Photos of a shop after a storage cylinder went kaboom...a lot bigger than a scuba tank and a lot more damage...
Exploded scuba cylinders
- Thread starter hardhat
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- Damage to the cylinder. Usually from crud getting inside the tank (causing corrosion or catalytic pitting) or a serious scrape or blow to the side wall.
- Manufacturing flaws. Usually a crack or bad fold in the neck.
- Metal fatigue. Too many cycles, though this is uncommon - it should take many thousands at rated pressure to cause a tank to fail.
- Overpressurization. Every cylinder comes with a working pressure rating, exceeding the rating is an invitation to disaster - especially with aluminum tanks.
Fortunately, scuba cylinders don't fail very often. When they do, however, it is a highly dangerous and altogether too exciting event - yes, people sometimes get killed. Usually it's the guy at the fill station that takes the brunt of the blast so you'll understand why he's sometimes kind of fussy about making sure you're taking care of your tanks and having them inspected.
All in all, aluminum is cheaper to manufacture than steel but also more brittle. When aluminum cylinders fail it tends to be very dramatic, steel tanks tend to let go without all the flying shrapnel.
Scuba cylinders should be visually inspected every year or any time you think they may have been damaged or contaminated. In North America, pressure (hydrostatic) tests are also required every five years for most cylinders.
OP
hardhat
Guest
NOVIZWHIZ that has got to be one of the best stories that I've heard in a long time. Some one sitting on a cilynder and pulling off a valve that had air in it, I read that and howeled, deffinately Darwin Awards material. Some how I can imagine what kind of nervious wreck a person would be after a bottle skooting out from under them like that.
Ed Palma
Contributor
There were long discussions in the tank forum about sustained load cracking (SLC) and their occurence in a certain type of alloy (SP6498). The discussions focused on how certain shops wouldn't fill the tanks etc vs the large number of tanks of the stated alloy that didn't burst. anyway, measures currently exist that can reduce the risk of this occurence (like eddy visualization).
Check out the tank forums for more info.
mike_s
Contributor
I would bet that 99% of these explosions were from poor tank maintance or more likely as Doc Ed pointed out SLC.
He points out SP6498. But I've found that people are more weary of the alloy 6351-T6, which Luxfer made tanks from until about mid 1988.
A lot of shops won't fill either now days, with good reason. (there are several other recent threads on this.)
He points out SP6498. But I've found that people are more weary of the alloy 6351-T6, which Luxfer made tanks from until about mid 1988.
A lot of shops won't fill either now days, with good reason. (there are several other recent threads on this.)
jaycanwk
Contributor
There was also a few aluminum tanks that exploded after the owners had them powder coated. The baking/cooling in the painting process removed the tempering.
diveandclimb
Contributor
Remember what your mommy always told you, always check the hydro and visual on a tank before filling it not after it's blown half your store away.
deerhunter1911a1
Registered
oh man...i wish i had seen that...though scary at first, i know that would have been hillarious afterward when everyone was ok, lol
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