How bad is the pitting on this tank?

[Lenaxia]

Hey guys,

I just received a used tank in the mail that I purchased and I need your take on how bad the pitting is for this.

I realized after I should've asked for pictures without the boot on prior to purchasing but its passed and might as well see what I can do about it.

So is this pitting bad at all or is it totally acceptable? It looks like there was a lot of salt build up under the boot and a good deal of pitting around the top of the boot. I don't plan on using the boot anymore, but should I worry about trying to fill in/cover the pitting that's already there?

 

[Dive Right In Scuba]

Hard to fully tell from a picture, but you should be fine. Again, I am NOT telling you this is good. You need to have a visual done IN PERSON

 

[Lenaxia]

Hard to fully tell from a picture, but you should be fine. Again, I am NOT telling you this is good. You need to have a visual done IN PERSON

As always thanks Mike. I'm taking it in for a VIP after work today since it was shipped with no air in the first place, but thought it wouldn't hurt to ask here too.

 

[Wookie]

Just looking at the photos, that doesn't appear to be pitting, but salt crust on the top of where the boot sat. One of the problems with Worthingtons and the reason so many fail hydro is that they put too thick of a galvanized coating on the cylinder. I don't think you are anywhere near through the galvanizing and into the steel.

Just curious. Unless you are doubling the cylinder up, why aren't you going to use the boot? I have a set of doubles with no boot on them, but my single 100 has a boot on it, and it's all rusty at the top of the boot. It's still not pitted, but it is rusty. The boot is just too handy to take off.

 

[Lenaxia]

Hey Wookie, how would having too thick of a galv coating on the tank cause it to fail Hydro?

I don't plan on doubling them up as I will probably jump straight to sidemount, but I don't like dealing with the potential for rust/pitting due to residual salt build up. We'll see, I agree the tank boots are really handy, I may decide its worth the regular cleaning of the boot to have it on!

 

[Eff]

Hey Wookie, how would having too thick of a galv coating on the tank cause it to fail Hydro?

I too am confused on this....

 

[Wookie]

Don't know, but with the rash of Worthingtons failing hydro, and the new special "soak" procedures that recently came out to ensure that the cylinders do pass, and I have 3 of them due this year, I decided to call the cylinder experts at PSI. I was told by them that the process that Worthington uses to hot dip their cylinders leaves too much galvanizing on the cylinders and that the thick coating of galvanizing causes the cylinders to not pass hydro sometimes.

A hydro is not a pressure test, a hydro is a stretch and return to proper size test. A guess might be that the heavy zinc layer causes the cylinder to not return to the proper size in the time allotted? I didn't really ask any followup questions, I just took it on faith that the guys at PSI have forgotten more than I ever wanted to know about cylinders. I've had many problems with Worthington/Hymark cylinders that are beyond the scope of this thread, suffice it to say that they are all quality assurance problems, and I have switched manufacturers of the cylinders I buy. Luxfer is back in the aluminum scuba game, and Faber makes one hell of a tough steel cylinder that doesn't need special soak procedures to get it to pass hydro.

Need any more of those used Worthington 100's?

 

[scubafanatic]

Don't know, but with the rash of Worthingtons failing hydro, and the new special "soak" procedures that recently came out to ensure that the cylinders do pass, and I have 3 of them due this year, I decided to call the cylinder experts at PSI. I was told by them that the process that Worthington uses to hot dip their cylinders leaves too much galvanizing on the cylinders and that the thick coating of galvanizing causes the cylinders to not pass hydro sometimes.

A hydro is not a pressure test, a hydro is a stretch and return to proper size test. A guess might be that the heavy zinc layer causes the cylinder to not return to the proper size in the time allotted? I didn't really ask any followup questions, I just took it on faith that the guys at PSI have forgotten more than I ever wanted to know about cylinders. I've had many problems with Worthington/Hymark cylinders that are beyond the scope of this thread, suffice it to say that they are all quality assurance problems, and I have switched manufacturers of the cylinders I buy. Luxfer is back in the aluminum scuba game, and Faber makes one hell of a tough steel cylinder that doesn't need special soak procedures to get it to pass hydro.

Need any more of those used Worthington 100's?

Hi Frank!

I've got (6) LP Fabers (including 2 twinsets)...and (7) HP PST's, and live in fear of the PST 'special exemption' eventually running out as PST is kaput (I understand the PST exemption was renewed fairly recently, so my PST's are 'legal' for a few more years, but my plan 'B' was to sell off my PST's if in the future the exemption dies and replace them with Worthingtons, and now you're saying Worthington's are lemons ? Are you also saying galvanized LP Worthingtons are also questionable ? While I've not had any issues with my Fabers, I prefer the PST/Worthington style galavanized coating over the Faber painted finish, so I really wasn't planning to buy any more Fabers for that reason, thinking, no worries, I can always buy Worthingtons....and now it sounds as if I have to rethink that plan! So, if I don't want any more Fabers, Worthington's are defective, and PST is out of business....who else supplies steel tanks in the US market ? Asahi (Japan) ? ...anyone else ?

 

[Jax]

Hey Wookie, how would having too thick of a galv coating on the tank cause it to fail Hydro?

I don't plan on doubling them up as I will probably jump straight to sidemount, but I don't like dealing with the potential for rust/pitting due to residual salt build up. We'll see, I agree the tank boots are really handy, I may decide its worth the regular cleaning of the boot to have it on!

Wookie - What is PSI, please? See, I'm not the type to take someone's word for it ( :ignore: ), I want to know WHY - what are the physics.

Lenaxia - (and anyone else) . . . I religiously spray into and around my boots, and take them off once a quarter to scrub the tank with a brush, soap, and water. Then I wax it with a good boat wax. They still look new, except that funny white film the wax leaves.

 

[Wookie]

Hey, Dude, Long time, no see. Why don't you hop in the car and come drill some moorings in at Stetson with us for the next 3 days?

Anyway, Worthington recently changed hands again, and I'm hoping that the new owner will pay more attention to detail. They have a good reputation in the industry, they also bought Hymark, which is now Worthington Aluminum. My problem is not any new cylinders, it's the cylinders I already own. When Luxfer got out of the small scuba cylinder business, I switched to Hymark for my 40's. When the dozen I bought came in, I condemned 4 of them right away, and the vendor made good on them. Of the 4 replacements, I condemned 1 and by that time Hymark had gone under. I use these 40's for hi mixtures of O2, and the pitting inside is atrocious. I will have to condemn them all this year and replace them all with Luxfers. None of the pits are big, they are loke sponge. Nothing that would condemn any other cylinder, and I'm sure that they would have been fine with air, but I don't put air in them, and I think that the Oxygen is actually attacking the cylinders.

As far as steels go, I think that the PST's are fine if they keep getting their exemption. I think Worthingtons are fine if you go through the special procedure to make sure they pass hydro. Fabers are fine if you don't mind them rusting. Whatever you do, steel cylindes are a problem. I can see rust, however, and do something about it. I can't see a potential hydro failure on account of the hydro station not following a special procedure on a 3AA cylinder. The damn thing should work as advertised. Although Fabers have their drawbacks, I can see the drawback happening and do something about it. I can't do anything about failed procedures.

Hi Frank!

I've got (6) LP Fabers (including 2 twinsets)...and (7) HP PST's, and live in fear of the PST 'special exemption' eventually running out as PST is kaput (I understand the PST exemption was renewed fairly recently, so my PST's are 'legal' for a few more years, but my plan 'B' was to sell off my PST's if in the future the exemption dies and replace them with Worthingtons, and now you're saying Worthington's are lemons ? Are you also saying galvanized LP Worthingtons are also questionable ? While I've not had any issues with my Fabers, I prefer the PST/Worthington style galavanized coating over the Faber painted finish, so I really wasn't planning to buy any more Fabers for that reason, thinking, no worries, I can always buy Worthingtons....and now it sounds as if I have to rethink that plan! So, if I don't want any more Fabers, Worthington's are defective, and PST is out of business....who else supplies steel tanks in the US market ? Asahi (Japan) ? ...anyone else ?