How often do tank valves need to be rebuilt

[halocline]

Y'all probably spend 10x as much money at Mcdonalds in a year, buying food that will shorten your life-span, than you do avoiding potentially life-threatening issues in scuba diving.

Yep, we hopeless Americans pretty much spend all our money on junk food, cheap beer, ugly clothes, stupid movies, and assault rifles.

Maybe a genius like yourself from the other side of the pond can explain to we moronic drooling idiots how failing to regularly rebuild a scuba valve is potentially life threatening in recreational scuba diving.

 

[chrpai]

I'd rather spend my time doing something more useful like flushing out all of the water heaters in my house.

 

[Superlyte27]

I use my cylinders in rental. I rebuild the valves and O2 clean the 80's every year. The neck O-rings get changed twice per season or so. Doubles with very expensive gas get stripped down and hydro'd every 5 years.

A hydro includes a VIP as well as a eddy current test if required. It's part of the hydro procedure. You never need to take your cylinder into a dive shop if you have a fire extinguisher hydro facility available to you. What your dive shop does when the cylinder comes back from hydro is basically put a VIP sticker on it for you for an extra 20 bucks. If you want that sticker, go ahead and get one, but the sticker is only proof that there is a sticker on the outside of your cylinder. It isn't proof that anyone did anything to the cylinder, nor is it proof that the cylinder is O2 clean, unless it's never been filled..... Once it's been filled, it may or may not be clean any longer...

Wookie:

I don't know a single dive shop doing that. When we get a tank back from hydro, we have to put the valve in. If we're putting the valve in, we might as well look inside to make sure no mice, roaches, crap are in the bottom of the tank. After-all, it's our reputation on the line, not the hydro facility.

---------- Post added March 14th, 2013 at 06:53 PM ----------

Here is a tip. If you use a separate bust disc and retaining plug instead of the preassembled unit fill the retaining plug with silicon grease and no water will get to the disc hence no corrosion.

Uh, no... I'd prefer not to blow up. I PP Blend, and all of my tanks will have pure o2 in them at some point in time.

 

[NAM001]

I have read a number of comments on why or why not to service the reg. To be honestly i cant argue with any of them. I will say there is a difference in your own tanks and rentals. If a valve is good for say 400 cycles then a rental should be services anually. If its you personal tank with say 50 dives a year probably not. if you are diving air there is not much need. If its a ean tank expecially hi o2 variety then perhaps it may be needed. Not for parts wear but for contamination issues. shop with a good air system no shop with crappy air yes. If i use my oen tank no, if i rent tanks i would say yes ( ins liability) If i fill on shore perhaps no if i fill oat sea probably. Is it no wonder the one rule fits all is " service anually" The prerequsites are far beyond the simple apples and oranges.

 

[redacted]

Wookie:

I don't know a single dive shop doing that. When we get a tank back from hydro, we have to put the valve in. If we're putting the valve in, we might as well look inside to make sure no mice, roaches, crap are in the bottom of the tank. After-all, it's our reputation on the line, not the hydro facility.

There is just not much that is worth $20 for a peek.

---------- Post added March 14th, 2013 at 06:28 PM ----------

Yep, we hopeless Americans pretty much spend all our money on junk food, cheap beer, ugly clothes, stupid movies, and assault rifles.

Maybe a genius like yourself from the other side of the pond can explain to we moronic drooling idiots how failing to regularly rebuild a scuba valve is potentially life threatening in recreational scuba diving.

Give him a break, he probably meant to say watered down beer. I don't think any of it is cheap any more. But I do know where to get a good box of wine!!!

 

[halocline]

And he did say "y'all".....

 

[Dai]

Hey Guys, great level of insider knowledge, just a quick question:
I remember having to deal with a leaking tank (bubbles coming from the threaded opening that the valve screws into), and the guy who helped me had some form of silicone grease that was thicker than the regular type you might use for an o-ring, more the consistency of petroleum jelly.
I can't remember the name of that product and wondered if any of you guys know of a brand to shop for?
(thanks for the great info) Dai

 

[halocline]

Hey Guys, great level of insider knowledge, just a quick question:
I remember having to deal with a leaking tank (bubbles coming from the threaded opening that the valve screws into), and the guy who helped me had some form of silicone grease that was thicker than the regular type you might use for an o-ring, more the consistency of petroleum jelly.
I can't remember the name of that product and wondered if any of you guys know of a brand to shop for?
(thanks for the great info) Dai

All the silicone grease I've seen packaged for scuba use is more-or-less the consistency of petroleum jelly. I never noticed any difference between brands but someone else might know more about it. None of it is going to help a tank that leaks at the tank neck o-ring. In fact, the rule of thumb is to not lubricate that o-ring at all. It acts as a crush seal in that location, and it's thought that lubricating it can just make it more likely to extrude a bit and leak.

Probably what you need to do to fix a leak there is replace the o-ring, and use a 90 duro o-ring.

 

[Bryan]

Hey Guys, great level of insider knowledge, just a quick question:
I remember having to deal with a leaking tank (bubbles coming from the threaded opening that the valve screws into), and the guy who helped me had some form of silicone grease that was thicker than the regular type you might use for an o-ring, more the consistency of petroleum jelly.
I can't remember the name of that product and wondered if any of you guys know of a brand to shop for?
(thanks for the great info) Dai

Bubbles coming from the tank neck could be also due to a cracked neck or worn threads--both pose a serious risk of explosion. If this were my tank, I'd bleed the tank down to under 500 psi and take it in for a vis right away to be safe.

 

[chrpai]

Bubbles coming from the tank neck could be also due to a cracked neck or worn threads--both pose a serious risk of explosion. If this were my tank, I'd bleed the tank down to under 500 psi and take it in for a vis right away to be safe.

One time last summer one of the tanks on the boat did something really weird. The entire valve could be turned when while the tank was pressurized. We bled that down really fast.