I just picked up my AL80's after hydro, VIP and fill. They are '86 Walter Kidde tanks that had not been hydro'd since '96. The LDS said no problem. He will fill them as long as they pass hydro & VIP. I know the scuba park will fill them, as well.
When To End a Tank's Life???
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ronbeau
Contributor
Mike Boswell
Contributor
Don't you HATE it when that happens? I corrected a poster a few weeks ago, and I was 1,000 percent sure I was right, and I was SO proud of myself my head was expanding. And then after a day or so he came back and showed me I was WRONG. That's what keeps us all human and humble, I guess. Being wrong now and then is good for the soul, so don't let it bother you.
Mike Boswell
Contributor
It must come from our history. Before we settled down, we were competing tribes of hunter/gatherers for hundreds of thousands of years. Tribes that guessed wrong about the weather or the location of food or game didn't do very well. I'm guessing that explains why we humans put such a premium on being right, and why the word "stupid" is, even for children, the worst insult.
Of course, now that we humans are civilized, we don't need to worry about that because when our leaders guess wrong, it really doesn't affect us much...
Mike, now really. The tribes killed for a living usually using very primitive weapons. When the heard moved so did they. As for calculating air demand and consumption, never did it cause I knew when the air was low I needed to be closer to the boat then I was a while ago. Now we just go to Jacks for instant food. Now for the leader deal, you could get some colorful opinions on that one.........
halocline
Contributor
I'm not a statistician, but I suspect that the chance of getting killed by an old AL80 is about the same as getting bitten by a rattlesnake and struck by lightning while you're holding a winning lottery ticket.
elmer fudd
Contributor
I think you're probably right about that, but why bother holding on to a cheap tank that's hard to get filled? New, they cost something like $150 and used post 1990 AL80's are considerably less. They've got no collectible value and those of us who are cold water divers hate their buoyancy characteristics.
I understand that they make good stage bottles and tropical divers like them, but I can't think of too much else to recommend them, especially when so many shops want nothing to do with them.
I understand that they make good stage bottles and tropical divers like them, but I can't think of too much else to recommend them, especially when so many shops want nothing to do with them.
In my case the older aluminum tank issue is more of a vintage thing. I have an aluminum 72 with J valve that I have had for eons. It is an Aqualung US Divers Mark I. It is the 6351 alloy and has passed VIP, Hydro and Eddy Current testing and I still have a hard time getting it filled. This tank is in really good condition and looks great, bright yellow with navy cosmetics. It's only been driven on Sundays. When it sits in my garage it's kind like having an early 70's muscle car that I can't drive. 
I respect the LDS right to refuse after all they would bear the brunt of a mishap regardless of how small the odds are.
I respect the LDS right to refuse after all they would bear the brunt of a mishap regardless of how small the odds are.
diver 85
Contributor
I would keep them in VIP & Hydro & continue on with them---I have 2, a 1985 Luxfer & a '86 Catalina, that I continue to use----no problems with my LDS or fire station on filling them.....
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