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Hanging locker - Now Dive Tank/Gear Storage

Started by P69, July 07, 2017, 12:10:05 AM

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P69


I Converted the hanging locker into a dive tank/gear locker. Just finished designing, fabricating, and installing the tank rack. It can hold 3 tanks. The one in the picture is a shorty that my daughter uses.

http://bodylens.com/Gallery/thumbnails.php?album=21

Not completely finished. Need to grind a way a few remaining sharp edges and points, drill any needed limber holes,  then build/install the shelving for the rest of the dive gear. holds the tanks very securely. You can kick the tank (not the valve) and the rack, but nothing will budge. I didn't want to store them on deck (theft/safety issues) and I wanted to make damn sure when stowed below, that they would not move when the boat heels or gets knocked down.

I made cleats/gussets out of fiberglass (polyester), scribed them to the hull, the glassed them (epoxy) to the hull.   The tank clamps are 1" x 2.5" aluminum bar that I (machine shop) cut out to match partial circumference of three tanks.  The clamp brackets that squeeze the aluminum bar together are 1/8" SS flat bar with tapped 1/4" ends for 3/8" x 18 SS bolts.  I made these so they pivot at the outboard (fixed )end to make it easier to get the 3/8" bolts threaded when I store the tanks.

The tanks sit in fiberglass bowls (polyester) that I made for molds I took off the bottoms of the tanks. The base bowls are glassed together to their own platform, which is has gussets glassed to their underside. Those gussets bolt to other gussets that are glassed to the hull with epoxy/cloth. This makes the system completely removable for cleaning/replacement/damage repair. The only parts that are permanent are three gussets near the bottom of the compartment and the two shelves (really just cleats) to which the fixed part of the aluminum clamps are bolted.

I cut the bottom of the locker and made a hatch so I can get to the previously-unavailable space below that locker and the locker just aft of it. That is what that red 'board' is that you see at the bottom of the locker in some of the pictures.

I still have to design and install shelves to hold the other dive gear, grind off remaining sharp edges and points, then give it a tinted coat of epoxy to make a easily-cleanable surface. Lastly, I will disassemble every thing, clean it all up, the reassemble with tef-gel on the dissimilar metal contacts.