I inspected this cylinder myself.

[oly5050user]

Really! Worried about expense of a VIP! Come on people. Locally an inspection cost $15..for that tank simply gets inspected,gets O rings replaced, cristolube on threads to prevent seizing, a sticker that cost the facility .50 cents..oh, and a air fill to whatever the tank is rated for, does not matter the volume..air fill alone can be $7 to $9 depends on volume contained, so actual cost of VIP come out as little of $6 to $8. About the same cost to get a beer at that price in a bar around here.

 

[dberry]

I also like to DIY stuff and I'm big on saving $$, but there's also the question of what will you be willing to do if fix minor problems? Tumble it yourself? Buy those abrasive rods to scour the insides? Given that a VIS comes with an airfill at my LDS, the cost doesn't seem that significant in the long run.

 

[_Ralph]

Really! Worried about expense of a VIP! Come on people. Locally an inspection cost $15..for that tank simply gets inspected,gets O rings replaced, cristolube on threads to prevent seizing, a sticker that cost the facility .50 cents..oh, and a air fill to whatever the tank is rated for, does not matter the volume..air fill alone can be $7 to $9 depends on volume contained, so actual cost of VIP come out as little of $6 to $8. About the same cost to get a beer at that price in a bar around here.

If you only have very few tanks, sure. But if you have several, then you have to start weighing the options.

Not all places are as inexpensive as $15, and can take quite a while on the turnaround ...

_R

 

[WantSomeScuba?]

I can just hear the dive shop owner now: "Uhhh, we only teach that class to our cylinder inspectors, mumble DOT....blah blah CGA blah blah mumble don't know what they are doing...mumblemumble".

Not a dive shop owner, but I don't care where you got your tanks inspected, as long as they were inspected by somebody qualified to do it. We have plenty of customers who know how to do a VIP and are qualified to do one. As long as there is some sticker with a cert number, it's good to me.

Where I have a problem is when people assume they know better than people who have actually taken a course and maintain their certification. If a tanks threads fail, or I fill a tank that's heavily corroded, guess who is going to suffer the most from it? Probably me.

If you only have very few tanks, sure. But if you have several, then you have to start weighing the options.

Not all places are as inexpensive as $15, and can take quite a while on the turnaround ...

_R

Man, if your shop is taking a long time on VIPs, something is wrong. You can do a thorough one in less than 20 minutes, if you know what you're doing. But I get what you're saying--if you have a bunch of tanks, just take a PSI or TDI course, because you'll save money.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have accumulated a large number of dive cylinders due to the fact that my kids dive and we tend to shore dive in remote areas where air fills aren't readily available. VIPs are starting to come due on these. Cost is a consideration, and I want to know firsthand whether there are any problems with wet fills.

So I obtained a light, a mirror, a stack of stickers, a bunch of neck o-rings, and a syringe of tribolube. I read a copy of the relevant CGA pamphlet. My cylinders are steel. I have a 3-ring binder with a sheet for every cylinder with details of everything that has been done to the cylinder and valve, so I can keep track of condition and changes over time.

Took some cylinders in for fills this morning and the dive shop asked who inspected the ones where the VIP sticker did not specify a shop name. I told them that I had inspected cylinders myself, and invited them to open them up also if they thought they were more paranoid than I am.

They declined, and I got my fills.

I have found this to be very helpful:

https://www.luxfercylinders.com/img/rm_img/blog_img/455/attachments/1/scubaguide.pdf

Based upon the information in this file I condemned two of my alumimun 80s. All of my steel tanks (8, total) passed my inspection and four recently passed the inspection of the hydro test guy. I don't normally inspect my tanks at exactly one year mainly because I maintain my compressor and I know that no water is getting into my tanks, but I do look inside every 15 to 18 months or so, depending upon how much the particular tanks has been used.

I have my own compressor and I'm not going to fill or use any tank that I think is questionable. Normally I will just do one dive locally but I'm thinking of getting some generic VIP stickers so when I go to Catalina I can get a fill and do a second dive. Do you know if it's true that a sticker is not required for the first year after the hydro test?

With what my LDS charges for a VIP, Hydro Test, Air Fill, and Tumbling I would probably be over halfway to buying a new tank. And then they want to do Valve Service too.

 

[tbone1004]

Really! Worried about expense of a VIP! Come on people. Locally an inspection cost $15..for that tank simply gets inspected,gets O rings replaced, cristolube on threads to prevent seizing, a sticker that cost the facility .50 cents..oh, and a air fill to whatever the tank is rated for, does not matter the volume..air fill alone can be $7 to $9 depends on volume contained, so actual cost of VIP come out as little of $6 to $8. About the same cost to get a beer at that price in a bar around here.

I currently own, and regularly use, 25 different tanks. that adds up FAST. DIY thank you very much

@JamesBon92007 what caused you to fail two of your 80's?

also on the vip sticker after hydro. That all depends on the shop. There is no VIP required by anyone except individual dive shops, so the answer to that question is entirely dependent on the specific shops you will be using

 

[JamesBon92007]

I currently own, and regularly use, 25 different tanks. that adds up FAST. DIY thank you very much

@JamesBon92007 what caused you to fail two of your 80's?

also on the vip sticker after hydro. That all depends on the shop. There is no VIP required by anyone except individual dive shops, so the answer to that question is entirely dependent on the specific shops you will be using

It's been a while but I remember on one of them I saw a small crack near the bottom of the threads and stopped looking at that point. The other one has a questionable "fold." The fold itself appears to be acceptable but added to the fact that these tanks were made from the 6351 alloy and considering the cost of the hydro test and visual eddy test and the fact that they fit the "Sustained Load" profile it's chances were not very good so it is now a door stop for my storage shed. I have one other 6351 aluminum 80 that I still sorta use. It passed my VIP and the Visual Eddy and the shop's VIP but with the additional cost of the extra test and the fact that I prefer steel tanks anyway I mainly just keep about 500 psi in it and use it for buoyancy comparisons and adjusting the tank strap on BCs before a dive trip where I tend to end up using aluminum 80s.

The way I see it I got a lot of service life from my aluminum 80s before they discovered "Sustained Load Cracking." When I bought them most people kept their tanks full, ready for the next dive. I certainly did. As far as I know it's not an issue for steel tanks. Steel tanks seem to be making a comeback but as long as aluminum 80s are cheaper I expect to find them on most dive boats.

 

[JamesBon92007]

I have not found any statistics on how many tanks have actually exploded but I did find this:

3. How many aluminum cylinders have exhibited SLC?
· Out of a total U.S. population of 1,073,000 Luxfer scuba cylinders made of 6351 alloy, only 1.25% have exhibited SLC.1
· Out of Luxfer's total 6.1-million U.S. population of 6351-alloy cylinders, the SLC rate is slightly less than 0.37%.

It is from here:

Scuba Tanks Explosions

As you can see the percentages are small unless you just happen to be within the wrong percentile. Based upon these numbers I'm surprised I found a crack. Perhaps I should buy a lottery ticket.

 

[2airishuman]

Really! Worried about expense of a VIP! Come on people. Locally an inspection cost $15..for that tank simply gets inspected,gets O rings replaced, cristolube on threads to prevent seizing, a sticker that cost the facility .50 cents..oh, and a air fill to whatever the tank is rated for, does not matter the volume..air fill alone can be $7 to $9 depends on volume contained, so actual cost of VIP come out as little of $6 to $8. About the same cost to get a beer at that price in a bar around here.

I have around 25 cylinders, because I shore dive, my kids dive with me, I don't have a compressor, and I sometimes travel to areas where there is no dive shop within reasonable driving distance. The annual costs are considerable.

I also like to DIY stuff and I'm big on saving $$, but there's also the question of what will you be willing to do if fix minor problems? Tumble it yourself? Buy those abrasive rods to scour the insides?

I will probably end up with a tumbler at some point, but for now, I've been sending out tanks that need tumbling to a hydro shop that shot blasts them.

It's been a while but I remember on one of them I saw a small crack near the bottom of the threads and stopped looking at that point. The other one has a questionable "fold." The fold itself appears to be acceptable but added to the fact that these tanks were made from the 6351 alloy and considering the cost of the hydro test and visual eddy test and the fact that they fit the "Sustained Load" profile it's chances were not very good so it is now a door stop for my storage shed

I had a 6351 cylinder and got rid of it, because I don't like the odds.

Nearly all my cylinders are steel (all but the AL19).

 

[TrimixToo]

I own about 40 tanks. The class and stickers cost less than one year's VIPs at the LDS. As I have my own compressor and blending station, it's me at risk except when I travel, so I'm pretty strict about what's acceptable and what's not.

John