New tanks VIP? Conflicting answers.

[UCFKnightDiver]

I dont work at a shop but that sticker is worse than useless. You might as well advertise that nobody competent has handled the tank.

Every shop around here requires a VIP sticker even if its 1 month after the date of manufacture.

I have stickers similar to this that say Technical Dive Services and have only once had a little bit of an issue. I am certified to visually inspect tanks so in that one instance I just showed them my card but most shops don't have a problem. However, I do think if you buy these stickers you should be trained to inspect tanks or be in a situation like the OP.

To the OP: I'd buy the one with the VIP sticker and then double check nothing's in the tank before getting it filled.

 

[V1P3R]

Wow, really Divers? Go buy a sticker with your name on it so you can circumvent safety protocols set in place? This is how negligence happens. I am a PSI-PCI inspector # 30492. You MUST VIP any new tank before it's filled. I have personally failed (2) tanks from Manufacturing because of crud on inside.

Who is installing the dip tube?

After reading this I'm going to have to start micro inspecting VIP stickers.

 

[boulderjohn]

A couple of years ago I arrived in Florida for my annual winter stay and brought my tanks into the shop for their first fill after a VIP. The employee looked at the new sticker with suspicion. The sticker did not have the name of the dive shop on it that had done the inspection, which is what he saw with all the inspection stickers from all the local shops in the area. "Who inspected this?" he asked. "I did," I answered. I pointed to the inspector number on the PSI-PCI sticker and told him that was my inspector number. He didn't know if he could accept it. He had never seen one like that. He finally agreed to fill the tanks.

If I had had a homemade sticker with a fabricated name of a dive shop, he would not have questioned it.

 

[abnfrog]

just becuase it has a number on it doesn't make it legal , if you dont know the person the shop should check the number to see if the inspector is valid with psi /etc

 

[dead dog]

Who is installing the dip tube?

What's a dip tube?

 

[NAM001]

IMO as I understand it. no vip is necessary for a hydro's tank as teh inspection is done as part of hte hydro. shops do not accept that but it dies not change facts only the preferences. Shops want to vip the tanks by virtue of you dont know what has entered the tank since it was made dur to no valve being on the tank. I would say call PSI and they will explain the legalities of both,,, does hydro equal vip and the vip system legal requirements.

 

[NAM001]

just because it has a number on it doesn't make it legal , if you dont know the person the shop should check the number to see if the inspector is valid with psi /etc

the number is mostly moot it is an added thing by psi as a method to track the vip to the person who did the vip. Yes you can call to validate a legit number and some shops do. The number is part of ie chain of respoinsibility because any one can make their own stickers and not do an inspection. That is equivilant to writing a bank counter check and not signing it.

 

[kelemvor]

What's a dip tube?

Part of a valve. I believe the purpose is to help prevent any liquid that might have gotten inside from being pushed out of the tank. The dip tube doesn't come factory pre-installed, although it usually does come with the valve. You've got to screw it in yourself before installing a new valve on a tank.
Here's a photo:

 

[James79]

Part of a valve. I believe the purpose is to help prevent any liquid that might have gotten inside from being pushed out of the tank. The dip tube doesn't come factory pre-installed, although it usually does come with the valve. You've got to screw it in yourself before installing a new valve on a tank.
Here's a photo:
View attachment 604288

Not just for liquids, but any crud that may have made it's way into the tank. You occasionally hear stories of people having their air cut off after going head down, only to have it behave normally after they get back on the boat.... stories like that usually are on rental tanks in not very well regulated locations, and often end with finding out that there was no dip tube/dip tube fell off and crud in the tank blocked the interior opening of the valve when the went head down. On the boat, tank is upright, crud falls out of the way.... shady shop says "what problem."
Respectfully,
James

 

[Wstern5]

Leisure Pro isn’t a real dive shop per se, they don’t do VIPs, fills, regulator service, repairs, training. I’d be surprised if anyone that works there is even certified. So they wouldn’t even have VIP stickers to put on the cylinders.

DRIS is a real shop so they would put a VIP sticker on a new cylinder no problem.