I am "relatively" new to the diving scene, only diving for 3 years. I recently bought 4 aluminum tanks that were made in 95' and 94' that were only used for one year given that the VIP sticker on the tank was from 95'. I sent them to a dive shop to get Hydro and VIP inspected, and they passed. At the dive shop, trying to make small talk, I asked the owner a few questions about aluminum tanks etc. one of the questions was about steal tanks vs. aluminum tanks. The owner brought up that aluminum tanks only have a 20 year shelf life regardless of how little or how much use it has. so I asked him this "so if the year was 2020 and I brought tanks that were from 2000, would I be able to get them hydro inspected?" he replied "no, and most dive shops would not even fill it." his reasoning is that 20 years is an arbitrary number that the people who hydro it chose saying that the tank has expanded and contracted enough times that the metal has fatigued. Even though the reason seems sound, I would like to know how true this is?
Thank you sincerely Ramo
Thank you sincerely Ramo