Price can vary one location to another..locally here it is $35 for hydro, $15 for visual, includes air fill. If nitrox tank it requires tumble and o2 cleaning after hydro test, that is additional $50.
Hydro prices
- Thread starter divinginn
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The LDS charges a bit more than hydro shop for the service it delivers. Expect them to take the time to deliver and pick up tanks at hydro facility for nothing? Yes it can add up. If you can afford to take the time and effort to take tank to hydro facility yourself then by all means do so . I am sure the LDS does not mind and is absolutely ok with performing the visual and fill . Have a double tank set up? Want to save on the fee a LDS may charge for breakdown and assembly, that can be $25. Do it yourself, break down doubles yourself at home,using your time and tools. Do not ask to use shop tools and space to do this, that would be viewed as very inconsiderate. Then when you get tanks back have LDS perform visual then take them home, assemble them using you time and tools, bring them back to fill. How much is your time worth and the gas for your car worth to do all this.
TrimixToo
Contributor
It's definitely worth thinking about the alternatives in economic terms. At fifty cents a mile, trips to the hydo shop for a small number of tanks can add up.
All my tanks are O2 clean. The valves are O2-cleaned and rebuilt every hydro. At LDS prices, that's $150 per tank. There is a local hydro shop that charges $25. I bought a used homemade tumbler, and got my VIP and O2 clean certs. All that paid me back in 18 months, even counting parts costs, but I have a lot of tanks. The break-even point definitely varies with how many you have, and at some smaller number than I own, it's probably not worth the time to get started on DIY.
OP
divinginn
Contributor
I think I will go to the fire ext. place and maybe thin the herd some,I really only use three out the the six tanks anymore,I need to do a dive locker sale on here.
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thinning the herd from six tanks... that's adorable. I wish I had that problem. I need to buy some more and I'm currently at 24....
Way too much. Normal price is about $40 which includes a VIP, Hydro and of course a fill. More if EANx tank as it will need to be cleaned.
I've debated responding on this thread for a number of reasons, but recently have changed my mind. In the past some people have stated that as a dive shop owner, I tend to be a little bit too transparent with the way things are done, simply because some industry secrets need to stay industry secrets. However, I disagree. As I have stated before, the Scuba Industry is a business, and a business is here to make money, first and foremost. But in the tradition of staying transparent, I would like for others to know exactly what we charge for a Hydro, VIS, and Fill, a VIS and Fill, and just a plain old Fill. Then I would like to clear up some misconceptions or interpretations of procedures some believe is law. So for a standard air fill, we charge $7.00 per cylinder, regardless of size, and for a set of doubles we charge for a tank and half, coming in at $10.50. For a Visual Inspection, we are currently charging $15.00 per cylinder, this includes a fill, regardless of size, and same for doubles. Doing the math, it breaks down to $8.00 for all cylinders with a $7.00 air fill added on top. In the case of doubles, the total would be $30.00 including fills ($15.00 per cylinder), and a $3.50 discount on the fills ($7.00 air fill included instead of normal $10.50 airfill, saving the customer a total of $3.50 per cylinder). The math here works out to be, $8.00 per cylinder for the visual inspection and $7.00 air fill added on top. Now for the Hydro, we send the cylinders off to a local Hydro Facility (Don't worry, you are fixing to watch a video on exactly what happens during a hydro), and we charge a total of $37.00 per cylinder for a Hydro, the $15.00 for the Visual, and the air fill is included, bringing the customers total to $52.00 per cylinder. The math breaks down to Hydro is $37.00, VIS is $8.00, and Air Fill is $7.00. Out of the small number of shops in our area (North Western North Carolina), I would say we are some where in the middle as far as pricing. Whether, I personally VIS and fill a tank, or one of my employees do it, I do not pay them any extra, nor myself, for such service, as it is part of the everyday normal work that is expected, working in this industry. Not to mention, on slow days, I expect my employees to be working by servicing tanks instead of playing on ScubaBoard (sorry couldn't resist).
Now to cover the age old argument of whether or not a hydro facility's inspection is the same as the dive shops visual inspection, I can say with out a doubt, it is not the same inspection (once again, don't worry you are going to see both on video). Hydro facilities are required to do a visual inspection prior to conducting a hydro on a cylinder, and a dive shop is required to do an inspection prior to returning the tank to a customer. The process of these two inspections are different, although they do have some similarities. As a shop owner, visual inspector, and on some days a caring and descent human being, I refuse to return a cylinder to a customer, with a visual inspection sticker from my shop, when I or one of my employees did not actually perform an inspection. I see that as way to much liability. So, when we receive tanks back from hydro, we perform a separate inspection, then create a digital log of the inspection, certify (yes I said certify) the cylinder by placing a visual inspection sticker on the cylinder, then after payment return it to the customer. I guess I should add in the fact, interpretation of the law is just that, interpretation. So when I have customers that fuss over the way they interpret what the law says about HYDRO and VIS procedures, I simply smile, quote our policy and refer them to another local shop. I would say we perform well over 200 Visual Inspections a year, not including inspections on our own tank fleet, which is around 60 tanks right now, and average 50-100 Hydro's per year. Out of all of them, we probably lose a total of 2 per year, that go somewhere else. As a matter of fact, at least 1 of those 2 always come back, because we have a cheaper price than some of the other shops on Hydro and VIS.
I would like to add one more thing prior to showing you videos of a visual inspection and a hydro procedure. More of a personal question for you to ponder on, or discuss. How long is a visual inspection actually good for. My answer may surprise you, but I feel that a VIS is only good until the tank leaves the sight of the inspector, not a full year. Once a cylinder has been used and brought back for an additional fill, the fill operator checks the sticker for service and does a quick once over on the tank, but what proof does he have that the cylinder has not been drained, had the valve removed, damaged, or tampered with in anyway. There is a lot of trust the shops give the customer just as there is trust the customer gives the shops. Its a two way street.
Now for the videos.
This is an 18 point visual inspection we perform for a customer, during a visual inspection, and even after a hydro test has been performed, prior to returning the cylinder to a customer.
This is the hydro test performed by our local hydro facility, with an explanation from one of their technicians.
Now to cover the age old argument of whether or not a hydro facility's inspection is the same as the dive shops visual inspection, I can say with out a doubt, it is not the same inspection (once again, don't worry you are going to see both on video). Hydro facilities are required to do a visual inspection prior to conducting a hydro on a cylinder, and a dive shop is required to do an inspection prior to returning the tank to a customer. The process of these two inspections are different, although they do have some similarities. As a shop owner, visual inspector, and on some days a caring and descent human being, I refuse to return a cylinder to a customer, with a visual inspection sticker from my shop, when I or one of my employees did not actually perform an inspection. I see that as way to much liability. So, when we receive tanks back from hydro, we perform a separate inspection, then create a digital log of the inspection, certify (yes I said certify) the cylinder by placing a visual inspection sticker on the cylinder, then after payment return it to the customer. I guess I should add in the fact, interpretation of the law is just that, interpretation. So when I have customers that fuss over the way they interpret what the law says about HYDRO and VIS procedures, I simply smile, quote our policy and refer them to another local shop. I would say we perform well over 200 Visual Inspections a year, not including inspections on our own tank fleet, which is around 60 tanks right now, and average 50-100 Hydro's per year. Out of all of them, we probably lose a total of 2 per year, that go somewhere else. As a matter of fact, at least 1 of those 2 always come back, because we have a cheaper price than some of the other shops on Hydro and VIS.
I would like to add one more thing prior to showing you videos of a visual inspection and a hydro procedure. More of a personal question for you to ponder on, or discuss. How long is a visual inspection actually good for. My answer may surprise you, but I feel that a VIS is only good until the tank leaves the sight of the inspector, not a full year. Once a cylinder has been used and brought back for an additional fill, the fill operator checks the sticker for service and does a quick once over on the tank, but what proof does he have that the cylinder has not been drained, had the valve removed, damaged, or tampered with in anyway. There is a lot of trust the shops give the customer just as there is trust the customer gives the shops. Its a two way street.
Now for the videos.
This is an 18 point visual inspection we perform for a customer, during a visual inspection, and even after a hydro test has been performed, prior to returning the cylinder to a customer.
This is the hydro test performed by our local hydro facility, with an explanation from one of their technicians.
Adam Grose
Contributor
I am guessing that was $138 for BOTH tanks, not each. Here in Tucson, the price for hydro and visual on an 80CF Aluminum tank is $55. I just submitted mine.
Adam
Rred
Contributor
About $45/tank, with or without fill depending on who is doing what. If it is another 46 for the fill..OK, $51 easily.
Now here's the rip-off: Every dive shop will tell you that you need a hydro AND a VIP, right? Wrong. A DOT-certified hydro test cannot be performed until AFTER the technician does a VIP of the tank.
So that VIP of a freshly hydro'd tank? Is a totally redundant rip-off. When the shop tells you "Well yeah but they don't know how to do a SCUBA VIP" ask them if they're saying the hydro shop is incompetent, and in that case, why they still use them.
And yes, actually the DOT has said they are open to public requests for revising their regulations on SCUBA tanks which are (paraphrasing) gee, somewhat arcane and dated by now. Which is not to say VIPs in SCUBA shops don't differ radically, depending on who is doing them too.
Now here's the rip-off: Every dive shop will tell you that you need a hydro AND a VIP, right? Wrong. A DOT-certified hydro test cannot be performed until AFTER the technician does a VIP of the tank.
So that VIP of a freshly hydro'd tank? Is a totally redundant rip-off. When the shop tells you "Well yeah but they don't know how to do a SCUBA VIP" ask them if they're saying the hydro shop is incompetent, and in that case, why they still use them.
And yes, actually the DOT has said they are open to public requests for revising their regulations on SCUBA tanks which are (paraphrasing) gee, somewhat arcane and dated by now. Which is not to say VIPs in SCUBA shops don't differ radically, depending on who is doing them too.
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