FurtekJR
Registered
I took the PSI/PCI Visual Cylinder Inspection course yesterday and wanted to post my general impressions of the class.
A bit of background. I have been diving for about 2 years. I own all of my own gear and already own four tanks (with more coming soon). Last year was the first year that my tanks were up for re-visual inspection. Unfortuantly, the visual inspection process turned into a complete nightmare. The sho that I was using (have since switched) was going through a rough patch and was unable to keep service techs. This lead to incredibly poor turnaround times. I dropped my tanks off in February for a visual and didn't get them back until 2+ months later. Needless to say, I was fairly frustrated with the whole process, since that was 2+ months that I was unable to dive. I didn't think that there was anything I could do about this (aside from switching shops) until I told my story to one of my buddies. He then told me about the VCI course and suggested that I take it.
Overall, the VCI course is probably one of the best scuba classes that I have ever taken. The name is a bit of a misnomer. It should really be called cylinder maintence 201. The class was divided into two parts - a classroom portion and a lab portion. The classroom portion basically involved a powerpoint presentation dealing with the different types of tanks, how they are made and, of course, how to conduct an inspection. The textbook and workbook are excellent and do a great job of detailing what to look for. The class is geared towards both SCUBA and SCBA (firefighting) cylinders so at least part of the class is devoted to composite cylinders. Interesting, but, for me, not the most useful.
The lab portion involves conducting actual visual inspections. I was the only student in the class, so I got to talk my way though several inspections with the instructor. We began with an old rusted steel tank just to see the various potential problems (rust, old coating etc.). We then moved on to a slightly newer problem tank. We concluded by inspecting on of my own tanks. It was a bit of an eye-opening experience. I found some minor pitting on the bottom of one of my tanks (where the boot meets the tank). I am going to mointor this to make sure it does not get worse.
After taking the course and looking at several tanks, it seems like there is quite a bit more art than science to inspecting tanks. For me, the true value of the couse is knowing that to watch for so that I can spot minor problems with my tank before they become major problems.
Like most other people who have taken the class, I feel like I could use a little bit more experience looking at tanks before I truly get the hang of it. I plan on inspecting my own tanks this year since they are all similar age / style to the one I inspected in class. I plan on using this tank as a baseline and will seek a second opinion if anything looks terribly different.
Joe
A bit of background. I have been diving for about 2 years. I own all of my own gear and already own four tanks (with more coming soon). Last year was the first year that my tanks were up for re-visual inspection. Unfortuantly, the visual inspection process turned into a complete nightmare. The sho that I was using (have since switched) was going through a rough patch and was unable to keep service techs. This lead to incredibly poor turnaround times. I dropped my tanks off in February for a visual and didn't get them back until 2+ months later. Needless to say, I was fairly frustrated with the whole process, since that was 2+ months that I was unable to dive. I didn't think that there was anything I could do about this (aside from switching shops) until I told my story to one of my buddies. He then told me about the VCI course and suggested that I take it.
Overall, the VCI course is probably one of the best scuba classes that I have ever taken. The name is a bit of a misnomer. It should really be called cylinder maintence 201. The class was divided into two parts - a classroom portion and a lab portion. The classroom portion basically involved a powerpoint presentation dealing with the different types of tanks, how they are made and, of course, how to conduct an inspection. The textbook and workbook are excellent and do a great job of detailing what to look for. The class is geared towards both SCUBA and SCBA (firefighting) cylinders so at least part of the class is devoted to composite cylinders. Interesting, but, for me, not the most useful.
The lab portion involves conducting actual visual inspections. I was the only student in the class, so I got to talk my way though several inspections with the instructor. We began with an old rusted steel tank just to see the various potential problems (rust, old coating etc.). We then moved on to a slightly newer problem tank. We concluded by inspecting on of my own tanks. It was a bit of an eye-opening experience. I found some minor pitting on the bottom of one of my tanks (where the boot meets the tank). I am going to mointor this to make sure it does not get worse.
After taking the course and looking at several tanks, it seems like there is quite a bit more art than science to inspecting tanks. For me, the true value of the couse is knowing that to watch for so that I can spot minor problems with my tank before they become major problems.
Like most other people who have taken the class, I feel like I could use a little bit more experience looking at tanks before I truly get the hang of it. I plan on inspecting my own tanks this year since they are all similar age / style to the one I inspected in class. I plan on using this tank as a baseline and will seek a second opinion if anything looks terribly different.
Joe
