Question DIY Paint Scuba Cylinders?

[dm9876]

I've heard that some shops can be reluctant or outright refuse to fill tanks that have clearly been re-painted. The worry is that any pitting or other damage could have been filled and concealed. Also that the paint might have been baked on and affected the metal. Maybe check in with your local first to see if its going to cause you any trouble.

That Cerakote stuff sounds awesome though!

Dean

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I've heard that some shops can be reluctant or outright refuse to fill tanks that have clearly been re-painted. The worry is that any pitting or other damage could have been filled and concealed. Also that the paint might have been baked on and affected the metal. Maybe check in with your local first to see if its going to cause you any trouble.

That Cerakote stuff sounds awesome though!

Dean

Some might, that’s their right as a business owner to refuse to fill them.
However, if you get them hydro’d after painting them and the hydro stamp shows that it was stamped after it was painted should be indication that it is OK. If there was any sort of metallurgical problem within spec it would have not passed hydro. Beyond that, if someone’s worried about it they could ask the hydro facility for a note saying it came in freshly painted and passed, or if the tank is left with the dive shop for them to take it to hydro then it’s pretty obvious it passed since they’re the ones picking it up, not the customer.

 

[SlugLife]

I've heard that some shops can be reluctant or outright refuse to fill tanks that have clearly been re-painted. The worry is that any pitting or other damage could have been filled and concealed. Also that the paint might have been baked on and affected the metal. Maybe check in with your local first to see if its going to cause you any trouble.

That Cerakote stuff sounds awesome though!

Dean

I'd be curious to get some more opinions on this; whether it would be common or uncommon for a Dive-shop to be concerned about a tank that appeared to have been painted since it's last hydro.

I suppose the way one might tell, is whether there is paint inside the hydro-engravings/stamp or not. I could always mask over the hydro-engravings, at which point it would be be less obvious or difficult to tell.

Some might, that’s their right as a business owner to refuse to fill them.
However, if you get them hydro’d after painting them and the hydro stamp shows that it was stamped after it was painted should be indication that it is OK. If there was any sort of metallurgical problem within spec it would have not passed hydro. Beyond that, if someone’s worried about it they could ask the hydro facility for a note saying it came in freshly painted and passed, or if the tank is left with the dive shop for them to take it to hydro then it’s pretty obvious it passed since they’re the ones picking it up, not the customer.

That wouldn't quite apply in my case. Only one of my tanks needs hydro, and after some bad-experiences with the scuba-shop I normally get fills at, I won't ever be dropping any more tanks off with them for Hydro or VIP.

I guess for the moment I'll try to find out if painted scuba tanks are something dive-shops are concerned about.

 

[Bald Wookie]

I'd be curious to get some more opinions on this; whether it would be common or uncommon for a Dive-shop to be concerned about a tank that appeared to have been painted since it's last hydro.

I suppose the way one might tell, is whether there is paint inside the hydro-engravings/stamp or not. I could always mask over the hydro-engravings, at which point it would be be less obvious or difficult to tell.


That wouldn't quite apply in my case. Only one of my tanks needs hydro, and after some bad-experiences with the scuba-shop I normally get fills at, I won't ever be dropping any more tanks off with them for Hydro or VIP.

I guess for the moment I'll try to find out if painted scuba tanks are something dive-shops are concerned about.

I've refused repainted tanks before. I've seen repainted tanks that were clearly repainted to cover up excessive pitting (over what is acceptable) and we told the person to take it back to who they bought it from for a refund. So it does happen unfortunately.

Its almost similar to excessive stickers on the tanks - it needs to be removed, and I will not be removing paint for people unless its flaky and I can remove it quickly with a paint scraper (I mean in like 2 mins work) to see the bare tank underneath. I do this pretty regularly to inspect the corrosion underneath the paint, but the paint is already flaky so its easy work.

Its hard to say how to get around this. I've seen questionable tanks with fresh hydro stamps that I would have failed on a Viz. So don't think of hydro testing as the be-all and end-all to tanks. If I repainted a questionable tank nicely and it passed hydro, the next person to Viz it would not be aware of its hidden pitting.

I'd like to note here that I viz tanks pre- and post- hydro, so it reduces costs to customers if they fail, and potentially catches any damage from poor handling, or any residual water left in the tanks if not dried properly.

 

[SlugLife]

Hmmm. Cerakote is typically applied at a small-fraction-of-a-millimeter thick. I can describe that to members of scuba-board, however, there is a question of how much I want to be arguing with the staff of a dive-shop over a fill, because I painted a perfectly good tank. And with Cerakote, a paint-scraper edge might scratch the paint-surface, but you won't be removing paint even if you hacked at it for an hour.

One option would be to paint one of my 1988 tanks and seeing if anyone gives me trouble.. Afterall, I was planning on getting rid of those tanks. Now, being a 1988 tank plus painted might push it over the edge of what a shop will deal with, whereas they might have been ok with a 1988 tank, or a painted tank.

 

[Boarderguy]

Hmmm. Cerakote is typically applied at a small-fraction-of-a-millimeter thick. I can describe that to members of scuba-board, however, there is a question of how much I want to be arguing with the staff of a dive-shop over a fill, because I painted a perfectly good tank. And with Cerakote, a paint-scraper edge might scratch the paint-surface, but you won't be removing paint even if you hacked at it for an hour.

I've refused repainted tanks before. I've seen repainted tanks that were clearly repainted to cover up excessive pitting (over what is acceptable) and we told the person to take it back to who they bought it from for a refund. So it does happen unfortunately.

Its almost similar to excessive stickers on the tanks - it needs to be removed, and I will not be removing paint for people unless its flaky and I can remove it quickly with a paint scraper (I mean in like 2 mins work) to see the bare tank underneath. I do this pretty regularly to inspect the corrosion underneath the paint, but the paint is already flaky so its easy work.

Its hard to say how to get around this. I've seen questionable tanks with fresh hydro stamps that I would have failed on a Viz. So don't think of hydro testing as the be-all and end-all to tanks. If I repainted a questionable tank nicely and it passed hydro, the next person to Viz it would not be aware of its hidden pitting.

With cerakote any surface pitting or imperfections will still be visible. Media blasting won't remove pitting but will clean out Antin that was causing further damage. People need to get off their OEM is better high horse. If the tank had been cleaned, painted and hydro tested then their VIP should only concern the interior. The exterior work has clearly been done to correct a problem and that work did not affect the viability of the tank (fresh hydro that actually tests it). If the tank was just scraped and rattle canned I would have more concerns than seeing a clean tank looks good. You also need to take into account that cerakote and paint aren't going to be a thick buildup that fills in gouges and pitting. You would need a thick enamel coating or the vinyl coating that was prevalent 50 years ago.

 

[SlugLife]

With cerakote any surface pitting or imperfections will still be visible. Media blasting won't remove pitting but will clean out Antin that was causing further damage. People need to get off their OEM is better high horse. If the tank had been cleaned, painted and hydro tested then their VIP should only concern the interior. The exterior work has clearly been done to correct a problem and that work did not affect the viability of the tank (fresh hydro that actually tests it). If the tank was just scraped and rattle canned I would have more concerns than seeing a clean tank looks good. You also need to take into account that cerakote and paint aren't going to be a thick buildup that fills in gouges and pitting. You would need a thick enamel coating or the vinyl coating that was prevalent 50 years ago.

"I was going to let you into heaven, you lived a good life of loving, kindness, and altruism. However, when you were 12, you removed a tag from a pillow."

I'm pretty much in agreement. However, that still leaves open whether or not SCUBA shops will refuse fills (for good or bad reasons). I suppose I could always take pictures of the stripped tank if pitting in the #1 concern I might run into. But there are still some people who seem to think a painted tank needs to be Hydro'd again. So, the question remains if I'll be running into such people when trying to get fills.

 

[Boarderguy]

"I was going to let you into heaven, you lived a good life of loving, kindness, and altruism. However, when you were 12, you removed a tag from a pillow."

I'm pretty much in agreement. However, that still leaves open whether or not SCUBA shops will refuse fills (for good or bad reasons). I suppose I could always take pictures of the stripped tank if pitting in the #1 concern I might run into. But there are still some people who seem to think a painted tank needs to be Hydro'd again. So, the question remains if I'll be running into such people when trying to get fills.

How many shops do you frequent for fills? I use 3 and know the fillers by name... most others only know to look for stamps and stickers

 

[ScubaBunga]

"I was going to let you into heaven, you lived a good life of loving, kindness, and altruism. However, when you were 12, you removed a tag from a pillow."

I'm pretty much in agreement. However, that still leaves open whether or not SCUBA shops will refuse fills (for good or bad reasons). I suppose I could always take pictures of the stripped tank if pitting in the #1 concern I might run into. But there are still some people who seem to think a painted tank needs to be Hydro'd again. So, the question remains if I'll be running into such people when trying to get fills.

I've had some painted tanks for the last 25 years and have never had a tank rejected (only had fills in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Missouri, and Florida). I have had issues with some LDS and my old tanks - but not because they were painted and I no longer visit those LDS. I am VIP certified and understand the issues around painting tanks (those trying to cover up stuff), so can see where a tank could be rejected. I would recommend painting before hydro (but it is easy to paint after hydro and have it look like it was before) - but if they are good clean tanks it should be rare to have issues. I now VIP my own tanks so I know what they looked like before and after painting, so never have an issue - but again never had an issue getting a fill or vip in the past due to painting. I've never had my vip stickers refused (or even questioned) either but I've heard it happens.
I've heard that there are dive stores that won't fill 10 yr old tanks no matter what, those that have no understanding of the metals, DOT markings, Plus stamped steel tanks, etc, etc, so will you never have issues? who knows - if you do, and that dive store can't make a sane argument/reasoning that matches facts - best to just find another dive store.
So if you want to paint your tanks, understand some won't like it. If you are traveling a lot, you will want to call ahead and talk to the shops you are planning to get fills at. If you are diving locally, talk to your local dive shop. I like the tanks I've painted - but you'll have to decide if it's worth it for you.

 

[SlugLife]

I may have the perfect test-case tank. A 2003 tank, never hydrod, VIP'd once in 2004. The guy claimed it has been in storage for as long as he knew, and had no idea about the tank's history. Apparently he was a military diver, he knew how to dive, but apparently didn't know much about equipment nor dive recreationally. At $25, worth the risk.

The inside of the tank was clean. I stuck a flashlight inside, and threads look good, and tank just looks like bare metal.

The outside is another story. Valve had a medium-high amount of corrosion on it's exterior, but was yoke meaning it's being replaced anyway. The paint was a pretty blue color, however it's bubbling with white powdery stuff underneath (presumably aluminum corrosion). In the areas I manually sanded so far, the metal underneath ls smooth and no signs pitting. I'll finish either when I sand-blast it, or a warmer day when it's more convenient to use some paint-stripper outdoors.

In other words, the paint needs to be stripped anyway, and a protective-coating would be nice. I can imagine a scenario where a dive-shop may notice the bubbling and refuse a fill or fail-VIP. It needs hydro as well, so might as well paint before hydro.

My plan for dealing with dive-shops is (1) start with a single tank, and see if local dive-shops give me trouble. (2) if I run into trouble, have photos of the stripped tank easy to access, along with showing the paint is air-cure (3) If all goes well, it might be fun to even sell/swap the painted tanks with other locals. Not as a business, but rather a distraction and practice, and something to do as I slowly upgrade to newer tanks and/or more Steels.