I have 2 new 100 cu Faber Steel cylinders, inspected and filled 3 months ago. How long can I wait before using the cylinders

[formernuke]

You should immediately send those tanks to me for proper handling (joking).

If they were inspected and filled by a good place with properly filtered air you should be good to go whenever you want.

 

[sourdough]

now I am cleaning them. Not for O2, but cleaning still.

What's your schedule or measurement for when it's time for a cleaning?

How'd the dirty water get in? How'd you know?

 

[Subcooled]

What's your schedule or measurement for when it's time for a cleaning?

I do inspect my cylinders visually when
#1 cylinder valves are stiff and need to be serviced (hence, the cylinder must be emptied and the valve be removed and taken apart), or
#2 there's water inside the cylinder (e.g. I breathed the cylinder empty and forgot to shut it), or
#3 breathing air has a strange smell, or
#4 a peer-to-peer cylinder valve maintenance class

In the last decade I have inspected my cylinders three times (#1,#2+#3,#4) and had them hydrostatically tested once.
If your breathing gas smells, then you do have a problem

 

[sourdough]

I do inspect my cylinders visually when
#1 cylinder valves become stiff and need to be serviced (hence, the cylinder must be emptied and the valve be removed and taken apart), or
#2 there's water inside the cylinder (e.g. I breathed the cylinder empty and forgot to shut it), or
#3 breathing air has a starnge smell, or
#4 a peer-to-peer cylinder valve maintenance class

In the last decade I have inspected my cylinders three times (#1,#2+#3,#4) and had them hydrostatically tested once.
If your breathing gas smells, then you do have a problem

I appreciate the info, this is an area I'd like to learn more about.

 

[Subcooled]

If there is muddy (or any) water inside, then you'll need to rinse it out.
- You'll need a stripe of leds to light up the inside of the cylinder while you peek in. Is it uniformly clean and dry?
- You can dry it with an air nozzle & compressed air

Please note though, that various forms of corrosion may be hard to identify and to quantify. If you dive in salt water, then maybe you'll want a dive cylinder visual inspection professional look inside your cylinders every few years. Legislations do vary.

I am not an expert in the field. I only have some knowlede.

 

[Doby45]

maybe you'll want a dive cylinder visual inspection professional look inside your cylinders every few years. Legislations do vary.

In the US, that has to be done annually.

 

[Doc Harry]

In the US, that has to be done annually.

It's not law, but it is nearly universal in practice.

 

[Doc Harry]

... maybe you'll want a dive cylinder visual inspection professional look inside your cylinders every few years...

If you understand the history of cylinders within the history of scuba, there were a lot of problems and deaths that have led to today's universal standards (like annual cylinder inspections). And all those problems and deaths have just about disappeared from scuba because of those standards.

Inspecting your cylinder "every few years" is a step backwards with blindness of the past. Visual inspection should occur at least annually.

 

[lowwall]

Visual inspection should occur at least annually.

If you are using them.

I bought a pair of new AL80s 14 years ago because I was going to start diving locally. (Aluminum is not a good choice for Lake Michigan, but I didn't know any better.) They came with a VIP and a fill. For various reasons the local diving never happened and I've only used the tanks for pool refreshers after a long layoff and for servicing my regs. The tanks live in the back of a closet in our condo so they've never been banged around or heat stressed.

This means I'm still using that initial fill and I'll keep doing so until they get down to around 300psi and then I'll take them in for a hydro and VIP and a fill that will probably last another decade.

 

[Subcooled]

If you understand the history of cylinders within the history of scuba, there were a lot of problems and deaths that have led to today's universal standards (like annual cylinder inspections).

It is obvious to me now that I should have used "regularly" instead of "every few years" to avoid giving advice that is not accurate info for U.S. based diving.

Where I live there is no annual visual inspection requirement. Cylinders, both steel and aluminum, must be hydrostatically and visually tested every ten years. It used to be 5 years, but then harmonization with other european countries legislation made it ten. This lack of required annual visual inspection probably depends on the low salinity of local waters and other factors such as, but not limited to, club based diving culture and the lack of diving tourism. Visual inspection reveals problems caused by badly maintained compressors and out-of-air situations (i.e. water ingress) though, and probably countless other problems as Doc Harry says. Hence, I have to admit that his advice is better in this case.

Inspecting your cylinder "every few years" is a step backwards with blindness of the past. Visual inspection should occur at least annually.