pre '88 al80 hydro in Ohio

[jbd]

Tom, Thanks for the input. When I picked up the tanks from my brother who stopped diving for medical reasons 12 years ago he gave me the tanks that had only been in the water 3 times and only had 4 fills on them. I understand that at one time some tanks did rupture, but I was looking at the DOT safety sheet and it was not a recall only a safety notice, the sheet also only mentioned 12 issues with that series of tanks with over 100,000 made.

Thanks,
Bruce

As you noted, there was no recall. Apparently there were close to 25 million cylinders(not all were scuba cylinders) made from the 6351 alloy. As I understand it, there have been 19 explosive failures(worldwide) of tanks made from this alloy. I have seen one that cracked while it was being filled. Others have been found with cracks beginning and pulled from service. This is the point in having the tanks properly inspected at the proper intervals. If the tanks are properly inspected and found to be without defect then they are "safe" to use.

 

[Tom Winters]

jbd - you're absolutely right about the 6351 cyclinders being safe to pump as long as they pass all the tests. That said, more and more shops are flat-out refusing to pump them - even tanks they know. I wouldn't pump them, and every guy I ran across with those tanks either turned them in for the $50 bounty or retired them.
Let's see here here...12 issues out of 100,000. That's 24 flying legs. I kinda can't get past those 12 failures to see the light of the 99,988 good guy tanks - I stood in the fill whip area for too many years.
Sorry I focus on the leg thing so much - it always really creeped me out reading the fire department and insurance reports of tank failures. Sometimes they couldn't even find them in the aftermath of the explosion.

 

[TxWingnut]

Tom & JBD

I respect your opinions on this matter and thanks for the input.

Bruce

 

[roakey]

Let's see here here...12 issues out of 100,000. That's 24 flying legs. I kinda can't get past those 12 failures to see the light of the 99,988 good guy tanks - I stood in the fill whip area for too many years.

I take it you never get in a car -- that 12 out of 100,000 is a drop in the bucket when compared to the accidents or deaths per 100,000 cars.

But don't let logic muddle your phobia.

The real problem is sloppy inspections. The vast majority of dive shops have folks who have never taken an inspection class inspecting cylinders, and this is what you get -- kabooms. The dive shop solution? Punish the customer for the dive shop's incompetence by not filling their perfectly good cylinders.

Roak

 

[jbd]

jbd - you're absolutely right about the 6351 cyclinders being safe to pump as long as they pass all the tests. That said, more and more shops are flat-out refusing to pump them - even tanks they know. I wouldn't pump them, and every guy I ran across with those tanks either turned them in for the $50 bounty or retired them.
Let's see here here...12 issues out of 100,000. That's 24 flying legs. I kinda can't get past those 12 failures to see the light of the 99,988 good guy tanks - I stood in the fill whip area for too many years.
Sorry I focus on the leg thing so much - it always really creeped me out reading the fire department and insurance reports of tank failures. Sometimes they couldn't even find them in the aftermath of the explosion.

I know when I first learned of the problems with the 6351 alloy I was nervous about being around one when it was being filled. Now with a bit more knowledge and understanding of what the problem is, it doesn't bother me quite so much if the owner of the tank is diligent about the testing. Although they are still out there, I think that many of the scuba tanks have been turned in on that buy back program that Luxfer had. Of the ones still in use, I think that they will be taken out of service as soon as any problems are noted upon inspection and testing, with diligent inspection tending to error on the side of caution.

Where have you seen the incident reports? I have not seen anything specific but would be interested if you can point me in the right direction.

 

[jbd]

I take it you never get in a car -- that 12 out of 100,000 is a drop in the bucket when compared to the accidents or deaths per 100,000 cars.

But don't let logic muddle your conclusion.

Roak

The statistics are even smaller when you consider 19 incidents worldwide out of nearly 25 million cylinders total from the 6351 alloy. Not to infer that even one incident is good but everything in life involves risk as you are indicating.

 

[roakey]

The statistics are even smaller when you consider 19 incidents worldwide out of nearly 25 million cylinders total from the 6351 alloy. Not to infer that even one incident is good but everything in life involves risk as you are indicating.

Add the number of fills for those 25 million cylinders and you're probably up to a 19 in a billion probability. If I was worried about that, I'd be out buying lotto tickets.

Roak