Looking to Buy Tanks Off Of Craigslist - What to Ask?

[Oldbear]

I have been looking at tanks for sale on Craigslist in Colorado and I have seen quite a few to fit my needs.

Since I have never bought used tanks before what should I be looking for outside of a current Hydrostatic-Visual test stamp/sticker?

I will be looking at valves for signs of corrosion, thread damages, oils etc. I will be looking at the tank for obvious dents and cracks.

I thought if the Hydro is out of date, I would offer to pay for a current test plus the tanks's price, but only if it passes...is this reasonable?

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks,

~Oldbear~

 

[divad]

I thought if the Hydro is out of date, I would offer to pay for a current test plus the tanks's price, but only if it passes...is this reasonable?

Yes.....but only if you don't "front" the test. That should sort things out succinctly.

 

[chrpai]

I've bought a bunch of tanks off Craigslist and it's usually a pain because most people just don't have a clue and don't want to be bothered.

I've sold a few tanks too and I always list all of the important details so that buyers know I have a clue and they don't have to ask a bunch of follow up question.

Tank Type ( Steel 3AA or Aluminum 3AL )
Capacity
Service Pressure
First Hydro
Most Recent Hydro
Most Recent Visual
If LP Steel, is most recent hydro + rated if current?
Valve type? DIN/Yoke/Pro
O2 Clean?

I don't care about paint cause first thing I do is peel off the vis sticker, strip it and put the sticker back on.
I don't care about tank boots on AL tanks.
I'm a stickler for DIN and most tanks will be Yoke so I don't care about that so much except for calculating what I'm willing to pay for it.

I won't pay more then $100 for a ready to dive AL80 with a DIN/Pro valve. If the tank is out of hydro and vis with a yoke valve, I won't pay more then $20. That's what I can get it for scrap or get back to my $100 price point if I put the work into it. If you are fine with yoke valves then you can pay up to $50-$60 and be ok.

I only buy tanks with brands and first hydro dates that indicate it's a 6061 alloy tank. I'll look the outside of the tank over when I get there.

Trying to think if I'm missing anything... When you get good enough at this game you can flip tanks for a profit and then use that to buy the tanks you want to keep.

 

[Hockeynut]

I bought several steel tanks off craigslist several years ago. Just by talking to the seller for a while, I figured out the condition the tank would be in. I also figured out that the one guy could be low balled big time so I got a smokin deal. (He had no idea how much hydro would cost etc)

 

[chrpai]

Buy low from people who think their tanks are scrap (they are to them) and sell high to paint ballers who are getting a good deal compared to new.

 

[halocline]

I thought if the Hydro is out of date, I would offer to pay for a current test plus the tanks's price, but only if it passes...is this reasonable?

Any advise is appreciated.

Thanks,

~Oldbear~

It's pretty typical for used tanks out of hydro to be sold on a conditional basis for passing hydro. I don't think you need to pay extra for it. If someone is shipping you the tanks obviously that's an issue, but otherwise not.

Depending on the tank you can get a pretty good idea of how it will do on hydro; no guarantees of course, but LP steel (3AA) tanks that are in decent visual condition, no corrosion on the inside, have a really good shot at passing; they rarely fail unless they've been seriously abused. Special permit steel (3442) tanks have a less stellar hydro record because the test pressures are much higher and with galvanized tanks there's a recommended 'pre test' procedure that most hydro shops will ignore.

I don't know about AL tanks, but the few that I've had (all purchased used, I would never a buy a new scuba tank) have passed with zero problems. I think the real issue to watch out for is older AL tanks that many shops won't fill no matter what.