current vip but expired hydro- will they still be filled

[Hallmac]

actually in the strict technical sense of the regulations there is no regulation that prevents anyone from filling an out of hydro tank as long as said tank is not offered for transportation in commerce.

Well, almost. I guess we will see how the courts rule on "transportation in commerce", as it stands right now, If a dive shop fills a cylinder that is not theirs, it is considered commerce regardless of whether they charge a fee or not. If a chartered boat takes a customer on the water it is considered transportation for commerce.

If you have a compressor, fill your own cylinders, and dive your own cylinders, not allowing another to use them then you are correct.

 

[MC]

Seems like you have a handful of tanks, I would suggest you also learn to do the vip yourself.

Anyone know of an on-line course one can take to certify your own tanks?

 

[boulderjohn]

Anyone know of an on-line course one can take to certify your own tanks?

Although much of it can possibly be done online, I think you really need to have hands on component. My own training, I feel, was quite poor. We spent hours (it seemed) looking at pictures of exploded tanks (OK, OK, OK! We get the picture!), which could have been done online. We could have done a lot of the other stuff online as well. The most valuable part of the class--which we barely had time for because of all the exploded tank pictures--was actually inspecting the tanks the instructor brought in, most of which were not passing tanks. Having to spot the failure points on a real tank was quite valuable. There is a big difference between seeing a picture of a tiny crack hidden in the threads in the neck and actually finding one yourself. When you find such a potential tank buster and see how easy it is to miss, you don't look so kindly on people who buy VIS stickers online and just slap them on their tanks every year.

 

[MC]

Having to spot the failure points on a real tank was quite valuable. There is a big difference between seeing a picture of a tiny crack hidden in the threads in the neck and actually finding one yourself. When you find such a potential tank buster and see how easy it is to miss, you don't look so kindly on people who buy VIS stickers online and just slap them on their tanks every year.

It is my understanding (and I admit it is VERY limited)- the Hydro is the test that will show cracking, not so much VIP. VIP more for corrosion/rust issues in the tank.

Got no problem with live training class, its just about having the free time to actually get it done. As others have pointed out, spending most of a training class looking at tanks that failed seems a waste of my free time (or time at my desk job doing a real job.

I think anyone can go on the internet now an buy a sticker-nothing keeping an individual now from doing that now.

Heck you can get a full college degree from a real university now on line. Figured taking a course on what to look for inside a scuba tank would be pretty easy.

 

[boulderjohn]

It is my understanding (and I admit it is VERY limited)- the Hydro is the test that will show cracking, not so much VIP. VIP more for corrosion/rust issues in the tank.

Inspecting the neck for cracks is a critical part of a visual inspection. You have special tools to help with it. When a tank fails hydro because of a crack, it has usually been missed by a Visual inspection a couple of times. You really don't want to be waiting 5 years to spot them.

I think anyone can go on the internet now an buy a sticker-nothing keeping an individual now from doing that now.

Unfortunately, too true.

Heck you can get a full college degree from a real university now on line. Figured taking a course on what to look for inside a scuba tank would be pretty easy.

My job for the past dozen years or so has been online education. I am the co-author of the iNACOL guidelines for online scientific investigations. I know how it can be done, but there would have to be very high quality simulations to make it work well, and those would be very expensive to create. It would take a big class turnout to make it financially worthwhile.

 

[tadawson]

It is my understanding (and I admit it is VERY limited)- the Hydro is the test that will show cracking, not so much VIP. VIP more for corrosion/rust issues in the tank.

Got no problem with live training class, its just about having the free time to actually get it done. As others have pointed out, spending most of a training class looking at tanks that failed seems a waste of my free time (or time at my desk job doing a real job.

I think anyone can go on the internet now an buy a sticker-nothing keeping an individual now from doing that now.

Heck you can get a full college degree from a real university now on line. Figured taking a course on what to look for inside a scuba tank would be pretty easy.

Very early stage cracking will not be seen by a hydro . . . I had an old AL 80 that I decided to have tested . . . the hydro was perfect, but the vis revealed about 5 easily visible cracks propagating at the neck. If a crack causes a hydro failure, it will likely be many, many, years old . ..

- Tim