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Is a 17 year old scuba tank still safe to use?

Discussion in 'Diving and Marine Life' started by culumbinus, Oct 4, 2012.

  1. Rye83

    Rye83 with pastrami Admin Secured Account Highly Rated Poster SC Connoisseur Veteran Army

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    Air is gas, mainly nitrogen and oxygen. :wink:
     
  2. WATSISNAME

    WATSISNAME DI Member

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    WTF way to many ifs and buts for something your life depends on......i know nothing about dive tanks, but i know if someone told me to strap something on back that my life depended on and told me it was serviced in philippines, 17 yrs old.......i know what i would be telling them.....just sayin
     
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  3. bouglez

    bouglez DI Member

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    is there a diveshop within the city who will hydrotest and refill a SCUBA tank?
     
  4. DiveDynamics

    DiveDynamics DI New Member

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    I don't know.
    I can Hydro test, vis and fill to 330bar at my home workshop in duma but Im away until mid june, you would need to take it to Cebu for a hydro or catch aquaventure while they are in town with their mobile rig.
    there is no reason why an aluminium tank AND valve wont last you a lifetime if filled with dry air and serviced regularly (vis, hydro, valve service).

    6351Alloy is what you need to be wary of when purchasing second hand aluminium tanks, 6351 tanks had the following markings and were produced between 1972 and 1988; DOT SP6498, DOT E6498, DOT E7042, DOT E8107, DOT E8364, and DOT E8422 and AS1771(before 91 only).
    Your best bet is to stay away from anything aluminium produced before 1991

    So a 17 year old tank will more than likely be just fine to purchase, I could almost guarantee it would pass a hydro but at least get a visual inspection before buying one. It is VERY RARE for an aluminium cylinder to fail a hydro test, I have hydro'd literally thousands of tanks and have only ever failed 3, on the other hand I have failed countless aluminium tanks on visual inspection due to neck cracks and corrosion.

    6351 tanks can still be hydro'd and filled but also need NDT testing for neck cracks, this is expensive equipment most test stations (myself included) don't have. I just don't touch the 6351's full stop.

    Oh and by the way there is a good chance its a fake hydro test if there is the letter A between the dates, testing stations have individual numbers in most countries and these are incorporated into the middle stamp. here in Ph this is not regulated but you will find most testing stations worth anything will use a custom stamp that others in the industry will recognise.

    Cheers
     
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