All about visual inspection stickers VCI/VIP

[kauai_diver]

My friends shop is on the south shore. The Napali is the west coast where the boat goes as part of the one tour. Fathom Five is cool as they do go the the Sheraton Caverns as well as Sea Sport does.

I would highly recommend the Lehua/Niihau dive of the wall with the Blue Dolphin and use either Fathom Five or Sea Sports for the Sheraton Cavern dive.

Sea Sport also rents kayaks if you want to do some ocean paddling along the Poipu coast. Or you can go over to the Wailua river and rent them there and paddle up to the Fern Grotto. Nice place and it is a river paddle.

Since you have a car, you gotta drive up to the Waimea Canyon,it is beautiful. There is alot of great hiking up there too as well as a lodge and restaurant.

I'm sure you will enjoy Kauai, it is very laid back and pleasant.

 

[joewr]

K-D,

I went to the Blue Dolpin website and from what I read, it seemed that they did not do scuba-only trips. Is that true? I am just a little reluctant to go on a boat that has snorklers, sight seers, sailors, etc. Hope this does not sound elitist.

What is the scoop?

Are you familiar with the Aston condos? How close is the shop to the condos?

Joewr

 

[kauai_diver]

They do both. They do have divers only trips on their 25' foot dive boat. The trip over to Niihau does also take snorklers and tourists. Mostly the family members of those diving etc. Doesn't sound elitist, you want to dive dammit! There are other dive companies that will do the Niihau trip. I looked up Bubbles down in the phone book and their add does talk about dive trips over to Niihau. But they are up on the North shore so you will have to drive approx 30 minutes to get to their shop.

Aston is within 3 minutes of SeaSports in Poipu. I live about 8 minutes from Poipu so I am real familiar with this area. Send me any questions you have. The more info you arrive with, the more fun you'll have while here!

 

[cmay]

Yes Tom,

The VIP + is becoming more popular. It is a eddy-current testing device to test for neck cracks that are too small for the eye to see (or just missed by the eye). A visual neck crack inspection is still done but the Visual Plus adds a extra degree of safety. I feel better with the V+ sticker on a tank, especially when my legs are the ones next to the tank while filling. The downside is that the testing units cost $1000+ which makes them hard for some shops to rationalize buying one.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Thank you cmay,

I had actually given up on getting an answer and I was about to repost the question to see if I could get one.

Since its not a universal thing I think is kinda tough to refuse to fill a tank without one but I also see your point from safety sake.

Tom

 

[Mario S Caner]

I've been through the course and have trained others on how to use it. I've taken cylinders out of service after using the machine, that would normally have passed a standard visual inspection. The inspection works period. It's bound to protect fill station operators, and therefore gets my vote of confidence.

 

[cmay]

I am a firm believer now. I took a PSI course last week and actually got to use one for the first time. There were a couple of tanks that we were using in the class that you could not see a crack (or it was questionable) through the magnified mirror, but the visual plus picked it up.

 

[TwoBitTxn]

I understand these micro cracks pose some hazard. In reality what is that risk? How great is that risk? Does there seem to be an age range in which tanks start failing VIP+ in greater proportions? What happens when you fail a tank, do you drill it like when it fails hydro or will you give it back to the owner?

Tom

 

[Mario S Caner]

These cracks were first reported to be only on a certain range of cylinders manufactured, but we have found that there are more out there than originally suspected.

The cracks pose a great risk to a fill station operator. I'm sure we have all seen pictures and heard stories of what happens when a cylinder fails right?

 

[ScubaSteveC]

I just took a VIP class and I learned much more than expected. The VIP + is utilized (mainly) for tanks made from the 6351 aluminum alloy. Generally speaking, every tank made prior to 1988 (except for Catalina) is made from this alloy. The 6351 alloy is susceptible to Sustained Load Cracking (SLC). I believe that most manufacturers are now using 6061 aluminum alloy which is not susceptible to SLC.

The VIP+ is uses eddy current to find these cracks in the neck threads. It works pretty well in the 6351 alloy cylinders, but I know of some cylinders that were rejected for cracks, sent back to the manufacturer, and the manufacturer states that no crack exists. So its not perfect. You may get false crack indications on a new cylinder (6061 alloy).

Probably more than you needed to know, but this stuff if fresh in my mind.

Steve