pros and cons of hydro test not at LDS?
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The hydro facility has your best interests at heart, the dive shop theirs
Unless it is a successful shop or one with it's own hydro testing station
Unless it is a successful shop or one with it's own hydro testing station
A dive shop's best interests ARE to watch out for the customer's best interests. Else they lose the customer. Best interests are NOT mutually exclusive.
Bob DBF
Contributor
I was living a ways out from civilization and so was the LDS. At my first hydro there he let me know that he waits for enough tanks to make a 70mi trip each way worthwhile, takes them down, drives back, then waits for hydro shop to call when they are done up to a week later, then makes the same trip again, it would be a while before his next trip. Or I could do it myself and handed me their card, I've been using the hydro shop since. After talking to the hydro shop about my situation they said they could turn around my two tanks in a day or two, so I visited friends while the tanks were done. When I moved, my new LDS asked about hydros, I told him the story, he said he uses that hydro shop too, and that's the last we spoke of it.
That's taking care of customers.
Bob
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
I take my tanks to the hydro place myself and pay $25.
I VIP my own tanks and pay $1 for a generic sticker from leisure pro. I whip my own tanks and I pull the valves to make sure the inside of the tank is clean about every third or fourth fill.
I finally came to terms with my LDS about tanks. I do my own VIP’s and hydros and they do my fills. If I get any crap I leave and never come back. So far so good.
I VIP my own tanks and pay $1 for a generic sticker from leisure pro. I whip my own tanks and I pull the valves to make sure the inside of the tank is clean about every third or fourth fill.
I finally came to terms with my LDS about tanks. I do my own VIP’s and hydros and they do my fills. If I get any crap I leave and never come back. So far so good.
DeepSeaExplorer
Contributor
Do you have any issues with those generic VIP stickers at the shop? I know some that refuse to honor them. One shop would do a VIP on the spot and then put their sticker on it to avoid denying anyone a fill.
Who knows what there self imposed craziness is, but with the LP generic ticker (and my LDS was using them for a bit too), you can put your identification number on it with a sharpie. If that doesn't work, I'd be going elsewhere... I am a certified tank inspector from an accepted institution.
I use these (and they cost less [$45/100] than above from LP [$1.95 ea], and will never be unusable as the year is a single digit):
These also have the O2 status on them.
VIP Inspection Stickers (100)
YMMV
Zieg
Contributor
I must live in a different world. These dive shops that do EVERYTHING don't exist in that world. In my experience, I found that most hydro shops tends to pick up and deliver the tanks to the dive shop. The dive shop tends to VIP the tank when it returns. They rarely replace the burst discs. They never rebuild the valve unless requested. Most didn't even do any paperwork on the tank. In one case, even when I had I claim check, the dive shop told me steel 3000's didn't exist, and that I never left the tank with them (it was later found in the back of the hydro shop van). As for the VIP, most I've observed pop the valve take a quick peek inside, change the o-ring and say it's good to go, no other recommended tests.
As for the hydro shops, they can be pretty dicey too. At a shop in Louisiana one tank failed because they didn't do the proper procedure and the man became highly offended when I asked to see the records. Luckily they hadn't stamped it out and I took it to another place where it passed with flying colors. In Panama City, I had one fail because of bad procedure and then did stamp it out and they refused to show me records. At a shop here in Pompano, I went to get my tanks and reminded them that the tanks had valves when they arrived. We found my valves in a bucket full of other valves, nothing labeled. The shop was a mess. This is the shop that most of the area dive shops use.
So I tend to never pay a dive shop "$80" for what they do. I do question them about their VIP procedure. I find my own hydro shop which gets questioned and the good ones didn't have a problem answering those questions, they actually take pride.
I realize that there are amazing shops out there, but in my opinion, they are rare.
As for the hydro shops, they can be pretty dicey too. At a shop in Louisiana one tank failed because they didn't do the proper procedure and the man became highly offended when I asked to see the records. Luckily they hadn't stamped it out and I took it to another place where it passed with flying colors. In Panama City, I had one fail because of bad procedure and then did stamp it out and they refused to show me records. At a shop here in Pompano, I went to get my tanks and reminded them that the tanks had valves when they arrived. We found my valves in a bucket full of other valves, nothing labeled. The shop was a mess. This is the shop that most of the area dive shops use.
So I tend to never pay a dive shop "$80" for what they do. I do question them about their VIP procedure. I find my own hydro shop which gets questioned and the good ones didn't have a problem answering those questions, they actually take pride.
I realize that there are amazing shops out there, but in my opinion, they are rare.
Having just lost a 5-year old tank to improper procedure as well as the inability to get a "+" rating on LP tanks, I tend to agree that hydro facilities these days are not so great (seems more are poor than good).
YMMV
YMMV
Eric Sedletzky
Contributor
Not so far. My LDS knows I do my own VIP’s and tank services. Like I said, we have an understanding. They use the exact same stickers.
There was a time when I was collecting all sorts of vintage tanks, mostly 72’s, and many of them had 1/2” valves. I was restoring them, getting them hydro’d, swapping valves out, etc. and generally doing stuff to them that the dive shop had no interest in doing. But the owner was cool about it and even thought my old stuff was kinda neat. He was certified back in 1969 so he was somewhat of a vintage aficionado himself.
That grew into me servicing all my modern tanks so he sells me all my burst discs, tank O-rings, etc. and is happy to do my fills. I even have a private source for air fills at a friends house if I want, but I like to go into the dive shop and keep in touch.
They’re happy to have any business they can get so they’re smart enough not to rock the boat.
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