2airishuman
Contributor
Hi, Limmie. I live south of the metro and work in the Edina area.
Those are Walter Kidde cylinders (the first one possibly some other make), probably 72s. I have a bunch of LP72s that I dive but am not in the market for any more of them. Here are the facts to be aware of if you decide to dive the tanks yourself or if you're trying to arrive at a fair price:
- No hydro shop in Minnesota will + rate a Kidde LP72 because they do not have the paperwork to do so. Without a + rating, there are no area dive shops that will reliably fill the cylinders to their original 2475 PSI capacity.
- It has been my experience that about 15% of older LP72s will not pass hydro due to internal corrosion.
- It has been my experience that over half of the vintage J valves I encounter cannot be made fully serviceable and leak free due to unavailability of parts.
- Hydro, VIP, and fill are typically around $40 at area shops. New, generic valves from DGX or similar are $39 which is less than most shops will charge for parts and labor to overhaul an existing valve. New burst discs are $15. Shot blasting is another $20 and limits you to using the one hydro shop that does it, which is north of the metro.
In the past I have usually paid around $30-$40 for "as found" galvanized cylinders made by Norris or PST with standard 3/4 NPSM threads. I avoid ones with nonstandard threads, and painted ones, and ones made by Kidde, have sold the ones I've ended up with as part of package deals.
I do like diving LP72s and use them in place of AL80s. Compared to an AL80, they weigh less when topside, and are less floaty in the water. The two sizes of primary dive cylinders I have are LP72s and HP120s, and I choose between them depending on the nature of the dive.
Those are Walter Kidde cylinders (the first one possibly some other make), probably 72s. I have a bunch of LP72s that I dive but am not in the market for any more of them. Here are the facts to be aware of if you decide to dive the tanks yourself or if you're trying to arrive at a fair price:
- No hydro shop in Minnesota will + rate a Kidde LP72 because they do not have the paperwork to do so. Without a + rating, there are no area dive shops that will reliably fill the cylinders to their original 2475 PSI capacity.
- It has been my experience that about 15% of older LP72s will not pass hydro due to internal corrosion.
- It has been my experience that over half of the vintage J valves I encounter cannot be made fully serviceable and leak free due to unavailability of parts.
- Hydro, VIP, and fill are typically around $40 at area shops. New, generic valves from DGX or similar are $39 which is less than most shops will charge for parts and labor to overhaul an existing valve. New burst discs are $15. Shot blasting is another $20 and limits you to using the one hydro shop that does it, which is north of the metro.
In the past I have usually paid around $30-$40 for "as found" galvanized cylinders made by Norris or PST with standard 3/4 NPSM threads. I avoid ones with nonstandard threads, and painted ones, and ones made by Kidde, have sold the ones I've ended up with as part of package deals.
I do like diving LP72s and use them in place of AL80s. Compared to an AL80, they weigh less when topside, and are less floaty in the water. The two sizes of primary dive cylinders I have are LP72s and HP120s, and I choose between them depending on the nature of the dive.
