Old steels denied fills due to store "policy"

[markmud]

I had a Nazi bottle in the shop once, whoever re-marked it did a pretty poor job of striking the swastika into a square. Its last hydro stamp was 2 years prior to when I got it. Dunno what happened to it as it was swapped when I used all the gas, but if Praxair felt confident to fill it, I don't have a problem with it. It's not as if welding gas cylinders are particularly well taken care of, especially on pipelines and such.

Hey Johnny,

Do you mean "Nazi" as in made by Hitler's Germany? As you know, German metallurgy and engineering is still top notch.

Steel is an incredible material. Civilization would be half way back to dark ages without steel. The Wright Brothers, et allia, changed the human experience in a monumental way. However, modern aircraft would not be the workhorses they are without steel. AC engines, landing gear, hinge mechanisms, and bearings would not be efficient without steel.

Scrap your "old" steel tanks, because the shareholders of Faber need your money. Follow the money, who on this thread owns Faber stock?

markm

 

[JohnnyC]

Hey Johnny,

Do you mean "Nazi" as in made by Hitler's Germany? As you know, German metallurgy and engineering is still top notch.

markm

Yep. They're not uncommon. When they were "repatriated" they'd just take a cold chisel to them, turn the swastika into a box with a plus sign in it. Some were done better than others, some not at all. Seems that there are still some in circulation.

The one I had for a time was marked 1943, and subsequent hydros, up to at least 2009, skipped a few cycles. No clue where it ended up afterwards, but it was 68 years old at the time I was using it.

 

[Rred]

Bob, I want the name and address of that shop. I'm going to get my fills there. (G)

Serisouly, they deserve kudos for being perhaps the first and only honest shop I've ever heard of. Or perhaps, this was before the days of "Our insurance/trade group/tooth fairy requires this."

 

[Wookie]

Bob, I want the name and address of that shop. I'm going to get my fills there. (G)

Serisouly, they deserve kudos for being perhaps the first and only honest shop I've ever heard of. Or perhaps, this was before the days of "Our insurance/trade group/tooth fairy requires this."

Perhaps a subject for another thread, but trade groups, insurance, and maybe the tooth fairy actually do put restrictions as well as permissions on what activities may take place on the boat/in the shop/while teaching. But mostly I’ve found that the real requirements are “follow the regulations”, wherever those regulations are.

Lots of crappy shops use the excuse because they are lazy and consumers are too untrained to know better.

As I said throughout this thread, Force E can make up any policy that suits them. They don’t even need to tell us what it is. I don’t care if my fills come from them or the next guy. Someone is going to fill my in-hydro VIPped cylinders, probably for about the same price.

 

[dead dog]

A short Review of 6351 Alloy Aluminum Cylinders

PSI-PCI - A short Review of 6351 Alloy Aluminum Cylinders

A Brief Scuba Cylinder History

PSI-PCI - A Brief Scuba Cylinder History


Are 6351-T6 Alloy Scuba Cylinders Safe to Use?

http://www.psicylinders.com/MediaManager/documents/6351-alloy-cylinders-safe-to-use.pdf

I hope this may end this thread.

 

[Zieg]

There was a diver on Diver link who used to refer to aluminum tanks as "alumibombs".

 

[Manatee Diver]

As I said throughout this thread, Force E can make up any policy that suits them. They don’t even need to tell us what it is. I don’t care if my fills come from them or the next guy. Someone is going to fill my in-hydro VIPped cylinders, probably for about the same price.

I disagree with the bolded part, if you have fill policies that are more restrictive than the industry norm they really should out in the open, preferably posted on their website. And what I am asking isn't unreasonable, as I've seen shops that do post their policies on their website. For example I remember a shop that didn't allow you to dive their open pool night unless you can prove that your equipment was serviced recently, or another shop that posted that they won't do fills unless you have a visual from a local dive shop.

And for me this isn't a theoretical I've actually gotten fills at this particular Force-E location, but now that I know they will be struck from my list as I don't want to be denied fills if I bring one of my older tanks.

 

[Wookie]

I disagree with the bolded part, if you have fill policies that are more restrictive than the industry norm they really should out in the open, preferably posted on their website. And what I am asking isn't unreasonable, as I've seen shops that do post their policies on their website. For example I remember a shop that didn't allow you to dive their open pool night unless you can prove that your equipment was serviced recently, or another shop that posted that they won't do fills unless you have a visual from a local dive shop.

And for me this isn't a theoretical I've actually gotten fills at this particular Force-E location, but now that I know they will be struck from my list as I don't want to be denied fills if I bring one of my older tanks.

From a customer service standpoint, I don't disagree. When I ran a liveaboard, we had a 2.5 hour surface interval. It made the day go long, as it made the night dive start at 8 PM or so. The owner (before me) was asked why, he made up all kinds of stories abut safety, being back to an A diver before going again, he had a whole line of reasons.

The reason was that we couldn't fill 40 cylinders in less than 2 hours and about 15 minutes the way the banks were set up. So really, IMO Force E isn't obligated to tell us why they won't fill a steel older than XX years. To me, all that does is lead to arguments. If they give a reason, everyone wants an exception because it doesn't apply to them.

Their fill station, their rules.

 

[Manatee Diver]

The reason was that we couldn't fill 40 cylinders in less than 2 hours and about 15 minutes the way the banks were set up. So really, IMO Force E isn't obligated to tell us why they won't fill a steel older than XX years. To me, all that does is lead to arguments. If they give a reason, everyone wants an exception because it doesn't apply to them.

I don't disagree, I don't need to know why, simply what the policy is so I don't walk into the shop expecting a service that they won't offer me.

 

[BRT]

A short Review of 6351 Alloy Aluminum Cylinders

PSI-PCI - A short Review of 6351 Alloy Aluminum Cylinders

A Brief Scuba Cylinder History

PSI-PCI - A Brief Scuba Cylinder History


Are 6351-T6 Alloy Scuba Cylinders Safe to Use?

http://www.psicylinders.com/MediaManager/documents/6351-alloy-cylinders-safe-to-use.pdf

I hope this may end this thread.

The most dangerous cylinders. 31 failures in 50 years. Almost all of the failures were not in hydro and vis.