All about cylinder inspections & training

[Aquamaniac]

jamiei once bubbled...
anyone have any info on who makes LP steel 72's? Also, i found a place here in GA that will hydro and vip my tanks for $10 each and have them done in 24 hours. That beats the heck out of $20 hydro and $20 vip and having to wait for two weeks....

How about a PM with that little bit of info.......

 

[jamiei]

my lds said all steel 72's were made in the 70's and junk... and that I shouldn't pay anything for them... any other opinions?

 

[kcanty]

Fred,

I have done some research but don't know where to
find the specific lining info you refer to. I would like
to get or convert a steel 72 into an O2 deco tank.

My understanding is that the linings varied and were
used from the early 60's to up around 1974.

Can you point me to any info to find out more?

Thanks!

Kell

 

[dmdalton]

jamiei once bubbled...
my lds said all steel 72's were made in the 70's and junk... and that I shouldn't pay anything for them... any other opinions?

He is right! You should collect them all and send them to me!

I've got 4 sets of double 72's with 300 bar isolator manifolds (Sea Elite) and love them. They are nice tanks. They weigh about 4 # less than an AL 80 per tank, are smaller, and are neutral which means that you can shed 4 # from your weighting system per tank compared to AL 80s. Therefore a set of double 72's will be smaller, and 16 # lighter than double AL 80. And they hold 80 cuft @ 2750 psi, 275 psi over rated service pressure of 2475. Adequate gas supply for most dives I do.

Dave D

 

[O-ring]

I've got 4 sets of double 72's with 300 bar isolator manifolds (Sea Elite) and love them. They are nice tanks. They weigh about 4 # less than an AL 80 per tank, are smaller, and are neutral which means that you can shed 4 # from your weighting system per tank compared to AL 80s. Therefore a set of double 72's will be smaller, and 16 # lighter than double AL 80. And they hold 80 cuft @ 2750 psi, 275 psi over rated service pressure of 2475. Adequate gas supply for most dives I do.

Last weekend somebody pumped mine up to about 3200...not sure what they were thinking, but I was basically walking around with double 95s on my back...and boy, they were lighter and smaller than the last set of 95s I picked up

 

[FredT]

kcanty once bubbled...
Fred,

I have done some research but don't know where to
find the specific lining info you refer to. I would like
to get or convert a steel 72 into an O2 deco tank.

My understanding is that the linings varied and were
used from the early 60's to up around 1974.

Can you point me to any info to find out more?

Thanks!

Kell

I got mine by cleaning dozens of them. Short version:

If USD and it has a baby blue epoxy liner, you have a garden gong.

Dacor powder coated with PE external, another gong unless you REALLY like shaving things with a single edge razor blade.

USD yellow epoxy coated, no galvanizing, Gong again.

USD yellow epoxy coated, strip with Caustic, you got a winner, unless it has the nasty blue liner.

USD white liner, good to go if not damaged, can be easily tumbled out wet, but it takes a while.

Brown Scubapro liner (looks like shiny rust) is good unless it has a holiday. Tumbles out OK.

ANY non-galvanized tank unless it has a 1/2" NGT tapered thread (looks like pipe thread, but it isn't, so DO NOT clean the threads with a tap!) is a garden gong or suitable for trade to a commercial testing facility for a CO2 fire extinguisher. 1/2" NGT valves are the ones you need to do an O2 clean and convert. If planning to store them on a boat they should be galvanized. 1/2"NGT CGA 540 and 870 valves are readily available for just a few $ each.

Most steel tanks were galvanized, and then coated. A few were just coated. If the exterior coating is blistered, you need to shave it at the blister to expose metal. If the metal is covered in rust it's a gong. If it's a white chalky powder in the blister it's zinc oxide and a potential winner!

I have over 20 72s. All were acquired used for less than $30 each. I do have a PSI cert to keep a LDS mollified, but I inspected tanks for 30 years before that with just and BSOE (Ocean Engineering) degree.

FT

 

[joens]

on PSI's website www.psicylinders.com they have a new page with a directory of PSI inspectors and what services they offer.
So tank owners can find out where to go to get a proper visual inspection. it is a new page with not a lot of entries yet so you dive shops and inspectors make sure you submit your info so you can be listed.
Joens

 

[Debraw]

My husband took this course a couple of months ago. He really learned a lot and when I get to the shop this moning I am going to enter his inofmrtaion on the website. Thanks for the link!

 

[C_C]

The more people who are properly trained to do Visual Cylinder Inspections and follow their training, the more myths can be dispelled.

On a related note, COVCI and Santa Rosa Scuba will be holding a PSI certification class on March 22, 2003 at Blue Hole, NM.

Interested parties can go to www.psicylinders.com and click on the upcoming classes link to find contact information.

C_C

 

[Tavi]

I'm taking the course in Buffalo on Sunday!!

looking forward to it!