Question Faber sold in Europe can't be tested in the US?

[Scuba-74]

So I recently bought 4 used Faber tanks that were manufactured in Feb 2020 (still under five years old), and by all indications were sold and used in Germany. They somehow managed to travel from Germany to, of all places, Phoenix, Arizona, and from there to Massachusetts, where I bought them.

As their 5 year anniversary is approaching, I decided to bring them in for hydro and viz, only to be told that they can't be hydrotested in the US because they don't have DOT markings on them .

Is this true?? Do I have any options at this point other than use them for decoration? I mean it's not some unknown niche manufacturer I'm talking about, it's under 5yo galvanized steel Faber cylinders. I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't put "DOT" on tanks not intended for the US, but there are pressure and other specs markings on these tanks, can they really be completely useless in the US?

 

[Badger7]

Is this true?? Do I have any options at this point other than use them for decoration? I mean it's not some unknown niche manufacturer I'm talking about, it's under 5yo galvanized steel Faber cylinders. I guess it makes sense that they wouldn't put "DOT" on tanks not intended for the US, but there are pressure and other specs markings on these tanks, can they really be completely useless in the US?

Unfortunately. If your tanks were not built and stamped DOT (US) and/or TC (Canada), you're just not going to be able to get them commercially filled over on this side of the ocean. Those stamps and those requirements were perfomed in the tank manufacturing process, and cannot be added or certified afterwards. I'd bet the valve-to-tank threads are metric as well and the valves lack burst disks?

Return to seller if possible. Otherwise I'm pretty sure they are scrap metal in the US and Canada, and are only commercially fillable if re-imported back to the other side of the Atlantic. What you do with them personally outside of bringing them into a dive shop and transporting them filled on US highways, is totally your business.

 

[Scuba-74]

Unfortunately. If your tanks were not built and stamped DOT (US) and/or TC (Canada), you're just not going to be able to get them commerically filled over on this side of the ocean. Those stamps and those requirements were perfomed in the tank manufacturing process, and cannot be added or certified afterwards. I'd bet the valve-to-tank threads are metric as well and the valves lack burst disks?

Well damn. Thanks.

Not sure about metric threads, but yes - no burst disks, they are H-valves with two outlets.

Return to seller if possible. Otherwise I'm pretty sure they are scrap metal in the US and Canada, and are only commercially fillable if re-imported back to the other side of the Atlantic. What you do with them personally outside of bringing them into a dive shop and transporting them filled on US highways, is totally your business.

No, returning to seller would not be an option. Bought them on FB marketplace, and not only "as is" is an assumed clause there, I also had an option of saying "no" when I looked at them. I tend to believe that the guy who sold them to me genuinely didn't know about this issue.

 

[phoque]

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, you’re not going to be able to fill those tanks at any dive shop here. Their only use here would be for someone with their own fill station. It is possible a hydro testing facility would be willing to test them for you without stamping, for your own peace of mind, but without DOT stamping, official testing and visual for filling at commercial stations won’t be possible. By the way, I know exactly which tanks you are talking about, branded Polaris. Saw them for sale here, seemingly right after they were apparently bought off a German couple who used them sailing the Caribbean for a couple years with their own compressor aboard. They posted on the local scuba group after landing in RI, to sell off the tanks and the compressor before moving back to Europe if I recall. The tanks showed up for resale a few days later by the person who bought them from this couple. I noticed the ad did not mention the tanks wouldn’t be usable in the US without a personal fill station, which I thought was disingenuous, assuming the seller knew. I would try to return them, especially if it was claimed they used the tanks here before, which I’m 99% sure is not true. But it is also totally possible they were unaware of the issue and thought the tanks could be retested and used normally in the US.
And yes, the valves on those will have M25 metric threads, not 3/4 NPT.

 

[Scuba-74]

Unfortunately, as mentioned above, you’re not going to be able to fill those tanks at any dive shop here. Their only use here would be for someone with their own fill station. It is possible a hydro testing facility would be willing to test them for you without stamping, for your own peace of mind, but without DOT stamping, official testing and visual for filling at commercial stations won’t be possible. By the way, I know exactly which tanks you are talking about, branded Polaris. Saw them for sale here, seemingly right after they were apparently bought off a German couple who used them sailing the Caribbean for a couple years with their own compressor aboard. They posted on the local scuba group after landing in RI, to sell off the tanks and the compressor before moving back to Europe if I recall. The tanks showed up for resale a few days later by the person who bought them from this couple. I noticed the ad did not mention the tanks wouldn’t be usable in the US without a personal fill station, which I thought was disingenuous, assuming the seller knew. I would try to return them, especially if it was claimed they used the tanks here before, which I’m 99% sure is not true. But it is also totally possible they were unaware of the issue and thought the tanks could be retested and used normally in the US.
And yes, the valves on those will have M25 metric threads, not 3/4 NPT.

Wow, the plot thickens! Yes, they are branded Polaris. Did those tanks you're talking about have H-valves?

The story I've been told was that the seller got them from his roommate in Phoenix, who was a divemaster and always got them filled at that shop (which is possible, I guess). The seller had German accent and has German last name. Moved to Western MA recently from Arizona. No mention of any couple, Caribbean, or RI.

So either these are similar, but different tanks, or a completely manufactured story about a divemaster roommate in Phoenix.

 

[phoque]

Ok, then yes, it is virtually certain the seller fabricated this story about the tanks being used in Arizona. It is likely true he moved from there, etc, but I am almost certain the tanks were purchased in RI from that couple after their sailing adventure. When they posted on the group to sell the tanks and compressor, some people thought the ad was fake, and this guy came in to defend them and say he had met them and they were super nice, etc. Then I noticed a few days later when looking for used tanks that this same guy had the 4 tanks (with Y valves indeed) posted for sale on marketplace.
Another explanation would have been that he was trying to be helpful to this fellow countrymen by holding the tanks and selling them while they were pressed for time to return to Europe, unaware of the impossibility to use them here, but the fabricated story makes it sound more like they brought them to a shop like you did for a fill, and then decided to pass the bag to the next diver after realizing they couldn’t use them.

 

[Frogman82]

It's the same the other way around. DOT or TC stamped tanks can't/won't be hydroed in Europe. Tanks have to be CE marked.

 

[Scuba-74]

Ok, then yes, it is virtually certain the seller fabricated this story about the tanks being used in Arizona. It is likely true he moved from there, etc, but I am almost certain the tanks were purchased in RI from that couple after their sailing adventure. When they posted on the group to sell the tanks and compressor, some people thought the ad was fake, and this guy came in to defend them and say he had met them and they were super nice, etc. Then I noticed a few days later when looking for used tanks that this same guy had the 4 tanks (with Y valves indeed) posted for sale on marketplace.
Another explanation would have been that he was trying to be helpful to this fellow countrymen by holding the tanks and selling them while they were pressed for time to return to Europe, unaware of the impossibility to use them here, but the fabricated story makes it sound more like they brought them to a shop like you did for a fill, and then decided to pass the bag to the next diver after realizing they couldn’t use them.

I'll try reaching out to him and see if he'd be willing to split the damage 50/50.

He did seem like a nice guy, recently moved to the well-to-do town I lived for 10 years in, we talked about the school system and such. Did not seem like a fraud to me, but I've been wrong before...

 

[phoque]

Well, I looked out of curiosity, and the post is there. If you search “Germany” on the local fb ne divers group, you’ll find the post with tank pics, and the guy in the comments who likely is the one who sold you the tanks mentions he had just bought them from this couple. So yeah, roommate story, ok… There’s one more guy not to buddy up with on a local dive if it ever comes up!

 

[Scuba-74]

Well, I looked out of curiosity, and the post is there. If you search “Germany” on the local fb ne divers group, you’ll find the post with tank pics, and the guy in the comments who likely is the one who sold you the tanks mentions he had just bought them from this couple. So yeah, roommate story, ok… There’s one more guy not to buddy up with on a local dive if it ever comes up!

Oh. My. God.

These are the tanks I bought. And the guy I bought them from has commented in that posting.