Travel wing lift

[Stephen]

Ive got a Dive rite travel wing (14lt lift). Web specs suggest its ok for a single steel 100 (ca 15L) tank. I,ll be using it with a O'three 4/5/5.5 semi in the Red Sea. Has anyone out there got experience of using a travel wing with 15l steel cylinders? Ive had plenty of experience of using it with 12l aluminium cylinders. Its great for that but there has never appeared to be much lift to spare.

[StuP]

I've used my travel wing with 15 lt steel tanks numerous times there's more than enough lift.

Stu

[JasonP]

Originally Posted by Stephen

Ive got a Dive rite travel wing (14lt lift). Web specs suggest its ok for a single steel 100 (ca 15L) tank. I,ll be using it with a O'three 4/5/5.5 semi in the Red Sea. Has anyone out there got experience of using a travel wing with 15l steel cylinders? Ive had plenty of experience of using it with 12l aluminium cylinders. Its great for that but there has never appeared to be much lift to spare.

Air has a density of 0.0012 kg/litre, so the air in a 12.2l tank at 232 bar weighs 3.4kgs
In a 15l, it weighs 4.2kgs.

So you only need 0.8kgs more lift using a 15 than a 12, assuming you're correctly weighted and neutrally buoyant when both tanks are empty.

Jason

[Stephen]

Thanks for your replies.
You are least bouyant at max depth at the beginning of the dive when you have most gas and most compression of the wetsuit, and most bouyant at the end when you are doing your shallow safety stop. Its the difference between these two stages. I see three factors- air difference, wetsuit compression difference and error factor from overweighting.
The air is knowable - say 200 bar difference X 15 lt = under 4 kilos.
Ive no theoretical idea or practical memory (too long ago) of the bouyancy difference of a 5mm wetsuit at say 6 bar to 1.5 bar.
Error is likely to be greater when using a set-up for the first time - so this should be allowed for (recently Ive only used 15lt steel cylinders with a drysuit).

Hence it was good to hear that in practice one of you found no problem using the travel wing with a 15lt cylinder- ----?at depth and with a 5mm wetsuit?
Thanks

[Conor]

I've dived a travel wing with Ali + steel 12s and 15s wearin shorties, tmm semi dry, 5+5 semi and with a membrane drysuit. You will have no problem. I'd guess the suit compression would account for about a kilo or two at most......if in doubt try and sink it with some lead...that'll give you a worst case scenario. Overweighting to within a kg or two should be avoidable as well by doing a weight check before your first dive, don't let the guides rush you through it.

by the way, where are your cambands? for me the cylinder is as low a it can be for singles which will help trima nd help keep you clear of the surface at the end of the dive.

Hope this helps

Conor