When a tank is VIP'd, is it supposed to be...

[erparamedic]

When a tank is VIP'd is it supposed to be stamped/marked with the month/year it was inspected, or the month/year it expires?

This may sound like a dumb question, but tanks are the only pieces of equiptment we don't own, so, we don't know much about the inspections. We were refused an air fill at the dive site this weekend. The guy at the site says they were way out of VIP... we insisted that the LDS that we use would not rent us tanks that were out of date. But, they refused to fill the tanks and we had to then rent more tanks at the dive site. When we returned the tanks to the LDS and told them what happened, they said the person there didn't know what they were doing, and that the tanks are NOT out of VIP. I tend to believe my LDS... as I've done business there for 11 years and never had any issues. I've been trying to call the dive site, but the people that answer the phone insist that they don't have anything to do with the scuba operations and gave me a number and name to call... except I can't get an answer. I'm really quite bummed... and I don't think I'll patron this site again, if I continue to get the run-around.

What's your experience with how the VIPs are marked?

 

[Sideband]

There is a sticker put on the tank with the date the VIP was done. It is good for a year from that date. It is only a month/year marking.

Joe

 

[oxyhacker]

Normally the inspector punches the sticker to show the month and year the inspection was performed, and the sticker is good for one year from that date - some stickers even say "Good for one year from date marked" so there will be no confusion. However since there is no law governing visuals a shop is free to do them any nutty way they like and it is just possible the second shop has decided that stickers should be stamped with the date the inspection expires.

Anytime you rent a tank, especially if you will be having it filled at a shop other than the one you are renting if from, you should check to make sure it has a valid inspection sticker on it and refuse the tank if it doesn't. If the shop rented you tanks without one, and you were forced to rent more tanks as a result, they first shop really ought to refund the price of the rental(s), as the tanks were not in usable condition.

When you returned the tanks to the first shop, and they insisted that they were inspected, did they show you the sticker and the date? This is a pretty cut and dried issue - either the tanks had current stickers on them, in which case the second shop was in error, or they didn't, in which case the first one was.

BTW shops sometimes have feuds going with other shops in the area, and do everything they can to make trouble for each other. You may have unknowingly gotten caught in the middle of something like that.

 

[rjack321]

In PSI classes, they advise punching out the date and year the Visual was done. The frequency that a shop or user may wish to have it repeated is anythiing up to 1 year later, although that's not in law anywhere. E.g. some shops might decide to visual their rentals every 6 months because they see lots of use.

Most people consider the sticker to expire on the last date of the month punched (one year later). PSI has been advocating the first day of the month, but thankfully that has not caught on much.

 

[Walter]

Also, some shops assume they expire on the first day of the month stamped, others assume it's the last day.

 

[erparamedic]

Thanks for the info... The two tanks that we rented from our LDS were very much in date and we shouldn't have had a problem. The tanks did have stickers, we just didn't know how they mark them. The stickers were marked 11/05 on one, and 3/06 on the other. We knew that the VIPs were done on a yearly basis and hydros every 5 years, but we didn't know if the stickers were marked with the expiration, or the time they were inspected. Now we know. Our LDS has ALWAYS given us top notch service, in EVERY aspect. I didn't think that they would give us bad tanks, and they didn't. I just love our LDS.... we go there for classes, equiptment purchases, rentals, dive site info... you name it.

I finally got in touch with someone that runs the air fill at the quarry where we dove and they said the person that was running the air fill was probably new and they are refunding the cost of having to rent the 2nd set of tanks. They agreed that the tanks that we came with were valid. So... they are gonna check on who was running the air fills that day and educate them a bit better. Though the cost of renting tanks isn't gonna make or break me, it was the whole principle behind the issue. And... I don't want this same thing to happen to anybody else.

 

[Mack Diver]

Now that you are wiser, allways be sure to check the VIP and Hydro dates on any tank you rent. If you have any questions about a tank, be sure to ask the person helping you. Dive shops can get real busy this time of year and it is possible for a tank to slip through. At my shop, I have to VIP about 8 - 10 rental tanks a month to keep them all current. I also end up with 2 - 4 tanks a month that have to go to Hydro.

One other thing to be aware of is that there is no standard on VIP labels. They can be round, curved or square and can be placed almost anywhere on the tank, including the bottom.

 

[SparticleBrane]

Sounds like it's time to buy your own tanks.

 

[captain]

Sounds like it's time to buy your own tanks.

Then the real fun begins dealing with LSD employees like the one who couldn't figure out the VIP sticker and now you will have to personally deal with them for hydros and VIPs on your personal tanks.

 

[DennisW]

Although very normal in the industry, it is very scary that the person filling the tanks hasn't a clue as to what the hydro and vip dates mean.