Requirements to fill tanks?

[CAMPER]

With all the talk of the coming demise of the lds's I would like to find out the requirements for getting into the air fill business. I have an idea as to the equipment cost but am unsure as to licensing. Is it possible without agency affiliation?

It would be supplemental to other business so labor cost, overhead would not be an issue.

Ed B

 

[devjr]

In some towns, many years ago, welding supply shops would fill air tanks. Some of them bought compressors because divers would often come to them looking to get their aqualungs filled. A few of these shops began to stock and sell diving gear. The last one that I visited was in 1972, in Charleston, SC. They were having a going out of diving business sale. They were practically giving away their leftover spearguns, regulator parts and lots of antique stuff.

I've seen firestations fill tanks for divers but you had to know somebody inside.

I doubt that you need to join any agency to fill tanks, even today, but you should know what you are doing. It would be helpful to have some theoretical knowledge as well as the mechanics of operating compressors, filter use and maintenance. You would have to become familiar with the valve types and filling adapters. You would need to be familiar with various tank markings. You would benefit by taking a tank inspector's course($$$). Mechanical skill would be helpful, especially if you want to assemble a cascade.

You should check with your business insurer, zoning, and verify business license.

 

[The Chairman]

is OSHA. :tease: That being said, Iwould take a PSI course to really get the ins and outs of what you are doing. I did, and I am glad I did!

 

[budgy]

Hi Camper,
With the price of a refill its hard to see how you could make it pay as filling can be slow tedius work and fills are generally cheap.
Without a cascade system you get quite a hot fill in +- ten min, even when your compresser has cooling coils on each stage. I have thought refills could be a good draw for a cafe near dive sites as a loss leader. Outside one dive shop I have seen a coin operated self-service vending unit, perhaps that would suit you best.

 

[voidware]

Budgy,
are you saying that you saw a coin operated air fill station? meaning you put in a quarter (or watever, it would be cool if it were a quarter), hook up the tank, and fill it yourself. That would be rather nice.

brandon

 

[tentacle13]

heads up on requirements for tanks. I know a few merchants who will not fill an aluminum greater than 8 years old. Personally I think they just want your money for a new tank. Even if there has been a hydrostatic and vis, they will not fill it.

I suppose soon there will be those tank standards as well.

fyi

:boom:

 

[DeepSeaDan]

I have worked with high pressure gases for along time now & like the deep sea, the very nature of this substance demands respect, & a constant "handle with care" attitude.

Up here in Ontario we have Tobermory, a quaint little hamlet on the tip of the Bruce Penninsula, & home to "Fathom Five" provincial park. Some of the finest freshwater shipwrecks can be found there. A few summers back, one of the local dive shops' high pressure air storage cylinders ( a huge, old "submarine ballast" flask, it stored roughly 1000 ft3 of air @ 2000 psi ) expolded. It was stored lying flat on a wooden pallet with several other identical flasks, all manifolded together. The force of the explosion blew off part of the shop & sent several of the other flasks careening through the air for hundreds of feet. Shrapnel was found a 1/4 mile away. A young man of 18, working at the shop for the summer, was killed.

Other instances of cylinder failiure involve aluminum cylinders manufactured of the alloy 6351, prior to 1988. There have been about a dozen explosions of cylinders ( both scuba & scba ) made of the 6351 alloy in N. America, resulting in several deaths & many serious injuries. The problem appears to be the result of "sustained load cracking" in the neck area in some of these bottles. Aluminum cylinders manufactured in 1988 & beyond are made of the 6061 alloy & to my knowledge, no problems have been reported with these cylinders.

Filling, storing & handling high pressure gases is serious business & should not be treated casually. I for one would like to see all high pressure cylinder fill stations engineered to "capture" the cylinders in hardened steel sleeves that are encapsulated in an armoured manifold system. This would protect the operator from the deadly shrapnel in the event of a cylinder failiure.

V.I.P. programs, hydrostatic testing & eddy current testing ( properly applied ) all contribute to safe cylinder use. If you do decide to get into the fill business, learn your lessons well & never fail to inspect before you fill.

Regards,
D.S.D.

 

[devjr]

Put in perspective, his drive to work is probably 1000X more hazardous than exposure to air tanks or compressors.

Just use commercial grade equipment and cylinders and avoid those WWII surplus "bargains".

 

[CAMPER]

I have a business that would fit with the tank/ filling rental deal. It would only be if some of the dive shops in the area did close. From the comments made so far it would seem that the business is easy enough to get into that no one really has to worry that there would not be a shop to fill their tanks.

We currently fill propane tanks and it would would appear the regulations and cost are higher with this business. Of course air is not flammable.

Ed B

 

[DeepSeaDan]

Dear Devjr.,

If you think profiling the potential dangers of high pressure gasses to the uninitiated is alarmist....




...that makes you a scary guy in my book.




..."tis better to be cautious & whole, than careless & scattered "



D.S.D.