seeker242
Contributor
Friend of mine had his tanks condemned here all because the guy didn’t know how to test them. He had to get the manufacturer to contact the guy and tell him he was wrong and then threaten his license.
LDS Won't + 10% Fill Plus Rated Tank?
- Thread starter Dubious
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Friend of mine had his tanks condemned here all because the guy didn’t know how to test them. He had to get the manufacturer to contact the guy and tell him he was wrong and then threaten his license.
@seeker242
That's a bit disconcerting. Can you give us more details? What type of tanks were they? Aluminum or steel. Painted or galvanized? High pressure or low? Special exemption or permit?
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding. Did the hydro facility over-pressurize the tanks too far past the test pressure and was the reason for condemning?
Did the hydro facility compensate your friend for ruining his tanks?
That's a bit disconcerting. Can you give us more details? What type of tanks were they? Aluminum or steel. Painted or galvanized? High pressure or low? Special exemption or permit?
Perhaps I'm misunderstanding. Did the hydro facility over-pressurize the tanks too far past the test pressure and was the reason for condemning?
Did the hydro facility compensate your friend for ruining his tanks?
The only times I have heard of this happening is wit Worthington tanks, which require special handling. Before taking my Worthington tanks to them I asked, and they said they were well aware of the special procedures. I had no problems.
One of my tanks was condemmed by a hydro tester who stated it would not hold pressure. That didn't make sense so I shipped the tank to the manufacture. Catalina sent the AL tank back and stated it passsed hydro. There was a piece of grit along the o-ring gland that the hydro tester did not see. Nonetheless, the hydro place had already x'd out the serial numbers. The shop reimbursed me with a new tank.
This whole thread is very difficult to understand for me.
Here in Europe we have none of these problems.
Here tanks are stamped with their volume in liters, for example 15 l, and their standard pressure, typically 200 or 232 bars.
The user has to compute himself the total capacity, multiplying the volume by the pressure.
My own tank is 15 liters, 200 bar, hence the total capacity is 15x200=3000 liters.
There is nothing as the + mark, and the shop always fills to the pressure stamped on the tank.
I always wonder how US managed to grow so strong and rich despite being taken down by an amount of stupid regulations and an unnecessarily complex unit system...
Here in Europe we have none of these problems.
Here tanks are stamped with their volume in liters, for example 15 l, and their standard pressure, typically 200 or 232 bars.
The user has to compute himself the total capacity, multiplying the volume by the pressure.
My own tank is 15 liters, 200 bar, hence the total capacity is 15x200=3000 liters.
There is nothing as the + mark, and the shop always fills to the pressure stamped on the tank.
I always wonder how US managed to grow so strong and rich despite being taken down by an amount of stupid regulations and an unnecessarily complex unit system...
The plus sign is from that war that the US helped win; The one that you guys lost. We’re all friends now.
That is because in the US you have two types of steel tanks.
3AA tanks and special permit tanks. Special permit tanks are the older high pressure and newer "high pressure" tanks.
3AA are based on a published standard, and have a plus rating that allows a specifically allows the overfill mentioned. Most tanks are sold based on that plus rating. They can continue to get the plus rating if the hydro tester continues to test for it and it continues to pass.
To be technically correct they are not "high pressure" tanks. All scuba tanks are "high pressure". The correct term is "higher pressure" or "lower pressure"; many of the latter have the plus (+) rating. Small difference in the wording, but there is a difference.
Saying this in a friendly manner, of course.
Here we do not have wording like low, medium, hogh.
Here we have bars.
Very old tanks were 150 bars. During the seventies this increased to 170, 180, 200.
By 1980 most tanks were 200 bars.
After 2000, 232 bars was thhe most common rating, and it is stll today. However you can also find 250 and 300 bars.
But they are terrobly heavy. and above 200 bars the total capacity is less than the product liters x bars.
Hence you carry more air with a 15l 200 bars than with a 10l 300 bars, and with less weight (but of course a more bulky tank).
I think that the sweet spot is actually 232 bars tanks.
Here we have bars.
Very old tanks were 150 bars. During the seventies this increased to 170, 180, 200.
By 1980 most tanks were 200 bars.
After 2000, 232 bars was thhe most common rating, and it is stll today. However you can also find 250 and 300 bars.
But they are terrobly heavy. and above 200 bars the total capacity is less than the product liters x bars.
Hence you carry more air with a 15l 200 bars than with a 10l 300 bars, and with less weight (but of course a more bulky tank).
I think that the sweet spot is actually 232 bars tanks.
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