Supplies for O2 cleaning a steel tank?

[Jimmer]

I just picked up two used Faber 45's to setup as little doubles, and need to O2 clean them. Now I've O2 cleaned 3 or 4 aluminum cylinders, but wanted to know if there is any different supplies or procedures to use for steel?

Thanks,
Jim

 

[PhilEllis]

I just picked up two used Faber 45's to setup as little doubles, and need to O2 clean them. Now I've O2 cleaned 3 or 4 aluminum cylinders, but wanted to know if there is any different supplies or procedures to use for steel?

Thanks,
Jim

There is not a tremendous different between cleaning aluminum and steel cylinders. I would strongly suggest that you use some glass tumbling media to break the surface tension of any hydrocarbons that may be clinging to the walls. Other than that, use sound preparation procedures and you should be fine. Please don't forget to clean the valves and replace the valve seats at least. They are nylon and easily absorb contaminants. Thanks.

Phil Ellis

 

[Jimmer]

Thanks for the tip. I'm using a brand new Thermo manifold, so it should be ready to go.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

How does that work with diveshops around you? The local shop wants something like $30 to clean the tank and $15 to clean the valve. I'm sure I could manage it myself, but how do I convince them the tank is o2 clean? I can't, really.

Do you work for a shop, or do they trust you, or do you own your own compressor??

 

[Jimmer]

Well I work for a shop. We're not heavy into tech right now, so we don't do a lot in the way of O2 cleaning of tanks. Most of it aluminum, so I wasn't sure if there were any different procedures or anything. I'll take it into the store after I'm done and have them give them a VIP, and they'll give me VIP and O2 clean stickers for them.

 

[Rick Inman]

How does that work with diveshops around you? The local shop wants something like $30 to clean the tank and $15 to clean the valve. I'm sure I could manage it myself, but how do I convince them the tank is o2 clean? I can't, really.

Do you work for a shop, or do they trust you, or do you own your own compressor??

Well, around here, a lot of shops require a bribe to be paid (I assume you're talking nitrox, not 100% 02). You pay them the bribe money, and they'll fill your tanks with nitrox. To prove you paid the bribe, they put a big green and yellow sticker on the tank, that is otherwise meaningless. You see, the sticker doesn't really tell them if the tank is "clean", doesn't track where it's been filled, by what compressors and with what gas, so the have no way of knowing if the tank is clean or not. It just tells them that you paid the bribe, and then they'll fill it.

It's with this spirit that they will insist that only they can "clean" the tank and valve. Of course, once you take the tank out of their shop, they have no way of knowing if the tank remains "clean", but with happily fill if anyway, as long as you paid them the fee.

It's a perfect system...

 

[DA Aquamaster]

Well, around here, a lot of shops require a bribe to be paid (I assume you're talking nitrox, not 100% 02). You pay them the bribe money, and they'll fill your tanks with nitrox. To prove you paid the bribe, they put a big green and yellow sticker on the tank, that is otherwise meaningless. You see, the sticker doesn't really tell them if the tank is "clean", doesn't track where it's been filled, by what compressors and with what gas, so the have no way of knowing if the tank is clean or not. It just tells them that you paid the bribe, and then they'll fill it.

It's with this spirit that they will insist that only they can "clean" the tank and valve. Of course, once you take the tank out of their shop, they have no way of knowing if the tank remains "clean", but with happily fill if anyway, as long as you paid them the fee.

It's a perfect system...

Locally in some areas it goes one step farther. If you pay to have tanks cleaned and inspected elswhere (say for example at a shop in Florida) they want another cleaning and inspection by a local shop before they will fill your tanks where ever you live.

Part of it is quality control to ensure the tank meets some initial standard of clean (recognizing they have no control over the other shop's procedures) and part of it is an agreed upon standard that allows you to fill your tanks at all the local shops without much of a hassle, but some of it is profit motivated in that it requires you to pay the local (often more or less fixed and agreed upon between shops) rate for cleaning and inspection here, rather than saving money by having it done outside the area.

And of course in other places you don't even have that - local diver shop "A" will not honor local dive shop "B"'s inspection stickers and vice versa.

I am fortunate I suppose in that I live in an area where the local shops at least honor each others inspection stickers. But on the other hand one shop in the area quoted me $130 to clean a set of doubles so apparently that flexibility does not come cheap at all shops.

 

[Rick Inman]

If you pay to have tanks cleaned and inspected elswhere (say for example at a shop in Florida) they want another cleaning and inspection by a local shop before they will fill your tanks where ever you live.

And then do you have to promise on the bible not to have them filled out of town (or tell them if you did so they can re-clean them)? How do they know if you had them filled some place dirty or not? The only possible way this would insure any kind of quality control is if they clean the tank before every filling.

I'll tell you what I do. I make sure my tanks clean. I take responsibility for my own gear. But this is a philosophy that is not trained...

 

[mike_s]

Thanks for the tip. I'm using a brand new Thermo manifold, so it should be ready to go.

hmmm.... I don't think the Thermo Manifold comes "o2 clean" from the factory does it?

maybe I'm wrong, but I thought you could buy a Viaton O-ring kit for it to replace the factory o-rings. (might want to verify before pumping O2 through your original built valve.)

Maybe someone else can verify this....

 

[ppo2_diver]

You can also use some rust inhibitor products. I use the one from Global, after I clean it first.