Old steels denied fills due to store "policy"

[BikerBecca]

WOW! That's weird. If they're Vis'd and Hydro'd why wouldn't they fill them? I dive with old steel HP 80s that have been around so long a diver at Point Lobos came up to me and said, "It's good to see they're still in the water" because he recognized them from the previous owner. There must be 1/2 dozen hydro stamps on the neck of that tank.

Glad you found a new shop and dropped the old one with a nonsensical policy.

 

[Ana]

@Ana who is the 'new' shop?
Asking for a friend who has old timey steel

Pompano Dive Center, my husband walked in there with the tanks, they immediately started filling them. He then commented that was happy they didn't have an issue with the tanks in question. The guy took a second look to the tanks markings maybe concerned that maybe he misinterpreted what he saw first and his response was: "Why would we have a problem, these are good tanks and well within the dates on the inspections"

 

[dhaines429]

Around here no shop will fill aluminum tanks older that 25 and that goes back to the luxfer alloy issue from the 80s. A couple of them have extended that to steel as well, probably to try and sell people new steel tanks.

 

[АлександрД]

In Russia we have Rostechnadzor - government supervizing agency, who issue rules and recommendations for technical supervise.
And some years ago they issued new rule - all tanks older 20 years CAN NOT be accepted to hydro.
Some companies break it, and follow old rules - hydro passed - tank is good.
But really there could be a safety problem.

Two are dated the exact same date (9-1-42), and one is dated 1918. 101 years old and still in current service.

Can you show picture of it? It should be interesting!

I now question what would occur if a gas station refused to fill the gas tank of a 10? or 20? year old automobile ?

We (and may be you too) have similar limitation - it is forbidden to fill PLASTIC canister on the gas stations.
Here is the same, I think - safety reasons.

but the hydro in its current form is a rather crude method.

heh... There is different testing methods.
Some - just check - is is explode due hydro.
Some other - check geometry - they compare mid diamater before and after hydro.
Some - check how much water it press through outer of the tank (it tested inside another bigger tank, and check how much water goes out from space between tanks) - like DOT methodology use it and all above.
etc...

 

[rhwestfall]

What reference piece will you use or would you?
Stand off?
Different diameter of cylinders?
How do you know if your signal has transitions from compression to shear wave - what could be the cause?
Paint thickness? corrosion? What would be the effects?

Asking for a friend...

Materials used to be my speciality

You have the answer. I was merely commenting on the cost...

FWIW - We used these quite a bit in bridge inspection to document section loss.....

 

[Couv]

....since Fill Express closed.

I was going to suggest Fill Express-I didn't know they closed. Have they moved or totally closed down? I remember when Fill Express was owned by Dive Gear Express (Dive Rite Express at the time IIRC.) DGX is also in your neck of the woods and worth considering but you have to be careful or you're liable to see a few items you "need" while waiting. Which brings us back to the silly policy of the shop who lost ALL of your business.

 

[Diving Dubai]

FWIW - We used these quite a bit in bridge inspection to document section loss.....

A funny (ish) story

At an historic steam Railway I was called in to carry out a thickness check of the old milk tankers.

There I was, with my probe testing away, and my friend scraping off loose paint in advance of me. The scraper went through the side of the wagon.

No point with any further inspection then. Sometime the simplest ways are the easiest.

Apparently this was common, and in the day the repair was to fill the bottom third (which would always corrode the most) with concrete when the tank rusted above this you scrapped the tanker

 

[Zieg]

Unlikely that it will be undoing for Force-E. They have had this policy for about 20 years now and they are still doing fine.

Wrong, because for the past 20 years Force-E didn't have a problem filling those tanks.

 

[Boiler_81]

I took steel a 72 and two 120s into their location in Riviera Beach a little over a year ago. I wanted air in the 72 for bridge diving and 32 in the 120s. They refused to fill the 72 saying "some old tanks are made of bad alloy". It appears as if they don't want to train the tank fillers the difference between aluminum and steel. They lost my business on all my fills. Since I'm not going in to get fills, I'm not browsing the shop for other things.

 

[fullytek]

When you emailed the shop with your issues they asked for more details? That sounds reasonable as I would want all the facts before I rendered any decision or took a position.

Let's face it . A tank is the single cheapest pice of scuba gear any one can own.

What is a reasonable life expectancy for a scuba tank?

How would you feel If your tank failed well being filled and killed the "tank monkey "?

Did the shop offer you rental or loaner tanks so you could atleast salvage your weekend?

I dont think the shop operator is out of line by refusing to fill a 48 year old tank.
Yes it may have passed vis and hydro but when you fill somany tanks a year eventually the law of averages will catch up to you.

This will not be the last time a shop will refuse to fill those tanks .
I reccomend you spend $600 and get some new tanks.