Whats up with these tanks?

[jfoster33702]

I bought 3 used AL80s today. All of them are catalinas, built mid 1997. Here's the trick. They dont have a hydro stamp on them anywhere that I can find, but they have a vis of 12/04. Based on the 12/04 - shouldnt they have been hydro-tested at least once in their lives?

Thanks
Jeff

 

[TwoBitTxn]

Sounds like someone boobooed.

I hope you got a good deal on them since you now get to pay to have them hydroed.

TwoBit

 

[skyking]

All of them are catalinas, built mid 1997. Here's the trick. They dont have a hydro stamp on them anywhere that I can find,

Can't imagine Catalina would let tanks out the door without a hydro (gets done at the end of the manufacturing process) - way too much liability even in 1997. If you are looking at a 4-digit date code at the end of the second line of stamping (like right after "S 80") to get your 1997 manufacture date you are looking at the factory hydro date and if somebody viz'd them in 2004 either it was an illegal viz or there's a later hydro stamp there in addition. The good news is that hydros are cheap - if someone wants to charge you more than $20-$30 or so ask them why and if they don't give you a good answer then look elsewhere.

Tom

 

[jfoster33702]

Yes, that is the only one I can find (factory one). I did get a good deal though at $25 each, so I dont mind paying for a hydro

Thanks for the PM - Ill check with them.

Jeff

 

[mike_s]

If they were built in mid 1997, how did you figure that out without the original hydro stamp?

(btw.. the manufactured date on the tank is it's original hydro)

 

[jfoster33702]

Yes, it has the original. 6/97. What I am saying is that - they also have a vis sticker for 12/04. Based on that, shouldnt they have had at least one additional Hydro before that 12/04 vis?

 

[mike_s]

Yes they should have.

In fact... with Hydro's its the law that the cylinder must be hydrostatic tested every 5 years of use per D.O.T. guidelines/rules. However, there is no official law about visuals. it's more of a scuba industry self imposed standard, though I don't think it's a bad thing.

I'm betting that whoever visualed it in 2004 just didn't pay attention to the hydro date when they did it and gave it a visual. While tank failures are rare, whoever visualed it w/o checking the hydro date could have put someone else at risk of injury had the tank failed w/o being tested.

So... you'll need to go take it and get it hydro'd. Most dive shops charge about $25 bucks for this, plus or minus a few bucks. They typicaly don't do it themselves but take it to a State approved hydro facility. I'm sure they have one within a reasonable distance of where you live. I think my hydro facility charges around $12 bucks to test a cylinder. They will then stamp a new month/date on the cylinder somewhere around the neck. If it fails, for some reason, tanks will have X's stamped across the dates. (I think if I remember correctly).

Of course after you get it hydro'd you'll need to get it visualed. Some hydro facilities do this and some don't. Of course your LDS does it though. ($10 bucks on average).

$25 isn't too bad though for the tanks. After hydro you'll have $50 to $70 bucks in each tank and with fresh hydro/vis so not too bad.

 

[skyking]

For $25 it's really hard to go wrong unless the tanks have been seriously abused - a hydro/viz will determine that and even if one of them fails along the way it's a good investment for equipment that will last a lifetime with minimal care.

 

[jfoster33702]

Looks like the price is $20 hydro and $10 vis - so $30 each.

The paint on the tanks is pretty bad though - I don't think I've seen one with the paint this bad. However, the aluminum isnt really dinged up and there is no discoloration or anything like that.

I guess we'll see! Thanks for the info.

 

[skyking]

Sounds 'bout right. Bad paint is common - just shows the tanks have character! I'm sure the shop will tell you this, but just in case they don't ... if you're considering painting the tanks (bad idea but some folks do it anyway) don't use a heat-cured paint. Aluminum will lose 10%+ of its' strength each time it's heated to those temps and the effect is cumulative and it doesn't take much to convert perfectly good tanks into nice shiny lamp-bases.

Tom