Any advice on this tank I just bought

[timakempton]

I just bought this sight unseen,I hope it;s as clean on the inside as it is outside. Apparently this guy inherited this 20 plus years ago. It was his fathers and was made in the 70's

The guy said the numbers on it are

DOT-3AA2250
HJ 378371
T.W 28.10
W.C 26.2
USD 9 * 75 + ( not to sure on this one )

Any info or advice would be great it only cost me $20 I intend to get it checked out and use it with my old Dacor 950XL reg set.

 

[herman]

The DOT stamp (3AA) says it's steel and 2250 is a common pressure for steel tanks of the era. Odds are it's a steel 72, reguardless of what the sticker says. The tank was made for and sold by USD, the USD stamp indicates that. The 9@ 75 is the original hydro date and at the time had a plus rating (another clue it's steel).The red color is not right for the tank. Off hand I would say someone has "restored" it and dressed it up stickers. Looking at the 1975 catalog, yellow and galvanized were the only 2 colors available from UDS at the time. Also the valve does not appear to be a USD valve, the knob is wrong and for the 75 time frame it should be plastic.
It appears you have a repainted red steel 72 with the wrong stickers on it, that said, as long as it's reasonably clean inside it should pass hydro with no problems and be a good tank for the rest of your diving years....and your kids as well, they are trough old tanks. It's worth the $20.

 

[timakempton]

Thanks for the info Herman I knew it was steel the second I saw the pic. I thought it should be yellow but I wasn't sure. If it needs a rumble I thought I might get a quote for sandblasting and repainting it in the original Yellow and see if I can get hold of the correct decal for it. I might start looking around for a USD J valve to match it you never know your luck.

 

[herman]

Before going too far, it is very possible that it galvanized under the paint, you don't want to distroy it if it is. It's much better if you chemical strip the tank. I do like the yellow ones but plain galvanized is a correct color as well.
Good USD valves should not be a problem, ask here and on VDH.

 

[Chez7222]

Tim, if you search the forum you'll see 2 threads describing how to restore your tank. The older posting has the pictures at the end. The advice I received here on this forum was very valuable and I've restored six tanks that are sitting in my dive locker. One note that I will add is to have the tank hydro'd prior to paint; if you go with a vinyl paint, it will have to be hydro'd again. I'd stick with a paint that's easy for touch-ups.

 

[whaylonsmithers]

Hey Tim, I've got a couple of those steel 72s. They're heavy as sin but where you are I reckon you'll be glad of the weight and they're pretty bulletproof. All mine were sold on ebay after a hard life and 10-25 years of sitting in a shed and they hydro'd just fine. I've got one in front of me and the markings are quite similar to yours (USD, HJ serial number 38xxx is a bit hard to read). Some have what looks like a hydro stamp in the shape of Australia and the Metric tare weight - I presume that was to get them entered into 'legal' service in Australia. Of the 3 I've got the best condition one is a naked galvanised one that has been completely repainted with cold gal. Another has original USD yellow on it and is pretty good. The third has some shonky safety yellow on it like a lot of new aluminium tanks do and its shockingly bad. Unless you're deadset on a retro look and/or really know what you're doing with the paint my inkinling is to not bother.

If you are looking for practicality and want to replace the j-valve I've noticed a lot of shops have spare yoke valves from when someone swapped out for a new Din/convertable valve and can be got them for free or sweet f.a. If you go the whole hog and vintage it I could probably help you out with an Aqualung Aquarius reg for the price of postage, although your 950XL would probably look smart enough and do the job at least as good.

 

[Bubblehead628]

I bought my tank stickers from here, but it's an earlier version (1960's). Scuba Museum Online Scuba Store

 

[JamesBon92007]

That is one of the weirdest things I've seen in a while--a steel tank with an "Aluminum" sticker! Must have been a prestige thing

 

[DaleC]

If you are going vintage you may want to hang onto that valve.

If you notice, it has a HP port just below valve knob. You can run a SPG right out of there which might come in handy if you are diving USD Mistrals or other DH regs with short yokes which won't allow a banjo fitting to nest in place.

 

[elmer fudd]

Hey Tim, I've got a couple of those steel 72s. They're heavy as sin but where you are I reckon you'll be glad of the weight and they're pretty bulletproof. All mine were sold on ebay after a hard life and 10-25 years of sitting in a shed and they hydro'd just fine. I've got one in front of me and the markings are quite similar to yours (USD, HJ serial number 38xxx is a bit hard to read). Some have what looks like a hydro stamp in the shape of Australia and the Metric tare weight - I presume that was to get them entered into 'legal' service in Australia. Of the 3 I've got the best condition one is a naked galvanised one that has been completely repainted with cold gal. Another has original USD yellow on it and is pretty good. The third has some shonky safety yellow on it like a lot of new aluminium tanks do and its shockingly bad. Unless you're deadset on a retro look and/or really know what you're doing with the paint my inkinling is to not bother.

If you are looking for practicality and want to replace the j-valve I've noticed a lot of shops have spare yoke valves from when someone swapped out for a new Din/convertable valve and can be got them for free or sweet f.a. If you go the whole hog and vintage it I could probably help you out with an Aqualung Aquarius reg for the price of postage, although your 950XL would probably look smart enough and do the job at least as good.

I've always found LP72's to be very lightweight tanks. Only my pony bottle and an old LP50 are lighter.