Quote:
| Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] (Mark Chase @ Sep. 08 2003,18:04)]Strange thing is that my 7ltr steel stages go neutrol with 100 bar in and are positive if empty and they are about 1kg negitave when full but they are rareley over 200 bar for deco mix.
I was quite surprised the first itme I took a half full stage off and saw it hover in front of me. When empty they dont float up too badly so I dont have to allow additional weight for this.
I have never dived Ali stages but I always wondered, if they are that boyent, when empty dont you have to carry additional weight in case or do you just un clip them and let them float up (expensive me thinks)
My stages are Faber by the by.
ATB
Mark Chase |
Quote:
| Originally Posted by [b Quote[/b] ]Strange thing is that my 7ltr steel stages go neutrol with 100 bar in and are positive if empty and they are about 1kg negitave when full but they are rareley over 200 bar for deco mix.
I was quite surprised the first itme I took a half full stage off and saw it hover in front of me. When empty they dont float up too badly so I dont have to allow additional weight for this.
I have never dived Ali stages but I always wondered, if they are that boyent, when empty dont you have to carry additional weight in case or do you just un clip them and let them float up (expensive me thinks) |
Mark
7L Faber steel stages? Never seen these before. If the buoyancy characteristics are as you say, then I can't see any problem.
You are quite correct about the buoyancy issues. When I am carrying a couple of AL80 stages I do carry a little more weight. When near empty, they do give noticable extra positive buoyancy. Sometimes, we use this to our advantage......A stage can be breathed down to nearly nothing, clipped to an SMB line and sent up to the surface. This way we conserve backgas which can be used for another dive. It's also an economical way of diving for the tight wads. On a short gas dive, just take a stage full of backgas, breathe it empty and send it up! Make sure the skipper knows to expect this. We've confused one or two recently using this method!
It also has it's disadvantages........Some Czech friends of mine were diving in Ressel this year and one of them "dropped" a stage during a switch at the top of the shaft in the deep section. The stage floated up to the ceiling and was lost. One of our team found it a few days later wedged up in the ceiling!