Oily tanks

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Njord fr

Registered
Messages
38
Reaction score
21
Location
France
# of dives
25 - 49
Hello everyone!

I just received 2 tanks I bought second-hand, everything's fine!
However, they're both oiled on the faucet threads and inside (it stinks!).
Do you know a safe and simple solution to clean them from the oil?

Thank you!
 
It is common in Belgium and France (among other European countries) to use a vegetable based oil for hydrostatic testing cylinders, even ones used for SCUBA, unless water is specifically requested (at a higher cost as the testing facility has to dry the cylinder after draining to prevent rust).

Typically the cylinder needs to sit supported/suspended upsidedown for a couple of days for the remnants of the oil to drip out. The inside of the tank will remain coated but it should not/will not have an affect on breathing.

Cleanup of the outside of the cylinder and valve can be done with soapy water or isopropyl alcohol.

The vegetable based oil has a slight odor but there should be relatively no taste when breathing from it. The clubs I was a part of while living in Belgium for 10-years opted for cylinders to be tested with oil instead of water unless the cylinder was going to be used for Nitrox/O2...in that case the cylinders and valve designated would be tested with water then O2 cleaned before being put back into service.

If your cylinder is empty, you can remove the valve and check if there is oil in it that needs to be drained. If there isn't, then clean up the outside, fill and go dive.

-Z
 
Dawn dish soap is used for cleaning cylinders to oxygen-clean standards.

For air (not Nitrox) you can use any dishwashing soap.
 
It is common in Belgium and France (among other European countries) to use a vegetable based oil for hydrostatic testing cylinders, even ones used for SCUBA, unless water is specifically requested (at a higher cost as the testing facility has to dry the cylinder after draining to prevent rust).

Typically the cylinder needs to sit supported/suspended upsidedown for a couple of days for the remnants of the oil to drip out. The inside of the tank will remain coated but it should not/will not have an affect on breathing.

Cleanup of the outside of the cylinder and valve can be done with soapy water or isopropyl alcohol.

The vegetable based oil has a slight odor but there should be relatively no taste when breathing from it. The clubs I was a part of while living in Belgium for 10-years opted for cylinders to be tested with oil instead of water unless the cylinder was going to be used for Nitrox/O2...in that case the cylinders and valve designated would be tested with water then O2 cleaned before being put back into service.

If your cylinder is empty, you can remove the valve and check if there is oil in it that needs to be drained. If there isn't, then clean up the outside, fill and go dive.

-Z
And I thought that in Belgium beef fat or even horse fat was considered optimal. Oh, wait, that's for frites. Nevermind.

🤣
 
And I thought that in Belgium beef fat or even horse fat was considered optimal. Oh, wait, that's for frites. Nevermind.

🤣

There is a sizable US community in Belgium between the State Department and the DOD working at the US embassy to Belgium, the US embassy to NATO, the US embassy to the EU, NATO's political headquarters, NATO's military headquarters (SHAPE), US Army Garrison BENELUX at Chievres airbase and Daumerie casern, and US Army Garrison Brussels...

...it was always fun to watch the faces of US personnel, a few months after they had moved to Belgium and been enjoying the frites there the whole time, when they found out the frites were cooked in beef fat/tallow.

-Z
 
Checking the date: it is NOT April 1. Confused.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/swift/

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