have thick walls and small internal volumes, are more buoyant,
and don’t readily corrode (aluminum chloride). Each 100 psi equals 2.66 ft3 of air.

Note: Reference page 3-57 in EOD – “Steel vs. Aluminum Tanks”. It’s interesting to note that at the same
pressure, a steel 72 will contain more air than an aluminum 80.

VALVES: Come in three main styles.

J Valves: Older style with a reserve lever. When the tank is filled, or to start the dive, the lever
is placed in the “up” position. When the pressure inside the tank reaches about 500 psi, a spring
inside the valve will then shut the air off. The diver reaches back to pull the lever down,
inactivating the spring, and giving the diver the remaining air in the tank. Note, that the diver
does not get any “extra air”, simply the remaining air in the tank. J valves were widely used
prior to pressure gauges. Think J for Junk for these dinosaurs.
K Valves: The most common On-Off valves. K is for KOOL.
Din Valves: Uses a screw-in “captured” O ring to allow for higher pressure of air. Widely used
in Europe or in high pressure technical diving tanks.
 Burst Discs: Are copper discs located in the valve which burst at @ 125-166% above the tank’s
working pressure, allowing air to escape through the disc before the tank itself can explode.
Remember that the disc works on excessive pressure and is not activated by heat directly. Burst
discs need to be replaced periodically.

REGULATORS: Recreational regulators are open circuit, single hose, demand regulators.
Downstream Second Stages: The second stage valve opens below, or downstream of the low
pressure seat. If a regulator fails, it free flows and is considered fail-safe. All second stages give
air On Demand.
Pilot Second Stages: Have an extra lever which assists with opening the main lever, which
reduced the inhalation effort, but they breathe kind of weird.
Unbalanced First Stages: Breather harder with low tank pressure and at greater depths. These
are usually less expensive and are easy to maintain.
Balanced First Stages: Have easy breathing characteristics at all tank pressures, and supply
plenty of air at depth. Are more expensive and the design of choice for avid divers.
First stages incorporate either a piston or diaphragm design.
Environmentally Sealed: Means that water cannot enter the balancing chamber on the first stage.
The water is sealed out either by a diaphragm, or by injecting silicone grease into the spring
chamber of a piston first stage. ES regulators are important for ice diving, or for polluted areas.

Note: First stages simply reduce high pressure air coming from the tank to low pressure (@ 125-140
psi). The low pressure air then enters the LP hose. This LP air is then reduced to ambient pressure in
the second stage when a diver breathes. In open circuit, the air is released to the water upon
exhalation, whereas in closed circuit, the air is recirculated and no bubbles escape.

DEPTH GAUGES: Measure the water or gauge pressure.

Bourdon Tube Gauges: Are typically oil-filled and incorporate a flexible back which flexes with
depth and drives the needle to record depth. These are rugged, relatively inexpensive, and are
the most common depth gauges.
Air Filled Depth Gauges: Incorporates a flexing diaphragm to drive the depth needle. These can
be dialed in to read “sea level” depth for altitude diving. Not very common, as these are more
expensive, and less rugged.
Capillary Depth Gauges: Are a very simply design of an open ended tube curled around a
faceplate with depth marks. This gauge works solely on P/V relationships and is useful for
altitude diving, as they will read “sea level” depths. The actual depth at altitude will be slightly
less than the depth registered by a Capillary Gauge or an Air Filled Gauge. Capillary gauges are
inexpensive, but very hard to read and use accurately. Pretty Junk.
Digital Depth Gauges: Have electronic transducers, read digitally, and are highly accurate.
These are rare, as about the same expense, most divers purchase computers, which are also
digital.

COMPUTERS: Are the most common gauges on dive trips due to their ease of use and multi-level
capabilities. Most computers are altitude compensating and will read “sea level” depths. Dive teams
should plan repetitive dives with the most conservative computer. Computers are personal instruments
and cannot be accurately shared by buddy teams.

ENRICHED AIR AND EQUIPMENT: In general regulator and gauges, can be used with up to a 40
% are Enriched Air/Nitrox mixture with no special adaptations.