Re-homing vintage tanks

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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.
 
All four cylinders are the yellow US Divers. I believe that US Divers only used PST at that time. I may be wrong, but I don't think so.

They are probably not galvanized under the yellow paint. That is not as bad in fresh water.


To the OP:
If they were the 1/2 inch tapered threads, you would see some of the valve threads exposed a bit past the tank neck.

If the valve sits flush on top of the tank neck, then there is probably an O-ring seal and the threads are not tapered.

From the OD you posted, it appears to be the 3/4" straight pipe tread type valve.
 
Wow, lots of great information. From what 2airishuman was saying it is sounding more and more like I either find somebody to just give them to and let them work it out if they wish, or find a dive shop willing to recycle them for me.

2airishuman: I probably live about 8 miles from you.

Is there some code I can check if the tanks are PST or Kidde? The 2000 hydro stickers on two of the tanks are from a dive shop in Eagan, MN.

Edit: I called Scuba Center in Eagan who hydro-ed two of the tanks in 2000 according to the stickers. They said nothing should have changed in getting them hydro tested now should I wish to. He did also agree that some dive shops did not like filling older tanks, which then makes them less sell-able even if I do get the hydro. I can't do anything right now since my wife has the car for the next 10 days. Right now I am thinking of just getting rid of all my tanks (including an AL 80 I bought back in 2000 and a smaller "pony" about 12" tall) since I rarely do any diving these days. Everything is just dropping in value and the longer I have them the more it will cost to get all my gear into operational order again, by which time I might as well just rent a bunch. Back when I bought it all I was doing 15 dives per summer for a few years straight but then it dropped to none and it would cost me several hundred dollars to get it all tested again.
 
2airishuman: I probably live about 8 miles from you.

Is there some code I can check if the tanks are PST or Kidde? The 2000 hydro stickers on two of the tanks are from a dive shop in Eagan, MN.

Edit: I called Scuba Center in Eagan who hydro-ed two of the tanks in 2000 according to the stickers. [...]

Stop by sometime. I'll send a PM. Maybe I'll have my compressor working by the time you get here.

Generally, Kidde cylinders have a serial number that starts with K. Norris cylinders have the "Diamond N" device stamped somewhere and have serial numbers starting with H, usually HJ. PST cylinders have either the "Big P little ST" device, or just the letters PST, stamped.

Scuba Center sends their hydro work to Weber and Troseth, who do good work. Scuba Center themselves are a good shop, one that I trust.
 

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