Quiz - Equipment - Dropped Scuba Tank

[BlueTrin]

I dropped a 19 cuft pony and had to replace the DIN valve that went out of round. Visual inspection of the valve did not catch it, but (not) screwing in a DIN reg quickly did! A hydro would have missed it too....

I guess in that case, your biggest danger was to miss a dive ?

 

[Pedro Burrito]

That's a little more intense than falling off a picnic table or truck tailgate. So did any of them fail?

No, none failed the hydro but ... a few failed the subsequent VIP because of hairline cracks. My shop always did a VIP after the tanks were returned from the hydro test.

 

[Pedro Burrito]

Really? Dropped from a significant height, 3 ft, 4 ft, 5 ft? Please supply supportive citation.

In my VIP class they said significant but did not specify the height. A 30 cm drop from an automobile trunk to the grass with the tank striking on the side might not be significant but a 30 cm drop from a rack onto concrete with the tank valve striking the concrete first is probably significant.

I got my SDI/TDI Visual Inspection Procedures book out and little was discussed about dropping but much was discussed about heat. If a shiny tank is encountered, the inspector must determine if the tank was after market painted at a paint shop with a baked on finish.

I was very careful when I did the VIPs because I also did the filling and I had seen the photographs of the eviscerated tank fillers after a cylinder explosion.

 

[rhwestfall]

I'm not agreeing with the correct answer.

Visual to then decide the need for further assessment.

 

[Edward3c]

I'm not agreeing with the correct answer.

Visual to then decide the need for further assessment.

I'd be suprised if a visual wasn't part of the hydro process, it is in the UK.

 

[rhwestfall]

A visual is required as part of the hydro, and is actually supposed to happen prior to pressure testing the vessel.

What I am saying (as have others) is there isn't necessarily a compelling reason to do a hydro....

 

[tursiops]

I guess in that case, your biggest danger was to miss a dive ?

No dive missed. Dropped and checked prior to a trip. Plenty of time to get a new valve and scrap the old one.
If I had been on a dive trip, however, yes, that dive would have been missed or done without a pony.

 

[tursiops]

I'm not agreeing with the correct answer.

Visual to then decide the need for further assessment.

A visual is required as part of the hydro, and is actually supposed to happen prior to pressure testing the vessel.

What I am saying (as have others) is there isn't necessarily a compelling reason to do a hydro....

Agreed. The visual comes first, and then you decide if you need a hydro. But in the Basic Scuba PADI world, you don't do your own visuals, so defaulting to a hydro "just in case" is indeed the safest -- but not the quickest or cheapest -- strategy.

 

[rhwestfall]

I know my shop would likely say "lets take a look" [visual] before deciding to ship it out to have a [costly] hydro done. They might not even charge for it if they didn't re-sticker it.

 

[lexvil]

Agreed. The visual comes first, and then you decide if you need a hydro. But in the Basic Scuba PADI world, you don't do your own visuals, so defaulting to a hydro "just in case" is indeed the safest -- but not the quickest or cheapest -- strategy.

The “safest” would be scrap and replace I would think.