Air tanks haven't been inspected/tested in 11 years.. should I panic?

[Piranhana]

Apologies if this is in the wrong place!

I'm in Thailand, and over here all air tanks have to be visually inspected once a year and undergo hydrostatic testing every 4 years. I had a look at the date stamp on some of the tanks, and the last test date ranges from June 2004 (11 years ago!) to October 2009. Our dive school has its own air compressor so the testing side of things seems to fall to the wayside.

The instructors have confirmed that it's not ideal, but yet they're all still diving with those tanks.. am I being a silly DMT?

 

[Doc]

No, you are not being silly.

Try to avoid the area when tanks are being filled.

...over here all air tanks have to be visually inspected once a year...

Cut one corner, break one rule? More will follow.

 

[RJP]

Our dive school has its own air compressor so the testing side of things seems to fall to the wayside.

I would wonder if the same diligence has been applied to maintenance and repair of that compressor.

:shocked2:

 

[Doc Harry]

I betcha the valves in the cylinders have also been through similar inspection and cleaning.

There's no problem if your tank valve suddenly stops working, is there?

 

[flyin01]

I could only guess what the rest of the rental equipment looks like.

 

[BabySweetlipsLover]

I know our dive shop that I worked on didn't stamp it when it was checked, but all the valves were written on with a different coloured paint pen every year.

 

[cnherrick]

...dive shop that I worked on didn't stamp it when it was checked...

This would be my guess, although the OP did say that the other folk at the dive shop confirmed a less than attractive frequency.

 

[bbarnett51]

I have a lot of hobbies and I ignore a
to of the red flags I see. However, there is no room for error in diving. I would be asking questions.

 

[kwinter]

I would wonder if the same diligence has been applied to maintenance and repair of that compressor.

:shocked2:

First thing I thought of too. I'd be damn sure to test for at least CO.

 

[Bob DBF]

Air tanks haven't been inspected/tested in 11 years.. should I panic?

Yes

I would. I'd move even faster if I saw some E6498 stamps on them.



Bob