Tank Question

[Jet-Lee]

Newbie here, so please bear with me.

I've got an older ScubaPro steel tank. I don't have any numbers off it on hand, but it's a 71.4cu black w/ white lettering.

-What's the hydro life on these tanks? I've had it at least 6 years and never hydro'd it (nowhere to dive since I moved to Arkansas).

-What's the cost to have it hydro'd and where can I go for it?

-What's the psi capacity? I remember when I bought it, I was told it was a 4500-5000 psi tank, but when diving it was only ever filled to ~3500psi.

That's all I know, right now.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Jimmer]

Hydro life is 5 years. Hydro costs vary, I'd estimate $30 or so. Post all the numbers that are stamped on the shoulder and we can help you with the pressure etc. But I would be very surprised if the pressure rating was over 3500.

 

[dannobee]

The hydro date(s) will be stamped on the neck. Look for something like 06, then four smaller letters/numbers, then 02. The first would be the month, the middle characters would be the hydro facility's numbers, and the last would be the year.

The pressure will be stamped on the neck too. Look for something like 2250 or 2400 or something similar.

 

[mike_s]

Newbie here, so please bear with me.

I've got an older ScubaPro steel tank. I don't have any numbers off it on hand, but it's a 71.4cu black w/ white lettering.

-What's the hydro life on these tanks? I've had it at least 6 years and never hydro'd it (nowhere to dive since I moved to Arkansas).

-What's the cost to have it hydro'd and where can I go for it?

You can get it hydro'd at your LDS or take it to any DOT approved Hydro Facility. There is a list of facilities by state on the DOT website. You'll want one that can do high pressure hydro's.

click here for list Authorized Hydrostatic Retesters

-What's the psi capacity? I remember when I bought it, I was told it was a 4500-5000 psi tank, but when diving it was only ever filled to ~3500psi.

I doubt as a steel 72 that it has a pressure rating of more than 2250psi or 2400psi like what dan said. It will be stamped on the side of your tank. Overfilling and old steel 72 to 3000psi or 3500psi is just asking for trouble.


Here's a chart of how to ready our tank stamping

 

[Jet-Lee]

Per my wife, over the phone, the stampings on the tank are as follows:

TC-3AAM-230/201-38A
3000REE46
M830300/8521/10032
01400+ (Possibly meant to be 01A00+ ?)

Then she said it has a sticker saying 3k psi.

I'll verify everything at lunch.

 

[Jimmer]

Well based on what's there, it's a Faber, built to European specs, based on the pressure rating being in Bar, and not PSI. I would suspect the "01400+" likely actually reads "01A00+" which idicates the tank was built in January 2000, and the + means you have a 10% overfill allowance. I'm pretty certain the "A" is Faber's hydro stamp. The 230/201 deal, which is rated pressure, translates to roughly 3300/3000 PSI, which would fall in line with a 3000 PSI tank with a 10% overfill.

If anyone finds any fault in my interpretation, I'm sure they'll let us know

 

[Jimmer]

One more thing, Cylinder Specifications if you scroll down the low and high pressure chart, there is a 3300 PSI 71 cubic foot tank, that is probably what you have.

 

[mike_s]

Here's some helpful info for you.

TC TC means it meets Canadian specs. (Transport Canada).
3AAM - 3AAM means it's steel. Chrome Molybedebum Steel (chrome doesn't mean chrome plated though, FYI)
230 - is 230 bar. If it's 230 bar, then it's not a LP tank such as a 2400psi. (unless that last number of 01400+ is really a 2400+)
M830300 -M8303 is the DOT manufacturer number for Faber
REE 46: Rejection Elastic Expansion. This is a number of cubic centimeters used by the hydrostatic tester. It has to do with getting the + rating at next hydro somehow.

I'll check the rest in a few minutes if I can, but have to run for the moment for something that came up.

 

[Jet-Lee]

Thanks a lot, everyone! It really helps!

 

[oxyhacker]

Canadian specs, not European - since '93 or so TC has used the metric system. The M after 3AL stands for metric, and means the working pressure that follows is given in BAR not psi. Not sure what the numbers after it are but they are not a minus the plus rating - TC also eliminated the "+" when they went metric, and the metric working pressure includes the 10% overfill, so to speak.

I think Jimmer is right on the Hydro, that its an A or similar-appearning mark not a 4, and that it's a 3300 psi tank - 230 bar works out to anything from 3300 to 3450 depending on how you do the math.

I find it hard to believe that there aren't some DOT markings there too, since it is almost unheard of for a scuba tank to have TC but not DOT markings, and if such a tank did exist, it should not have a + in the hydro stamp since Canada doesn't use the + on the metric tanks.

Pretty crazy to try an analyze markings 3rd hand like this!