LDS Won't + 10% Fill Plus Rated Tank?

[Whitrzac]

Long story short. I have 4 lp tanks. 2 LP72 and 2 LP95 are not plus rated (I didn't know this was a thing when I picked them up). 2 LP72's that were just hydroed came back plus rated. I pointed to the plus rating but was told that a tank can only be plus rated for the first 5 years from its birth? He also said the hydro tester they used should have not plus rated them? Is he completely mistaken or did I miss something about plus ratings on scubaboard?

What shop do you use? I need to add it to the list of shops not to go to around here...

 

[Lostdiver71]

Shop owners can be extremely ignorant sometimes. I worked at a shop here in SE Florida over a decade ago when a friend of the owners came in and wanted his tank filled. The only problem was that it had not had a VIP or hydro inspection in over a decade and when opened was severely corroded internally. The owner of the tank claimed that since he was only using the tank to provide air to paint with it did not need to be inspected. Both of the owners, who were also Scuba instructors backed him up and told me to fill the tank. I explained that testing was a DOT requirement and had nothing to do with what the tank was being used for and refused to risk my life to fill his tank. The owner ended up filling the tank anyway. I quit a few days later after they asked me to take open water referral students out in sea conditions that were way too rough to go out in and without any skills evaluation in the pool first. They went out of business less than 6 months later.

 

[Nathan Doty]

I had 2 of my + rated tanks get denied in the keys. Not for a fill, but for a full fill. The shop owner said the + rating is only good for the 1st time the tank is filled, forever after it's standard pressure. So I dove short that day. I'm not a regular there so no biggie, but it was annoying.

 

[M-Cameron]

the way i see it...the working pressure is the pressure stamped on the cylinder, i go in for a fill, i expect my tank to be filled to the standard working pressure.....the (+) means it CAN be filled to a higher pressure, but i dont see it as any obligation on the dive shop to HAVE to over fill.

if you dont like that, you have every right to find another shop.

considering a standard scuba tank has the same energy as a stick of dynamite, i cant really blame anyone for not wanting to do an overfill....especially on older tanks.

its easy for you to say they should do it...but its not your legs that are going to get blown off if the tank fails.

 

[ScubaBunga]

the way i see it...the working pressure is the pressure stamped on the cylinder, i go in for a fill, i expect my tank to be filled to the standard working pressure.....the (+) means it CAN be filled to a higher pressure, but i dont see it as any obligation on the dive shop to HAVE to over fill.

if you dont like that, you have every right to find another shop.

considering a standard scuba tank has the same energy as a stick of dynamite, i cant really blame anyone for not wanting to do an overfill....especially on older tanks.

its easy for you to say they should do it...but its not your legs that are going to get blown off if the tank fails.

Well the plus is a cylinder standard to define the rated pressure. If a shop won’t fill to that rated pressure, I personally will find another shop.

 

[Boiler_81]

It's amazing how much ignorance there is around scuba cylinders. The plus still has a big safety margin build in. There is no issue with filling it to the plus pressure. I have stopped using a particular shop in FL over their ignorant policies.

the way i see it...the working pressure is the pressure stamped on the cylinder, i go in for a fill, i expect my tank to be filled to the standard working pressure.....the (+) means it CAN be filled to a higher pressure, but i dont see it as any obligation on the dive shop to HAVE to over fill.

if you dont like that, you have every right to find another shop.

considering a standard scuba tank has the same energy as a stick of dynamite, i cant really blame anyone for not wanting to do an overfill....especially on older tanks.

its easy for you to say they should do it...but its not your legs that are going to get blown off if the tank fails.

I had 2 of my + rated tanks get denied in the keys. Not for a fill, but for a full fill. The shop owner said the + rating is only good for the 1st time the tank is filled, forever after it's standard pressure. So I dove short that day. I'm not a regular there so no biggie, but it was annoying.

 

[M-Cameron]

It's amazing how much ignorance there is around scuba cylinders. The plus still has a big safety margin build in. There is no issue with filling it to the plus pressure. I have stopped using a particular shop in FL over their ignorant policies.

when dealing with a stick of dynamite, i want as much of a safety margin as i can get.....personally ide rather just buy a bigger tank.

also you dont get something for nothing....you ARE fatiguing the tank at a higher rate than you would with a standard fill.....if there wasnt a downside to overfilling, the mfgs would make that overfill the "standard" fill.

the fact that you can lose a (+) rating is telling of how its fatiguing the tanks.

 

[Boiler_81]

I would bet tanks rarely if ever lose the plus by not testing to meet the standard. They lose it because the hydro test facility doesn't take the time to do the calculation. You are not over stressing the material with a +10% fill. There is a very large safely factor build into steel pressure vessels.

when dealing with a stick of dynamite, i want as much of a safety margin as i can get.....personally ide rather just buy a bigger tank.

also you dont get something for nothing....you ARE fatiguing the tank at a higher rate than you would with a standard fill.....if there wasnt a downside to overfilling, the mfgs would make that overfill the "standard" fill.

the fact that you can lose a (+) rating is telling of how its fatiguing the tanks.

 

[JaminBrown]

Yaa, a shop drilled a hole in my tank once. I had a friend make me a handful of stainless steel bolts on his garage lathe. They are self tapping threads and to make them stronger they are made in metric and with Torx driver heads. He said to use a torque wrench and set the foot pounds to the same as what the tank PSI is rated to so it equals out. So far so good and I saved the tank.

uhhhhhhhhh, wut? Please tell me you are joking...

 

[Manatee Diver]

when dealing with a stick of dynamite, i want as much of a safety margin as i can get.....personally ide rather just buy a bigger tank.

also you dont get something for nothing....you ARE fatiguing the tank at a higher rate than you would with a standard fill.....if there wasnt a downside to overfilling, the mfgs would make that overfill the "standard" fill.

the fact that you can lose a (+) rating is telling of how its fatiguing the tanks.

*Laughs in cave diver*

Then I have two sticks in my trunk. And I leave them in there. OTOH my deco bottle with oxygen gets pulled into my house because I am more afraid of it catching on fire than my LP85s going boom.