New tank ordering question

[Divin'Papaw]

All Worthingtons in current production are O2 clean and grit blasted as a final clean and are spotless-look for the green O2 label on the tank. Be aware they are being phased in as older production moves through the supply chain

Thanks for the info Lee. I was just a little concerned because the threads of my tanks had some redish dust that I found odd. I talked with the vendor, who I definitely trust, and was assured that is normal with these steel tanks. Hearing about some others experiences with the Worthingtons being a bit dirty I became a bit concerned. Mine have hydro dates of 8/2006 and 10/2006. Do you know if those should fall after the new final cleaning process was implemented?

 

[Gil57usa]

Good point Mike. I forgot to touch on that point. Absolutely ... NO PIPE TAPE! The o-ring seals the valve and the threads hold it in tight. Some folks LIGHTLY lube the threads of the valve, some don't. Personally, I don't.

Actually it is a good practice to use a very small amount of Christo Lube on the threads. Not only does it lube the threads, but it also creates a barrier between the two different metals. Direst contact of dissimilar metals can cause electrolysis and lead to corrosion.

 

[limeyx]

there is a solution for this if you have O2 clean tanks and your shop partial-pressure-fills. Just get them to fill your tank with air from the O2 clean fill whip they use to top off the partial pressure fills. This way it's o2 compatible clean air and doesn't contaminate your tank.

Where the problem lies with this is that not all shops have the ability to do this if they don't partial pressure fill.
...

Even easier solution. Go on the internet and buy a stack of "O2 Clean" stickers...

 

[Canadian.Diver]

It seems like there should be a standardization on nitrox fills. I think its obvious that a membrane system or premixed is the way to go. When I inquired as to why some shops used the partial pressure system , I was told that the membrane system was too expensive for the amount of nitrox they sold. But I have seen systems between $2000-3000 which seem reasonable to me as an investment for a shop , I even know a diver who bought one for his personal use. An argument that these cheaper systems would not be able to put up with commercial use could be made , but if the shops that are claiming that they don't get a lot of call for nitrox in the first place , it might just be the answer. I think this might turn into diver demand driving the industry into a change. I have personally ran into the problems with the different methods on a vacation where I had to bring extra tanks of nitrox for the dives because the charter I was using did only partial pressure blends , then I went to an area not far away and wanted to get just a regular air fill in my tanks, they seen the nitrox sticker and refused saying it would contaminated my tanks. After 30mins of explaning that my tanks weren't O2 cleaned they finally filled them after I signed a wavier, which I was happy to do than miss a dive 100s of Kms from home.
One last thing membrane fills are more accurate than partial pressure fills without tinkering with bleeding and topping off a few times to get it just right. Waaaay faster. Sorry I may have gotten off topic here.

 

[Leadking]

Thanks for the info Lee. I was just a little concerned because the threads of my tanks had some redish dust that I found odd. I talked with the vendor, who I definitely trust, and was assured that is normal with these steel tanks. Hearing about some others experiences with the Worthingtons being a bit dirty I became a bit concerned. Mine have hydro dates of 8/2006 and 10/2006. Do you know if those should fall after the new final cleaning process was implemented?

No, they were not part of the new blasting procedure.
This was the last of the issues, all cosmetic, that has been addressed. The minor staining that our customers complained about had more to due with the sealing devices used in the hot dip galvanizing process than contamination that would not be compatable with 02. With the new blasting process you will find that all cylinders manufactured since january 2007 production will satisfy the most critical eye.