Catalina Al 80 question

[8dust]

As I had mentioned above, it's been a good while since I purchased any major gear...

did someone say above, that you need to get a Hydro & VIS on a NEW tank???

If so, I can see it as a good opportunity for local shop to "punish" me for buying on-line.

Wasn't really looking for a HP140, just caught my eye as I have been looking for my 80, but they're pretty cool. Didn't even have those back in the day. That's a lot of air to stuff in one bottle! Don't know that I would ever have an extra $500 to spend on an at-home tank though.

An AL 80 should be just fine, if the price is right.

 

[tk trekers]

If you buy a new tank there should be a visual inspection sticker on it and that's it. Hydro testing is only done every 5 years from the date of manufacture.

 

[halocline]

If you buy a new tank online with no valve it probably will not have a vis sticker on it. If you put your valve on and bring it in to the shop to get it filled, they'll almost certainly take the valve off, do the vis, reinstall the valve, fill, and charge you. Locally it's around $20 for the vis and fill.

If you bring it in without the valve it will be the same, although you'll save them the trouble of taking the valve off.

If it does have a vis sticker, you can put the valve on and bring it in, but since it will be empty it's likely they'll take the valve off and, guess what, charge you for a vis.

The only way around it is to get the tank with a vis sticker, put your valve on, and get a few hundred PSI in the tank before you bring it to the shop. Even so, lots of dive shops will take a look at a new tank bought elsewhere with a used valve on it and want to inspect it. That's a guess, but probably a good one.

Another way would be to try to talk JDA into selling you a tank and valve, with a current sticker, shipped with just a little pressure in the tank. 100 PSI would be fine.

 

[mike_s]

some "online tank shops" will put a visual sticker on it and ship it empty. some will put something like 10 to 40psi in it and ship it, with a Vis sticker

whether your LDS will honor that is up to them since the visual sucker thing is something that most of them play along with as a requirement. (yes I meant to say sucker ).

Some shops will give you crap if you buy a tank online. I figure do what's best for you. most shops don't stock a bunch of tanks and get crappy deals on them buying in low volume. Then the tanks sit around the shop for 1-2 years and ger further out of hydro. but they seem to think they need full list price for them. Part of that is that shipping tanks from California or Canada isn't cheap.

so they figure out if they have to work on a tank you bought elsewhere, then they should charge you for it. which makes sense to me.

If you buy a tank at my LDS, they typically will o2 clean it for free and include the Nitrox band sticker, visual, and usually a less than 40% fill included in the price of the tank. not a terrible deal.

If you buy it elsewhere, you pay for that O2 cleaning, visual, nitrox band sticker and first nitrox fill.

Once you do the math, you need to get a really good deal online to have to make it cheaper and easier to buy online if you want an o2 clean tank filled and ready to go., etc.

 

[webjr]

some shops that don't fill 6351T alloy (Luxfer) won't fill any tanks that are 20 years old or older.

I had my 1988 catalina al80 filled at three different places over the last few months with never a word about it. Then the vis expires and sudenly everyone in town says they wont touch a tank over 20 yo. I've been looking online at all the accident reports I can find and they all are 6351 tanks. Does anyone know of a SINGLE catalina failure?

 

[Scared Silly]

Webjr, you are running into the dive shop - I am too dumb to educate myself so anything made before 1990 is suspect syndrome.

Fact: Catalina has always used 6061 for their cylinders.

Of course this fact does not prevent a dive shop from making up their own rules.

Given their views I would start questioning their qualifications for doing VIPs. Who trained them, when was their last update? Have them show you their certs from the agency who certified them. Do they work on your regs? Ask them when the last time they attended a course from the mfg or other qualified course. Afterwards, you might be glad they won't fill your cylinder ...

 

[Gilldiver]

Check Craigs list and any other local used equipment advertisement you like for older aluminum tanks from 1990 and newer. Also look for old steel 72's as, with proper care, they will last a lot longer then any aluminum ever will.

Last winter I picked up 3 72's to replace my old 80's as the alloy run-a-round was getting to be just too much of a pain. I got each steel for $25 or less, and it cost me $30 for a hydro and vis - So 3 tanks with better boyancy then an aluminum 80 in hydro and vis for $55 each. You loose a bit on total air volume, but for day trips and shore diving, just take a 2nd or 3rd tank and change out.

Who cares if one of my "new" steels was made in 1960.

 

[WD8CDH]

If in good shape, an old steel 72 is about the best bang for the buck tank that there is. They make a nice set of doubles too.

 

[skynscuba]

I sold my two Catalina AL80's for $50 each, full of Nitrox and with about one year left on the hydro. Pretty much the going rate here in the Bay Area (except the bonus Nitrox).