W W Meixner
Banned
There is possibly one example of a steel tank in hydro and vis failing, and nobody seems too sure about that one.
BRT...
In 2000 an explosion occurred at a dive shop located on Big Tub Harbour in Tobermory...a steel storage tank blew up as the result of rust...the shop which never re-opened was destroyed and one shop staff member was killed...I have records of four cylinder explosion fatalities...occurring in the US and Canada between 1990 and 2000...three involving steel cylinders...one involving a composite cylinder
I saw photos of the Tobermory shop after the explosion...they were on the fill station wall of the dive shop where I had a seven year post-retirement service tech position...part of one wall and a small corner of roof was all that remained standing...these photos remained as a constant reminder...why we pay as much attention to compressed gas storage cylinders as we do...
There used to be three dive shops in Tobermory...one remains...their policy is to not fill ''any'' scuba cylinders older than 1989...
I've serviced lots of tanks...hundreds in a typical season...and after taking the courses...and understanding all the reasons behind cylinder maintenance/inspection/servicing protocols/not to mention visually seeing damage/defects/deterioration due to neglect...the understanding why you'd want to walk away from cylinders in this condition becomes very clear...
I can only imagine the condition of this shops rental fleet of regulator sets and BCD's...again...certainly no-one I'd want to dive with...
Best...
Warren