Tell me if I'm nuts.

[Eric Sedletzky]

I've got this 72 that a guy gave me about 8 years ago.
I took it in for hydro and the technician told me it passed fine but that there were a few deep pits in the bottom that required them to bead blast all the rust out before they could hydro it.
He said that on the 1 to 4 scale the pits were a 3 when they calipered the wall thickness and if they were a four they wouldn't have risked the hydro and the tank would have been condemned.

After that hydro I used the tank for the five years and kept an eye on the pits and the rust never really set in again.
I cleaned the inside with a brush because it had formed a little reddish haze but there were no new pits.
I took the tank in again for hydro and it passed again.

I don't really like that tank anymore, just a feeling.
The part about being a 3 out of 4 kind of got me thinking; how much more steel was left to keep it from becoming a #4 pit.

Even though the tank passed hydro no problem It still makes me nervous.
It's sitting right now needing a VIP but I'm not so sure I want to waste a sticker on it. It's also going to need another light brushing to brighten it before I will pass it for VIP.

Do you guys think I'm nuts and should quit worrying about it and just use it, or should I follow my gut and scrap it?
I'm not comfortable giving it away to someone unless they are up on doing their own inspections every few fills to keep an eye on the pits.

 

[Doubler]

We have a "Gut Feeling" for a reason. Make a yard bell out of it.

 

[Akimbo]

Tell me if I'm nuts… good grief man, look who you’re asking!

Seriously, use it for target practice if you don’t feel right about it. Life has enough to worry about than if some used hunk of steel is going to blow your legs off.

 

[Paladin]

If you don't really like it or trust it, then don't dive it. 72s are too cheap and plentiful to ruin the enjoyment of a dive because you're uncomfortable using the tank. Make a mini BBQ grill out of it. Then you can start enjoying it again! Besides, yeah, you're nuts. We've all known it for quite some time. But we like you anyway!

 

[elmer fudd]

Tell me if I'm nuts… good grief man, look who you’re asking!

Seriously, use it for target practice if you don’t feel right about it. Life has enough to worry about than if some used hunk of steel is going to blow your legs off.

I like the target practice idea. Maybe you could lash it to a skate board or a water ski first though.

 

[spectrum]

The calipered the wall thickness at the pits? I'd like to know what they had that did that.

If it makes you nervous retire it. As the poster boy for the Steel 72 Rescue League there must be a line or worry free cylinders waiting to go diving. This is supposed to be fun, if it brings you angst, set it aside. You have far more objective reasons for concern than most cylinders being condemned.

Pete

 

[VooDooGasMan]

I have a 72 from 11 0f 64 that Harry from lighthouse diving damaged threads, cause they can not get tight. yes a clamp is all that was needed. I payed for tumble and hydro. he proved to be an idiot for so many years in the dive business. I should have tumbled myself, but harry wanted the work as he was doing some other stuff for me.

ZKY it is your sole decision, that matters.

Paladin that is a great Idea, I have a coldcut saw, its a circular saw made for metal it cuts through 1" steel like butter. Ill cut it in half and make a mini BBQ grill out of it, just need to come up with a vintage handle for it.


Happy Diving

 

[knowone]

I saw your title and was hoping to say nuts, but no nuts for you.

I used to pump my 72s up for shore diving good, and every time I
got smashed for the first third of the dive I crapped myself, no good.

I currently have twin 38s or something, 1800psi with one and a half
pits on the outside halemanos sig, from stainless wire bands.

 

[captain]

All I will say is the bottom is generally the thickest part of the tank so the same size pit on the side is worse than one on the bottom. I have no idea how or what he used to say he calipered it.
The common method to check a pit is with a pointed rod and an educated guess as to how deep it is. You didn't say if it was a dive shop or a commercial hydro shop. Basically he said it passed, sort of like the difference between making an A or a D on a test, you still pass. Personally I would use it.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

All I will say is the bottom is generally the thickest part of the tank so the same size pit on the side is worse than one on the bottom. I have no idea how or what he used to say he calipered it.
The common method to check a pit is with a pointed rod and an educated guess as to how deep it is. You didn't say if it was a dive shop or a commercial hydro shop. Basically he said it passed, sort of like the difference between making an A or a D on a test, you still pass. Personally I would use it.

It was a fire equipment shop that hydros any and all compressed gas cylinders including scuba tanks.
I don't know what he calipered it with or how he did it, I just took his word for it.

I thought of doing something fun with it like putting it up on a hill side (full) and popping it with a 30-06.
Or taking a die grinder with a cuttoff wheel when it's empty and scoring a bunch of deep lines in it like an old pineapple grenade then putting it up on the hillside with a portable compressor and pumping it till she blows. Or maybe throwing it off Half Dome full and see if it lands on the valve, breaking it off and turning it into a rocket.
Maybe I'll just take a plasma cutter and cut the bottom off (empty) and make a bell out of it.
Maybe a few of them cut off at different lengths would make a nice harmonic wind chime. That would be one way to piss off the neighbors!

Maybe I should take it to the Mythbusters down in SF and see if they want it to bust a myth with.
Say that four times fast.