Approximate cost of Tank Tumbling?

[SlugLife]

These look good.
Shouldn't take much work at all to tidy these up. I will say, the tank whip and a drill is a very speedy method, followed by a rinse with water and simple green, and you'll be very happy. I think you could make one up pretty easily with a few cheap materials.

Agreed, in person they look perfectly fine. I'm not keen about finding the metal-shavings in there, but that's what the dip-tube & regulator-filter is for.

I thought about making one, I generally enjoy DIY projects. A rod, few strips of stainless steel wire, and some stainless-steel zip ties should do the trick. 1/2 inch pvc to protect the threads. Maybe I'll head to the hardware store tomorrow, I need to take care of a few errands anyway.

Watching this thread because a have a collection of tanks that don't get dive often and sometimes to be aVIP/fill every time i take them in.

The class is really easy, and inspections themselves are fast and easy. For a good tank, I can probably VIP it in a couple minutes.
The only difficult part is when the tank is a little sketchy. For sketchy tanks, you might have to verify pit-depth, number of threads, or other similar factors or refer back to the documentation.

As far as costs, I ended up paying $325 for the class, $75 for the tools, $35 for the custom stickers, $9 hole punch, some molykote (you don't need 5.3oz), 90-duro o-rings.

Realistically, if you're only inspecting your own tanks, or used ones you're thinking of buying, a 2x small dental mirror and mini flashlight is all you really need. A straightened metal coat-hanger (curve one end, so you don't poke your eye) might be useful, and a pit-gauge might also be useful. So you can knock down the tool-costs a bit.

 

[happy-diver]

Hay mate, a tube with some slits stainless wire in with hose clamps through a tank bung
before you go and SlugtheLife out of you
Who's been shaving in your tanks anyway

 

[ScubaBunga]

Photos are from one tank, but both are effectively identical. It's not easy to photograph, however:

1. There is some very light rust on the interior (first picture is more color-accurate) Interestingly, it's on the walls, but not the bottom.
2. There is a small amount of metal-shavings at the bottom, which you can see sitting in the middle.
3. Both tanks otherwise pass inspection, but I'll definitely want to clean them first.

View attachment 801158View attachment 801159
I might try manually rolling the tanks with some (uncoated) aquarium gravel or similar in my free time. Perhaps designate one of my crappy spare yoke valves as a "maintenance tank cap" for the purposes of protecting the threads. If that works, great, if not, whatever, it's just a few dollars, a few calories, and a podcast. Plan B if that doesn't work might be building or buying one of those tank whips.

It also turns out these steel tanks have 3/4 valves (not 7/8ths like I thought) which means I can install some of my modular valves that have been collecting dust, which are great for sidemount, and a carrying handle.

a whip may work - personally (as I'm all setup for tumbling) I'd tumble that to shiny clean. Rinse with really hot water and blow dry from existing tank and it will be like new.

 

[Boarderguy]

I just had one of mine get flagged to be tumbled. $30 for the tumble, $20 for the vip and fill.

 

[SlugLife]

I just had one of mine get flagged to be tumbled. $30 for the tumble, $20 for the vip and fill.

A couple years ago, $20 was what local shops charged for VIP and fill. At those prices, VIP may be annoying, but unlikely to be worth taking the class over. But now that it's hitting $30 to $35 per tank, it's getting a little excessive. I have no idea what the tumble costs were, but on an Alex Pierce video I watched today, he mentioned $25 to $30, and the video was about 1-year old. If they were charging $30, I'd just say "ok" and move on.

The LDS owner was telling me how he didn't make ANY money off VIPs or fills ($10), and that he should have upped his prices years ago. Maybe he's right? I'm not one to argue with him, open a dive shop, or tell someone how to run their business. However, I got cheaper fills in Cali ($7). I also know the VIP process now, and $20 ($30 - $10 fill) for a few minutes of work sure seems profitable.

edit: I ordered a 36-inch steel rod, and some stainless steel cable. I'm going to try making a whip out of it, and see how that does.

 

[PR_SMITH]

A couple years ago, $20 was what local shops charged for VIP and fill. At those prices, VIP may be annoying, but unlikely to be worth taking the class over. But now that it's hitting $30 to $35 per tank, it's getting a little excessive. I have no idea what the tumble costs were, but on an Alex Pierce video I watched today, he mentioned $25 to $30, and the video was about 1-year old. If they were charging $30, I'd just say "ok" and move on.

The LDS owner was telling me how he didn't make ANY money off VIPs or fills ($10), and that he should have upped his prices years ago. Maybe he's right? I'm not one to argue with him, open a dive shop, or tell someone how to run their business. However, I got cheaper fills in Cali ($7). I also know the VIP process now, and $20 ($30 - $10 fill) for a few minutes of work sure seems profitable.

edit: I ordered a 36-inch steel rod, and some stainless steel cable. I'm going to try making a whip out of it, and see how that does.

I made a homemade whip as you describe; I installed a plastic tank cap with a hole in the center to keep the SS rod away from the tank neck threads. I tack-welded the SS cable to a length of SS rod. Works great.

 

[Norwegian Cave Diver]

Photos are from one tank, but both are effectively identical. It's not easy to photograph, however:

1. There is some very light rust on the interior (first picture is more color-accurate) Interestingly, it's on the walls, but not the bottom.
2. There is a small amount of metal-shavings at the bottom, which you can see sitting in the middle.
3. Both tanks otherwise pass inspection, but I'll definitely want to clean them first.

View attachment 801158View attachment 801159
I might try manually rolling the tanks with some (uncoated) aquarium gravel or similar in my free time. Perhaps designate one of my crappy spare yoke valves as a "maintenance tank cap" for the purposes of protecting the threads. If that works, great, if not, whatever, it's just a few dollars, a few calories, and a podcast. Plan B if that doesn't work might be building or buying one of those tank whips.

It also turns out these steel tanks have 3/4 valves (not 7/8ths like I thought) which means I can install some of my modular valves that have been collecting dust, which are great for sidemount, and a carrying handle.

Is this amount of rust what you would normally see?

 

[Gone for diving]

I find if you wash it out with hot water, it usually flash rust no matter what...
So I wash, blow it's out with dry air, then whip out the flash rust, then use a straight copper tube hooked up to a dive tank, and blow out all the dust.
Then it's nice and clean.

 

[SlugLife]

I made a homemade whip as you describe; I installed a plastic tank cap with a hole in the center to keep the SS rod away from the tank neck threads. I tack-welded the SS cable to a length of SS rod. Works great.

I like that! I have one of those tank-caps available. I don't have access to a welder (or welder-skills) unfortunately. Though I have been thinking lately, it might be useful to take a metal-working class at some point.

Is this amount of rust what you would normally see?

I don't really have the experience to know what is typical for a steel tank. I believe normally (based on my reading), you should expect no rust or maybe only ultra-light rust. You can get some flash rust from water or humidity being in your tank for any reason, such as from hydro-testing, or not properly and quickly drying a tank after cleaning it, or maybe even from storing it empty (condensation).

I believe the reason these 2 tanks had a very light and even coat of rust as shown (and not line-corrosion), is from having nitrox sitting in them for years. When I bought the tanks, they had 3500 PSI of nitrox, and a 2019 VI sticker. Lets estimate they had been sitting like that for 2.5 years. I used them after purchase once, and then let the tanks sit for another 6 months with about 500psi of nitrox. The higher oxygen concentrations over time can cause this type of rust.

For aluminum tanks, I've only opened up about 8 so far, and never seen internal corrosion yet, so I'd say I'd normally expect none, but not be surprised to see it. A few of my tanks (craigslist finds) have had light external corrosion, which appeared in the form of bubbly paint.

 

[grf88]

I like that! I have one of those tank-caps available.

For those who don't you can find them in the scuba aisle of your local Home Depot miss-labelled as PVC pipe fittings.