Water in tank from Hydro

[Panga Man]

Hey guys quick question, I just recently got some old lp 72 tanks hydro'd from a local dive shop. In the process of them being hydro'd the shop went out of business and it took me about 3 months to track down the owners and get my tanks back. Apparently they have been riding around in the back of his truck this whole time. Not only were they not filled there was no VIP and no service done to them. To top it all off I Got them home tonight and cracked the valve to prep them for refinishing and found out that there was water in the bottom of one. Is this tank jacked? what do I do?

 

[deepstops]

Hey guys quick question, I just recently got some old lp 72 tanks hydro'd from a local dive shop. In the process of them being hydro'd the shop went out of business and it took me about 3 months to track down the owners and get my tanks back. Apparently they have been riding around in the back of his truck this whole time. Not only were they not filled there was no VIP and no service done to them. To top it all off I Got them home tonight and cracked the valve to prep them for refinishing and found out that there was water in the bottom of one. Is this tank jacked? what do I do?

Couple questions: the one that had water in it, is there rust?? Assuming it does, that tank needs a proper VIP and assessment to ascertain whether or not if it can tumbled back into proper condition.

Also, what kind of refinishing are you planning on doing??

 

[Big Toes]

that sucks that they didn't do the viz, and more importantly that they ended up with water in them. steel bottles rock, but you need to be careful when they get moisture in them as they're way more prone to rust than AL's are especially if you're using EANX.

as they didn't get viz stickers you're still going to need those if you're getting fills at a normal commercial shop.

what you might want to do would be to leave them upside down in a nice, clean environment (no valves) on top of some nice clean paper towels. once they're dry, 'valve' them then take them to your LDS for the viz that you need. what you're trying to do here is remove trace evidence of the moisture/rust thereby eliminating the need for a tumble. another expense for you...

this is just my opinion and what i would do. i think you got a bit screwed here and feel bad for you. remember, even if they're not in perfectly 'nitrogen clean' state you're still going to need a viz next year.

 

[Panga Man]

Couple questions: the one that had water in it, is there rust?? Assuming it does, that tank needs a proper VIP and assessment to ascertain whether or not if it can tumbled back into proper condition.

Also, what kind of refinishing are you planning on doing??

I havnt been able to drop a light to the bottom yet so I dont know the extent of the rust, I do know that when I dropped them off there was zero marks or rust on the inside. They were absolutely pristine.

As for refinishing, since there was no vis sticker put on im going to strip the old paint are re galvanize. Im also switching the valves from J Valve to Din Valves.

 

[Panga Man]

that sucks that they didn't do the viz, and more importantly that they ended up with water in them. steel bottles rock, but you need to be careful when they get moisture in them as they're way more prone to rust than AL's are especially if you're using EANX.

as they didn't get viz stickers you're still going to need those if you're getting fills at a normal commercial shop.

what you might want to do would be to leave them upside down in a nice, clean environment (no valves) on top of some nice clean paper towels. once they're dry, 'valve' them then take them to your LDS for the viz that you need. what you're trying to do here is remove trace evidence of the moisture/rust thereby eliminating the need for a tumble. another expense for you...

this is just my opinion and what i would do. i think you got a bit screwed here and feel bad for you. remember, even if they're not in perfectly 'nitrogen clean' state you're still going to need a viz next year.

Yea Im feeling a bit screwed, I will try to flip them tonight and see if that does the trick for getting them dry.

 

[jmmcintyre]

Dude that totally sucks. I know the shop went of business but did you say anything to them when you picked them up and noticed they were all jacked up? I guess you couldn't really go back to them and expect money since they did go out of business but I would be like "*** are you going to give me for your screw up and the money I have to dish out"?

 

[Panga Man]

Well I didnt pay anything for the hydro because 3 months ago he told me they would be back in a week. And honestly at that point I was so pumped to get them back i didnt think to do any further inspection on them. I do know one thing though if the tank is screwed up im going to press him on giving me at least an Aluminum 40 that ive been wanting for a bailout/Deco bottle.

 

[Doc Harry]

Keep us posted.

A little rust doesn't spell disaster, a little tumble might be all that they need.

 

[deepstops]

Keep us posted.

A little rust doesn't spell disaster, a little tumble might be all that they need.

Absolutely, unless the rust pits are deep, they can likely be tumbled back into service

 

[Big Toes]

don't know what your relationship with the shop was, but personally id be a bit pi**ed. if youre in contact with them right now i would certainly try to get some form of compensation from them. i know my (dear to my heart) shop here in san diego went out of business this last summer and they were the absolute best about trying to make things right with their customers.