I would recommend against sand blasting or even sanding. Per DOT regs removal of any material is supposed to condemn a tank.
Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.
Benefits of registering include
stevead:I would recommend against sand blasting or even sanding. Per DOT regs removal of any material is supposed to condemn a tank.
Tanks for the post!mike_s:Well, an update on this tank, for those who might be interested.
I wanted to use the stripper before I took it to the hydro facility in case it damaged the strength of the tank any, which I thought was a "long shot" of happening anyway.
Got it back from Hydro today and it passed fine and visual fine. So no apparant damage from the "Aircraft Remover" stripper product.
Interesting note about the hydro facility. Our local "hydro shop" is actually a pretty big operation. They are a nationwide fire equipment manufacturer and sales company. They even ship all over the place. They even had several new fire trucks that had been ordered by departments there and do maintenance work on them. Well they have two full time people who all they do is hydro, visuals and fills on tanks. I thought that was pretty impressive to have enough work for 80 hours a week worth of tank work. But then I realized they actually had more people than that. The have a whole seperate group who re-fills fire extingishers and paints them. (Of course fire extingishers need hydro's also). It was kinda neat to see. (I hadn't been there in about 5 years).
Got out of there with a hydro, visual, and airfill for $19 bucks. You can't beat that either.
(BTW. Their air certificate was Grade E tested last in May. Certificate up near compressor on wall. Nice to see shops post that info also).
As for the tank, I still haven't painted it. Won't most likely now. I'll prob try cleaning it with vinegar,etc like someone suggested.
hope everyone enjoyed my 'hydro trip report'. heh.
costi:Tanks for the post!
What does the Grade E signify in air grades or rather...what are the various ratings?
Bob