A really competent hydro shop near FLL or Tampa?

[Rred]

Nice!
Now, if only I could find a hydro shop that understood CGA5 and wasn't afraid to do the ultrasound testing.

 

[bada3003]

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
...

The usual spiel you hear is that once a cylinder with a + rating has been requalified w/o receiving the 10% overfill rating, it can subsequently not be given a + rating again which is incorrect. One of your dive shops may know which hydrotesting facility can perform the required checks. Whether they are eager to share that info is another story. Yes, don't go stamping + yourself which, as you indicated, is not a good idea. Unless you can VIP yourself, it may be simpler (but costlier) to go through a middle man (dive shop). Good luck.

 

[halocline]

You just need to call hydro shops until you find one that will give you the plus rating (assuming the tank actually qualifies). Here in San Antonio/Austin I called at least ten shops before I found one.

A couple of things, though. I don't believe that "PSI" and "PST" are the same company. PSI is a private company that offers tank inspection classes to individuals who want to give visual inspections to scuba tanks.

I've also never heard of a tank (PST or otherwise) that has a service pressure of 3000 PSI and needs the plus rating, (i.e. a 3AA tank) The most common is the 2400 plus 10% and the older HP 3180 plus 10%. What exactly are the markings on your tank, I'm curious.

 

[luscioman]

I have never used this place but here is a thought.

Hydrostatic Services and Testing | Hydrostat Inc. Deerfield Beach FL

 

[divad]

I have never used this place but here is a thought.

Hydrostatic Services and Testing | Hydrostat Inc. Deerfield Beach FL

Yes, HYDRO-STAT.

 

[CuzzA]

@Rred Piper Fire does the majority of hydros for the Tampa area shops. I think they charge $25 including o2 cleaning and VIP. Ask first. They're open to the public. I don't think they do fills though, so if you can whip a little gas in the tank you can avoid a double VIP charge from a dive shop.

Tampa Area Hydrostatic Tank Integrity Testing Service | Piper Fire Protection Inc

For what it's worth, I never bother with the plus rating. But I guess it depends on your shop. YMMV.

 

[Rred]

Halocline-
PST was "Pressed Steel Tanks" and stamped their tanks PST. But they are also known as Pressed Steel Industries aka PSI, to be confused with PSI, the folks who train visual tank inspectors and other things. To me the tank was made by the folks who stamped it, PST. I can't help what others call them. Their old steel tanks were all stamped 3AA and followed the same conventions as the Alu80's that dominated the same period, 3000 psi with a + rating on top of that. IIRC the steel tanks were all 3AA or 3A and the Alu80's were 3AL, everything else the same.
Considering that a 3000 psi tank is tested to 5000 psi anyway...3300 psi cold, 3600 warm, shouldn't be an issue for any shop. Of course if they don't have a water tank with a "blast wall" just in case a tank does rupture...You know, Rubbermaid tank refill stations tell you something right up front.(G)

Hydrostat: I think I've spoken with them, and they don't have the ultrasound equipment.

Cuzza, I'll give them a call next time I'm heading up that way.

I did get one distant good news. The guys at Quiescent put me in touch with the folks at PSI (the VIP folks) and we had a nice chat about a number of things including the amount of FUD that is around. If I don't find something local, they said no problem, send them the tank & they could find a real hydro shop with real ultrasound equipment to restore my tanks real original ratings.

I suppose I'll have to keep smelling salts in my pocket whenever a dive shop sees an ancient steel tank with a modern hydro and a + stamp on it.(G)

 

[CuzzA]

According to Piper there are three ways to test a cylinder, only one can be used to get a plus rating, the water jacket method. The water jacket method is what they use.

 

[halocline]

Halocline-
PST was "Pressed Steel Tanks" and stamped their tanks PST. But they are also known as Pressed Steel Industries aka PSI, to be confused with PSI, the folks who train visual tank inspectors and other things. To me the tank was made by the folks who stamped it, PST. I can't help what others call them. Their old steel tanks were all stamped 3AA and followed the same conventions as the Alu80's that dominated the same period, 3000 psi with a + rating on top of that.

I only brought up the PST/PSI issue because you called your tank a "PSI" in your first post on this thread. I have never heard of a pressed steel tank referred to as "PSI".

Another nit-pick, to my knowledge AL80s never have had a plus rating; it look like that's what you are claiming, although you may have not intended to mean that.

Most older PST tanks that are popular within the scuba community are either the LP72s (3AA 2250) or the special permit 3442 100s. I did see where you uncovered an old thread about a 3AA 3000 tank, but I had never seen one or heard of one until then.

 

[halocline]

According to Piper there are three ways to test a cylinder, only one can be used to get a plus rating, the water jacket method. The water jacket method is what they use.

To my knowledge, every single hydro test of every single scuba tank in the US is done with the water jacket method. I's nothing special about that shop.