VIP on AL cylinders = stupid $$$ game

[ReefHound]

I'm hardly a big LDS proponent but I doubt the VIP is a cash cow for them. Most places charge about $15 and that includes an air fill, so the visual is less than $10. And they replace the o-rings.

Thread wear? Gimme a break. Better yet, cite a case where an accident was because the threads gave out. As Phil said, they could stand thousands of removal cycles. How many times do you screw your regulator onto the tank valve?

Moisture in tank could probably be checked by analyzing the air, I agree. But does that also work for oils? Would people then accuse the LDS of ripping them off for moisture content air analyzers?

 

[JahJahwarrior]

The only hard thing to check for is cracks, right? If I took a valve off, I'm sure I could flip it upside down and leave it hanging for 12 hours. If there was anything on the sponge I set underneat it when Ic ame back, such as water or oils from the tank, then I would clean the tank with some Big Green or whatever that stuff is and dry it, I think I could use helium to dry it faster? Well then I'll put that valve back on and go dive with it!


It seems to me that with a flashlight and a mirror I could do my own "moisture" checks, the only thing I can't do is check for small cracks.

I'm willing to get a VIP, one shop here charges $10 for vip and air fill. Another shop charges $20. ???

 

[mirrocraft]

i agree with everyone here that you dnt need to be checked every year for cracks and stuff if you can check your tank your selt then so be it and maybe get a full vip half way between every hydro but make shore you open it every year just to check i have 6 or 7 tanks and i can pay every year to vip them i wouldnt have no money to dive im on a buget. i fill my tanks my self im a fire fighter and we have a brand new compressor we change the filter if it need it or not and i take care of all fills off it so i know how its mantained. but i also agree if you cant do it your self it should be done

 

[Jibeho]

25 Clams for a VIP YIKES. My LDS charges 12 bucks and that includes a fill (Nitrox extra). I also get a nice new sticker that advertises his shop

 

[Rick Murchison]

... i fill my tanks my self im a fire fighter and we have a brand new compressor we change the filter if it need it or not ...

Ahhhh.... so I'm paying for your fills...
You're welcome.
Rick

 

[mike_s]

i agree with everyone here that you dnt need to be checked every year for cracks and stuff if you can check your tank your selt then so be it and maybe get a full vip half way between every hydro but make shore you open it every year just to check i have 6 or 7 tanks and i can pay every year to vip them i wouldnt have no money to dive im on a buget. i fill my tanks my self im a fire fighter and we have a brand new compressor we change the filter if it need it or not and i take care of all fills off it so i know how its mantained. but i also agree if you cant do it your self it should be done

So does your fire department have a procedure for Visual Inspecting their SCBA tanks? (and if so do they follow it).

 

[Gil57usa]

My Fire Dept. Dive Team has 13 AL80's and a good number of pony bottles as well. It is certainly more than "a few bucks" to get them vised every year.

 

[mike_s]

My Fire Dept. Dive Team has 13 AL80's and a good number of pony bottles as well. It is certainly more than "a few bucks" to get them vised every year.

what about your SCBA's ? do they visual those every year?

[snip]

Phil "tank fill monkey" Ellis

Heh.. I thought Jonathon was the "tank fill monkey" ?

 

[Charlie99]

Aluminum cylinders will corrode and generate enough gunk to be a problem. Unfortunately, I experienced this first hand about 3 years ago on a boat dive out of Cancun. My first tank had a valve leak and I swapped out with the "spare" tank that had been sitting on the boat for a while.

When breaking down my gear after the dive the sintered filter on the 1st stage was completely covered with white pasty sort of gunk. It wouldn't have taken very much more to completely cut off air flow.

My guess is that the tank also had a broken dip tube or snorkel in order for the corrosion products to get to my first stage, probably while I inverted to look under some ledges. Contrary to the "aluminum tanks don't rust" that some have posted above, I've seen firsthand evidence that aluminum tanks DO indeed generate corrosion products and DO need to have visuals.

 

[SparticleBrane]

VIPs are very important. I have some friends who got some bad fills in Florida...resulting in compressor oil sitting in the bottom of the tanks.