Give Your Cylinders a New Look

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Poor post-dive rinsing took its toll on this ocean diver's 80 but it's just cosmetic.

Fred Stratton
Instructor and Technician
fred@bubblesornot.com

Painting Scuba Cylinders

Some divers give little thought to their cylinders. They only care that they don't leak and pass annual inspections and hydrostatic retesting once every five years. Other divers are meticulous about every piece of gear, including their cylinders. They put boots, dust caps and nets on them to keep that showroom paint job intact. 
If you regularly dive it's inevitable that your bottles will get chipped and scratched and as water works its magic, the paint will flake off. So what can you do when it happens? 


"Can I strip the paint off my cylinders without damaging the metal?"  

The stripper works quickly. Scrape the
peeled paint before it dries.

American cylinder manufacturers Catalina and Luxfer recommend using Zip Strip to rid your cylinder of what remains of the factory finish. These photos illustrate the process in action. It took about 12 ounces of Zip Strip for each of these uncommon 90cf aluminum cylinders. Following the instructions by applying the stripper in one direction worked well. I tried applying with the cylinders standing up and lying down. Vertical seemed to work best; dripping stripper just keep stripping as it runs down the side.

Directions are simple; wear a mask, use in a well ventilated space and properly dispose of rags and brushes. (One-dollar brushes suffice.) 

After the paint stops peeling scrape it off with a putty knife. Wipe with rags or paper towels to see what paint remains and then apply more stripper. I had to repeat this process five or six times but the results were terrific. I prefer the aluminum finish because it looks clean and it doesn't mask corrosion underneath a failing finish. 

After you are done stripping use Simple Green to wash away any Zip Strip residue. 

The end result. These 20-year old
cylinders look new again.
Timing is important. I recommend stripping your cylinders right before you bring them in for their annual visual inspection or hydro retest, particularly if you use them for enriched  oxygen mixes. I can clean them thoroughly, inside and out, to ensure no hydrocarbon contamination.  

"I've stripped my cylinders but I like colors. May I paint them?"  

One of our Divemasters, Jeff Long, asked me this question after he was told that you can't paint scuba tanks. The correct answer is yes you can paint cylinders; just don't use heat to cure the paint such as using a drying booth or powdercoating them. Heat changes the metallurgical structure, inducing the potential for a rupture during the fill process. Also, evidence of heat anywhere on a cylinder requires cylinder condemnation.

Jeff used Krylon exterior paint on this beauty. He didn't even bother stripping it. Rather, he used sandpaper in increasingly finer grits to knock down the paint edges and improve adhesion. Pretty sharp for some elbow grease and a can of spray paint! 

Summary: 

Many divers divers express themselves through the color of the gear they wear. When your cherry red Luxfers or lime green Catalinas get that weatherbeaten look you can strip or sand and paint them back to showroom condition but PLEASE - DON'T USE HEAT TO DRY OR CURE THEM!

Coming in August

"How many dives do you have?" and other diving icebreakers.  

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