Tank explosion kills one - Cozumel

[Ken Kurtis]

What should I look for that tells me I should avoid that tank / operator when I'm in some far-off place?

I wish there was an easy answer or a checklist I could give you but there's not. I think the best I could say is that if it doesn't feel right to you, go somewhere else.

- Ken

 

[rigdiver]

Joe diver here. What should I look for that tells me I should avoid that tank / operator when I'm in some far-off place?

- Bill

Luxfer phased out the bad aluminum alloy late '88. Catalina never used it. So, a hard/fast rule you could use is not to use a cylinder with an original hydro older that 1-89.

-Bill PSI #307

 

[boulderjohn]

Joe diver here. What should I look for that tells me I should avoid that tank / operator when I'm in some far-off place?

The current issue of Alert Diver tells the story of a man who had a tank oxygen cleaned at his local shop, which is the ultimate in tank service, followed by a brand new O2 clean visual inspection sticker being slapped on it to show its status on that date. You aren't going to do much better than that as far as assurances go.

When he accidentally tipped it over in his garage, it exploded. He was severely injured--extremely lucky to be alive.

A subsequent investigation showed that the shop had entrusted the oxygen cleaning to an employee with no training in oxygen cleaning and very little experience at all. He had used silicone--lots of it--on the neck of the tank when he put the valve back on. (If you don't know--that is a very big no-no.) He had only actually cleaned the tank--which is very easy--and had done nothing to the valve, which is a lot more work and where the real danger lies.

Although the following story is not about tanks, it is still instructive. I used to take my regulators in for annual service to a shop where I fully trusted them to do a great job. On a trip a few months after getting service, I had trouble breathing from it. I took it back to the shop, and they did another service, the second in a few months. I had trouble again. The shop sent it to the company to see what was going on. When the company returned it, they said it was obvious from its condition that it had not been serviced in years. I later learned that the shop did not have anyone certified to service my brand, so it had shipped all regulators of that brand out to another shop. Investigation showed that lots of people in different shops were doing the same thing, and they were questioning whether that technician actually serviced anything. It appeared as if he just sent the regulators back without doing anything except submit a bill for the work and parts.

In short, unless you stand next to the technician and watch the work being done, you have no assurance whatsoever.

 

[halocline]

In short, unless you stand next to the technician and watch the work being done, you have no assurance whatsoever.

Or, if you do your own service. Yet another reason.....

 

[boulderjohn]

Or, if you do your own service. Yet another reason.....

That works great when you are at home. The question to which I was responding was "What should I look for that tells me I should avoid that tank / operator when I'm in some far-off place?"

I will be oxygen cleaning two of my own tanks this afternoon. I will be in the Philippines in a few weeks, and I won't be taking them with me.

 

[Divegoose]

Luxfer phased out the bad aluminum alloy late '88. Catalina never used it. So, a hard/fast rule you could use is not to use a cylinder with an original hydro older that 1-89.

-Bill PSI #307

So my two Luxfer tanks with an original hydro of 4/89 should be good ??

Divegoose

 

[DandyDon]

So my two Luxfer tanks with an original hydro of 4/89 should be good ??

Divegoose

Maybe? I seem to remember some made from the problem alloy as late as 1990.

February 1990 seems to be the last month. See details at www.scubabomb.freeservers.com/List.htm

 

[rigdiver]

So my two Luxfer tanks with an original hydro of 4/89 should be good ??

Divegoose

Short answer is "should be." A hard and fast rule by many is 1-89 as a fill/no fill. Many stores will not fill a cylinder >20 years old. If yours pass visual and eddy current it probably is O.K. PSI/PCI, the experts say they are good if given the thorough visual/eddy current every year.

Dates when Luxfer changed its aluminum alloy from 6351 to 6061 - Luxfer: Setting The Standard Worldwide

 

[Divegoose]

Short answer is "should be." A hard and fast rule by many is 1-89 as a fill/no fill. Many stores will not fill a cylinder >20 years old. If yours pass visual and eddy current it probably is O.K. PSI/PCI, the experts say they are good if given the thorough visual/eddy current every year.

Dates when Luxfer changed its aluminum alloy from 6351 to 6061 - Luxfer: Setting The Standard Worldwide

Thanks rigdiver.

Looking at the Luxfer chart, it looks like my cylinders should be okay. Both are 63's with a change date of 5/88.

However looks my my 50 will be permanently coming out of service as manufacturing date is 7/83. Best not to take any chances
even though the cylinder has been well maintained.

Divegoose

 

[flots am]

Yes, but it seems to me you can (or must) also condemn a tank during an annual VIS. With most shops, the owner is free to seek a 2nd opinion.

A failed VIP only means "you don't get a sticker".

You can take the tank somewhere else if you wish.

A failed Eddy Current Test that showed real neck cracks during a VIP would be an interesting case and I'm not sure what happens then, except that I'm certain it wouldn't get filled, and I don't believe I know any tank owners dumb enough to continue using a tank after you show them the neck crack. It's not a subtle test that involves a lot of interpretation.

And then I suppose you also sell tanks. I'm not sure I would tank my tank to a hydro facility that also profits from the sale of tanks!!!

If you don't trust the tester, you should be taking your tank somewhere else for a hydro.

flots

edit: You might be out of luck. I just ran down through several pages of hydro retesters on the DOT website and every single one sells tanks.