Tank Valve Leak.....?

[ermaclob]

I just noticed this today when i was at the dive shop filling up my tanks. on one of the posts on a set of doubles i have, has a little ding in it. Its smaller then the size of an ant, and had the most smallest little stream of bubbles coming out of it, almost unnoticeable. Here a pic. bellow.

the guy at the shop said that for now its should be no big deal. but should get it looked at by some one that could probably do a small weld on it to cap the leak.

how concerned should i be about this. the leak is in a spot that wont drain the tank while the valve is closed. It will only leak when the regulator is on and tank is on tho i think its insignificant in turms of draining the tank. I dont do deco dives with these there to small. What i am more concerned about is the structural integrity of the valve. is there a likely hood it will fail from that point? will welding it fix it?

 

[UnixMarine]

I would replace it personally. It's not that expensive, especially considering what may be at stake if it does become a real issue.

 

[ermaclob]

I would replace it personally. It's not that expensive, especially considering what may be at stake if it does become a real issue.

man i know, but it just seems so minor but at the same time so serious :/

 

[UnixMarine]

man i know, but it just seems so minor but at the same time so serious :/

I understand but why risk it? Is your life and safety really worth so little?

 

[ermaclob]

I understand but why risk it? Is your life and safety really worth so little?

Im just trying to just see if anyone had experience with this before. Its that you have to just see how insignificant this looks, it seems fixable in logic. i just wana make sure before i go dropping a 200+ on new valves.

for some reason actually, when i looked at my other post along with the posts on my other set of doubles, it seems that there is what looks like a little weld spot around that spot so it seems like it comes from the factory with something done to that area. you can see what im talking about in the picture i put up. its that thing under the arrow. Its not inconceivable that it cant be re done.

 

[OkByMe]

I would contact the manufacturer of the valve. If a little ding on the back of the valve can push through like that, then the valve was not machined properly. There is no way the material in that location should be that thin. Show them the pics... They should swap out the valve just to get it out of your hands and out of the news stream! If you continue to dive it, you are just asking for a blowout.

 

[ermaclob]

I would contact the manufacturer of the valve. If a little ding on the back of the valve can push through like that, then the valve was not machined properly. There is no way the material in that location should be that thin. Show them the pics... They should swap out the valve just to get it out of your hands and out of the news stream! If you continue to dive it, you are just asking for a blowout.

oh yay, contacting OMS costumer support sounds like a ton of fun..... let me hope that what i hear about them being a pain to get a hold of isnt true.

thanks for the idea i had not considered it. ill see if they get back to me.

 

[ajduplessis]

Replace the valve!

 

[ajtoady]

If a small ding like that made it leak, it is more than likely a casting flaw hidden by the chroming. I would replace the valve and then dissect it to see what exactly was the problem. But hey, that's just me!!

 

[Dsix36]

I am a welder by trade and although I seem to think that welding is the cure for all ailments, this is NOT one of those times. The valve needs to be replaced as the extreme heat from the welding process will not only damage the finish, but also effect the molecular properties of the base metals. Keep in mind that these things operate at very high pressures.