VIP Inspectors: Identifiable vs Identified

[rjack321]

I’m not taking the risk of being unable to get fills on vacation.

That risk might be lower with DRIS sticker but still exists. You still need to call ahead and confirm what "their rules" are if you want to be assured of getting fills. Its their compressor - if dive shops have proven anything over the years its that they are arbitrary and often just random.

 

[Marie13]

I’ve been in podunk towns before and had no issues getting tanks filled with a shop’s VIP stickers.

 

[rjack321]

I’ve been in podunk towns before and had no issues getting tanks filled with a shop’s VIP stickers.

You were surprised by DRIS changing their policy between you class and now (or maybe its not changed its just published). You can try to plan ahead for another random change midvacation in Michigan or Wisconsin or wherever - or not.

My experience has been that the bigger shops usually make more convoluted rules but that isn't always the case. I once had to email a shop pictures of my tumbler to "prove" I could O2 clean tanks.

 

[stretchthepenn]

I got my PSI-PCI training two years ago, and I dunno if I'd do it again. The class was interesting, and the knowledge that I gained was useful...but ye gods...the itself class was expensive, so breaking even on that will take more than a few years. Plus, the cost of the tools and specialized viz gear is f***ing obscene.

• Crows-foot wrench sets that will fit tank valves are at least $100. Ain't no getting around that expense.
• The torque wrench for the crows-foot heads can run beyond $100 if you get a high-quality one.
• Internal-inspection lights run $150-280 unless you get the cheap-ass piece-of-s**t rope light sold on Amazon for $80.
• The periscope-thingy for thread inspection sells for $185, and that's just for 3/4" necks. Got a 3/8 neck? That'll run you an extra $65.
• And then let's not mention the other doodads like picks, angled mirrors, pit gauges, official PSI-PCI stickers, and the like. Estimate $20 per unit on those.

The first year I did my own inspections, I got lucky when another inspector loaned me his toolkit. That was free, but I shelled out for the crows-foot heads and bought a cheapie Harbor Freight torque wrench for about $20 (the owner of my LDS would undoubtedly deride it, and loudly).

This year, the other inspector moved out of town, and I was facing a $400 expense for inspection gear. I got smart, though, and piecemeal-ordered the minimum necessary doodads and built my own inspection lights (both visual-spectrum and UV) for about $40.

Even so, I'm still in the hole financially on tank inspections, and I will be for a few years to come.

Oh, and don't get me started on all the necessary equipment for oxygen-cleaning that I just plain don't have, such as a tumbler and a rack for hanging the tanks upside-down and a nitrox-clean tank full of O2-clean air and a whip with a nozzle for air-drying the cleaned tanks' insides...

 

[rjack321]

I got my PSI-PCI training two years ago, and I dunno if I'd do it again. The class was interesting, and the knowledge that I gained was useful...but ye gods...the itself class was expensive, so breaking even on that will take more than a few years. Plus, the cost of the tools and specialized viz gear is f***ing obscene.

• Crows-foot wrench sets that will fit tank valves are at least $100. Ain't no getting around that expense.
• The torque wrench for the crows-foot heads can run beyond $100 if you get a high-quality one.
• Internal-inspection lights run $150-280 unless you get the cheap-ass piece-of-s**t rope light sold on Amazon for $80.
• The periscope-thingy for thread inspection sells for $185, and that's just for 3/4" necks. Got a 3/8 neck? That'll run you an extra $65.
• And then let's not mention the other doodads like picks, angled mirrors, pit gauges, official PSI-PCI stickers, and the like. Estimate $20 per unit on those.

The first year I did my own inspections, I got lucky when another inspector loaned me his toolkit. That was free, but I shelled out for the crows-foot heads and bought a cheapie Harbor Freight torque wrench for about $20 (the owner of my LDS would undoubtedly deride it, and loudly).

This year, the other inspector moved out of town, and I was facing a $400 expense for inspection gear. I got smart, though, and piecemeal-ordered the minimum necessary doodads and built my own inspection lights (both visual-spectrum and UV) for about $40.

Even so, I'm still in the hole financially on tank inspections, and I will be for a few years to come.

Oh, and don't get me started on all the necessary equipment for oxygen-cleaning that I just plain don't have, such as a tumbler and a rack for hanging the tanks upside-down and a nitrox-clean tank full of O2-clean air and a whip with a nozzle for air-drying the cleaned tanks' insides...

So you just bought all the tools PSI sells? I guess one stop shopping makes it easy - PSI must love you as a customer now.

Oxyhacker has a good and still valid list of alternatives. I mean you can get a 3 pack of giant adjustable 'valve' wrenches for $19 at harbor freight. The two largest fit valves just fine and if you split the purchase with a classmate (you each get a giant wrench) you are only in for $10. A torque wrench is needed for burst disks (at least until you have a feel for how delicate they actually are) but under $20 for a 3/8" driver. Torquing valves to tanks - that is just PSI being silly.
There is no requirement to have their periscope, you can do the same inspection with a mirror albit slightly slower. Short LED rope lights are $8-10 not $80. You can also make your own pretty easy. There are non-PSI sources for dental mirrors, dental picks, and pit gauges among other things. You can also easily make long interior picks from a SS rod from home depot (for instance). A tank of O2 clean air with a BC hose and a unused BC nipple in the end is fine for blowing out tanks. You can make your own drying stand from a 3ft length of 2x6" board with some rope to hold the neck (upside down). Being crafty can save you 100s of dollars in tool costs.

Your UV light is honestly a complete waste of money sad to say. Most synthetic compressor oils are not florescent nowadays and the levels that you can actually see under UV are so grossly contaminated that they would be visible to the naked eye anyway makes it a worthless tool. Actually being O2 clean is far cleaner than UV light can detect. So if there is any doubt you need to be (re)washing it anyway. The bottom line is that UV cannot be used to validate something as O2 clean.

PSI is the sole company that has interpreted the CFRs to require 3-year "haz mat" renewals. No other company and USDOT themselves has never said inspectors require re-training ever 3 years. That is PSI's prerogative only - but it keeps them in business.

 

[Marie13]

My probe was a straightened out wire hanger. That’s what we had in class and super easy to make one at home! Cheap.

 

[rjack321]

My probe was a straightened out wire hanger. That’s what we had in class and super easy to make one at home! Cheap.

Just make sure the top end is curved over and blunt!

Looking down alongside the probe and rubbing it up and down a pit with your eye focused inside the tank can actually poke you in the eye - I know this from experience

 

[rhwestfall]

 

[greeniguana]

I use my rifle bore scope to look in my tanks. I have no VIP training (I know what rust, corrosion and cracks are). I do it as a CMyA. When I drop my tanks off for hydros/vips I tell the shop how they look. No unexpected $30 rides in the tumbler....

 

[Schwob]

PSI is the sole company that has interpreted the CFRs to require 3-year "haz mat" renewals.

... & TDI ... - not that that would make it right...