OK, let me drop a bombshell just to get this clear. If you've ever had a 3000psi+ rated tank, you've been told "That's only when they made it, it can never be recertified with a + rating again." That's a lie. The US DOT says it is a lie, and they have a PDF posted online (in response to a diver's enquiry) saying specifically that it is a lie. The US DOT, the folks who make the rules, say that any + rated tank can be + rated indefinitely, hydro after hydro, as long as it passes the + rated expansion tests, determined by the "REE" rating stamped on the neck of the tank. And for tanks without a REE rating stamp, that the hydro shop should know how to follow the procedure in CGA5 (Compressed Gas Association manual revision 5) that tells them how to find the REE rating for a tank. This of course requires that the hydro shop knows WTF they are doing, and can READ their gauges and actually do simple division. It also requires that they spend about $125 on the "+" die, which is not part of a normal set. And it requires offering customers a very confusing CHOICE of two hydros, which means a chance for the customer or dive shop to mess up.
But the point is, all the shops that have told you "No, you can't get another + rating" have been either seriously misinformed, or lying.
And since I have a PSI Steel 96 (vintage 1985, mine since new) and I'd really like to regain the 10% of extra air as a safety margin...I need a competent shop that knows how to do this. I've tried the shops up north (metro NY) and they are clueless. I've tried I think all the shops in the FLL area, they are also clueless, even though one maker of testing equipment (to determine the REE numbers) is right here.
So I'm told that the totally insane (in a good way) shops that service cave divers around Tampa and Crystal River Caves actually can and will do + hydros, and they might even know how to put the correct REE number on the tank to make that all 100% DOT compliant. (PSI threw out all the old papers that would have made this simple, long ago. Nice guys.)
Which leaves only one question: Anyone know a hydro shop in the FLL or Tampa areas, even vaguely close, that knows how to find a REE number and perform a + hydro test? Not just clerks like McDonalds who press picture buttons on the cash register, but someone who actually KNOWS what hydro shops are supposedly required to learn before they are certified to do hydros?
Or does anyone know how I can have a REE number determined for my tank? (Looking at the CGA manual results in a headache, it ain't pretty.)
Thank you. And remember, if your shop tells you "That can't be done" you're allowed to say "Liar liar pants on fire, GO ASK THE DOT ABOUT THAT."
