PST rumour

[royalediver]

there may be a lot of hydro testing facilities and LDSes that refuse to service the cylinders out of fear and/or ignorance, but that can only help you to separate out the idiots that you shouldn't do business with.

Does your quote also apply to 6351 cylinders?

 

[riguerin]

Not that it matters in the context of this thread, but for what it's worth LLC purchased the company on March 31st, 2006. Here's a link to the press article on the PST site.

http://www.pstscuba.com/cgi-bin/nlcurrent.cgi

 

[lamont]

Does your quote also apply to 6351 cylinders?

apples and oranges. there's nothing metallurgically wrong with the E9791 tanks.

 

[XS Scuba]

dbg40:
The "older" 3500 psi PST cylinders (Sherwood Genesis, USD HP, etc.) are manufactured under DOT exemption E9791, the same exemption as the E-Series 3442 psi cylinders. All of these cylinders will be subject to the same issues when this exemption expires. Only PST scuba cylinders manufactured with DOT 3AA approval will be unaffected.

The older 3500 pounders are good to go, no exemptions.

 

[willydiver]

Man, I must be clueless on this. Why in the world doesn't a tank that is DOT certified when manufactured just maintain that status for the life of the tank (assuming it continues to pass all VIPs and hydros.)? A manufacturer shutting down doesn't do a thing to the physical qualitities of a tank manufactured by them. If a product was manufactured to the set standards at the time of manufacture, what's the problem or need to fill out some form. This just doesn't make sense to me. My LDS had the same opinion when I asked. I own several PST hp120s.

WD

 

[oxyhacker]

The exemption process allows manufacturers to make cylinders that are lighter, higher pressure, or made of different materials, than the standard DOT specifications permit. Since these tanks are, in a sense, experimental, and have no established track record to go on, the DOT wants to be able to keep an eye on how these tanks perform in the real world. If they turn out to be, for some reason, unsafe, the exemption can be revoked or modified. Since time and fill cycles do change the physical properties of tanks, this is not all that unreasonable. Anyone who doesn't like it can always buy DOT spec tanks like the 3AAs.

BTW, the exemption doesn't expire when the manufacturer shuts down - it expires when renewal time comes around and no one is there to file the paperwork.

Man, I must be clueless on this. Why in the world doesn't a tank that is DOT certified when manufactured just maintain that status for the life of the tank (assuming it continues to pass all VIPs and hydros.)? A manufacturer shutting down doesn't do a thing to the physical qualitities of a tank manufactured by them. If a product was manufactured to the set standards at the time of manufacture, what's the problem or need to fill out some form. This just doesn't make sense to me. My LDS had the same opinion when I asked. I own several PST hp120s.

WD

 

[David P]

Didn't we go through all this last time the application was up for renewal?

Willydiver, PST tanks are not DOT certified (sorta) they have an "exemption" number instead of certification number. The exemption must be renewed by the manufacturer every so often. There was a scare last time because of the pending move and outstanding debts that PST would go under and not renew... Other tanks in the past had exemption numbers (Id have to pull out my PSI books to recall wich ones) and years later they received actual DOT cert numbers. After the certification is given, the next time the cylinder goes in for hydro, the the hydro shop restamps the cylinder with a new number. Then its set for life.

 

[willydiver]

Vance/David,

Thanks for the explanation. Man, I had no idea I had to worry about something like this. Glad I'm learning now. I'm about to buy some Worthington brand hp-100s and hp-80s. Any forseeable problems with that brand/model? Does Worthington have an approved (not "experimental") DOT cert.?

Thanks!
Will

 

[Spratman]

I have only one 9791. So, I guess I'll wait and see. Glad I bought a pair of LP95's....

 

[dbg40]

dbg40:
The "older" 3500 psi PST cylinders (Sherwood Genesis, USD HP, etc.) are manufactured under DOT exemption E9791, the same exemption as the E-Series 3442 psi cylinders. All of these cylinders will be subject to the same issues when this exemption expires. Only PST scuba cylinders manufactured with DOT 3AA approval will be unaffected.

REALLY!? I got that information from a shop that does hydro work for me. Sorry for the mis information.... Im gonna have to go back there and see if I was mis informed, or misunderstood the information given...