Failed Hydro AND failed Viz?

[MidOH]

Yep. Some of the firehouses I service have their own.

It's not so bad.

At a minimum, dive shops that X out tanks, that pass a hydro at another site, should eat the cost of the tank.

 

[Waterwulf]

Which set of numbers is the serial number on an old steel 72 made by U.S.Divers? It has a set of numbers directly under the U.S.D stamped in, a set behind the DOT and some between the two. The old Hydro's are off to one side.

Also, thanks for the help on this. I would not have known about the X's for a condemned tank and would have just tossed the tank.

 

[Waterwulf]

At a minimum, dive shops that X out tanks, that pass a hydro at another site, should eat the cost of the tank.

You think X's are bad? I remember a shop in the mid seventies drilling holes in them just under the neck. There were no Viz's back then, just a five year Hydro. In the early seventies, there were still a lot of WW2 era tanks in use and they were dangerous! Regulations and laws were tightening up all over and shops were getting hammered for filling tanks decades past or even never Hydro'd.

So, no current Hydro no fill. A whole bunch of people sent their tanks in for a Hydro and a whole bunch of those failed. There was one dive shop who sent out a lot of them and they over reacted. (Probably because DOT had hammered them almost to death)

Whenever a failed tank came back, they drilled a hole in it just under the neck. All was fine except for a bunch of slightly PO'd customers until one of them blew up over it. "Just because it won't hold 2500 psi for diving doesn't mean it won't hold 400 psi for filling Moto Cross tires". He was right. He took them to court and they had to give him a new tank. The dive shop stopped drilling holes in the failed tanks.

 

[Waterwulf]

I contacted the company that does all of the Hydro testing in this area. Per them: They are required by DOT to permanently mark any pressure cylinder that fails the Hydro test. Some shops will drill a hole in it but they will stamp X's over the DOT number. That cylinder is now condemned.

Per the dive shop. my tank failed the Hydro but it has nothing on it to indicate that other than a Sticky note!

After looking this tank over, I am sure that they never even removed the boot! It was never Hydro'd or VIZ'd. It was a total rip off. Furthermore, the first tank that they tested, failed the VIZ but passed the Hydro. Myself and a few others have examined that tank from top to bottom inside and out with a remote eyeball camera with light ranging from very dim to sunburst nova and can not find anything wrong with it. However, they did offer a me a good deal on a new tank. They could sure afford to after ripping me off twice for fifty bucks each.

They failed the last tank based strictly on it's grungy appearance. This shop is a rip off!

 

[rjack321]

Hmmm. Now my normally suspicious mind is kicking into overdrive. The first tank passed the Hydro but failed the visual so they were kind enough to tumble it for eight hours and visually inspect it again. It failed the visual again. However, I didn't see any of the telltale signs like the "track ring" around the tank circumference where it rolled on the rollers for eight hours. No, I have never tumbled a tank so I don't know that it would make track rings but everything else I've ever tumbled did. Maybe they put them in protective sacks when they tumble them?

The second one failed the hydro and the visual but why run the second one if it already failed the first one?

Some sort of exterior scuffing is normal from tumbling yes. The rollers themselves usually leave either a slight rubber "ring" or the dirt on them leaves marks. Dirt usually washes off, a rubber scuff ring usually takes a scotch bright pad to remove.

 

[rjack321]

I contacted the company that does all of the Hydro testing in this area. Per them: They are required by DOT to permanently mark any pressure cylinder that fails the Hydro test. Some shops will drill a hole in it but they will stamp X's over the DOT number. That cylinder is now condemned.

Per the dive shop. my tank failed the Hydro but it has nothing on it to indicate that other than a Sticky note!

After looking this tank over, I am sure that they never even removed the boot! It was never Hydro'd or VIZ'd. It was a total rip off. Furthermore, the first tank that they tested, failed the VIZ but passed the Hydro. Myself and a few others have examined that tank from top to bottom inside and out with a remote eyeball camera with light ranging from very dim to sunburst nova and can not find anything wrong with it. However, they did offer a me a good deal on a new tank. They could sure afford to after ripping me off twice for fifty bucks each.

They failed the last tank based strictly on it's grungy appearance. This shop is a rip off!

If they aren't XXXed out they didnt fail hydro. Requalifiers are REQUIRED to make the cylinder unfillable - 99.99% of the time that is by XXXing out the DOT numbers. Drilling holes in tanks is not done by competent requalifiers.

 

[Waterwulf]

If they aren't XXXed out they didnt fail hydro. Requalifiers are REQUIRED to make the cylinder unfillable - 99.99% of the time that is by XXXing out the DOT numbers. Drilling holes in tanks is not done by competent requalifiers.

That's what I learned here and the Hydro shop verified it this morning. "We always stamp it with something to indicate pass or fail. Either a pass date or X's over the DOT number. That tank did not come thru here".

Now the shop is saying that it was all a miscommunication. "The Tech failed it on the Viz so it wasn't supposed to be sent out for the Hydro test. Then it got mis-communicated that it had been sent out and failed the Hydro too".

So it got a Sticky note put on it that said failed Hydro and failed Viz. Condemned. Fifty bucks please! The shop is claiming that they don't send out the tank for a Hydro if it fails the Viz and then they refund some payment back to the customer. They didn't follow that policy on the first one they tested for me. That one failed the Viz and passed the Hydro.

They're accusing me of "skimping on my life support equipment by picking up used tanks". Well gee! I guess I should have bought one of their three hundred dollar tanks instead of getting these two properly tested after picking them for free.

They claim that they don't rip people off. Except that was exactly what would have happened to me if you people here hadn't educated me about it. I looked for the X's and when I found none, demanded a refund. Otherwise, I would have taken my condemned tank home and drilled it full of holes for a lawn sprinkler after paying fifty bucks for it! If that's not a rip off, I don't know what is.

Then on top of everything else that this shop has done wrong, they banned me AFTER I swore never to return! LOL. I had to step back to laugh about that one. As if I would ever return. What other kind of "miscommunications" has this shop been making? They've made to many mistakes just on this one deal for me to trust them with a rubber band, much less my life support equipment.

 

[Still Kicking]

Did they explain why "the tech failed it on the vis?" This is one shady shop.

 

[davecampbell]

name and shame

 

[Waterwulf]

Did they explain why "the tech failed it on the vis?" This is one shady shop.

They didn't explain anything either time. The first tank was apparently sent out my mistake after it failed the Viz because per one of the co-owners: "We do the Viz first so if it fails, we save you the cost of the Hydro". It passed the Hydro after it failed their Viz but it should never have been sent out anyway per their policy. (That's mistake #1)

The second tank failed the Viz and then the Hydro. Again, it should never have been sent out for the Hydro after failing the Viz per their policy. (Mistake #2) But wait! it didn't fail the Hydro after all and in fact, was never tested. (Mistakes #3 and # 4) However, it was marked with a Sticky saying "Failed Hydro. Failed Viz. Condemned". (Mistake # 5) They saw an old man with a cane walk into their store and saw an easy mark for a new tank instead of a man who's old because he was smarter and/or faster than those trying to hurt him or rip him off. (Mistake # 6)

Per the co-owner, it was all just a miscommunication. Yet, had I not gotten some "schooling" here, I would have been out fifty bucks and left with my Condemned tank. How many others have been ripped off like that? A funny part is that if the tank fails the Hydro, United Fire Tucson (The ones who do the tests) does not even charge for the test. That means that if my tank really had failed the Hydro, the shop isn't even charged for it but they were sure ready to charge me for it.

The scary part is that there were several mistakes made by several people at that shop. The owner should be happy that it was exposed but instead, he bans me and insults me. The level of incompetence displayed at that shop was frightening. So they got my tanks mixed up and sent out and not sent out and charging me for work not done by mistake. Big deal, right? That's their attitude. What's next? This tank gets mixed up with that tank and the gas mix is wrong for that diver and he/she dies. Shooiit! Don't worry about banning me. I'll never go back anyway!