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Hi Rich, I missed Doug's original post on the composite cylinders. I assume that the cylinders in question are the aluminum/fibreglass ones. I spoke to a sales rep at a manufacturer (I forget the name right now) about 1.5 years ago and was informed that the primary reason for not using them had to do with a weakening of the cylinder due to degradation of the fibreglass after repeated exposure to the salt water. Why the fibreglass would degrade with repeated exposure to salt water is beyond me as I typically regard fibreglass hulled boats as being rather sturdy in the ocean. Can anybody confirm/disprove this information? If that information was incorrect, I might surmise that it is a wariness of liability that the manufacturer doesn't want to deal with. Cheers, Joe Mierwa Joe, Having just renovated a 28 year old 30' fiberglass sailboat, I am not aware of any particular sensitivity of the glass or resins to saltwater vs fresh.......You might want to followup with Gougeon Brothers in Bay City, MI, makers of WEST system epoxy resins......I think the threat to boat hulls is from continuous immersion (salt or fresh water) which may result in the formation of blisters and delamination where impurities are embedded in the laminate.....I think the old polyester resins are more susceptible to this than epoxy and vinylester resins... I wouldn't think that blisters would be a problem with tanks, since they are not left in the water constantly....Water absorption is very slow and occurs over a long period of time.....Epoxy must be painted or otherwise coated as it is sensitive to UV light, though.....That kind of damage seems to occur fairly quickly..... Chemists out there???? Last I knew, Gougeon Brothers could be reached at: 517.684.7286...... Bob Mullins
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