CuzzA
Wetwork for Hire
I never claimed them to be special vs. anyone else. But maybe they are in this thread because they're in Tampa as requested and appear to show competence when it comes to plus rating a cylinder.
A really competent hydro shop near FLL or Tampa?
- Thread starter Rred
- Start date
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I never claimed them to be special vs. anyone else. But maybe they are in this thread because they're in Tampa as requested and appear to show competence when it comes to plus rating a cylinder.
So are dive shops like Quiescence really doing their own hydro tests? I thought pretty much everyone sent the tank out to a hydro facility, got it back, and then finished up with clean/vip/whatever. I've only had one hydro so far on my LP108's and they kept their + rating. That's merely 2640 vs 2400 and they usually get filled to 3400ish anyway. I have no idea if the fill stations who do overfills give a hoot about the + rating either way.
Sorry for the confusion, Halocline. My first tank was an Alu80, a Luxfer Alu80, and they were all 3000psi+ stamped. When neck cracks became a big topic and shops got their new eddy testing machines, an inept hydro shop (not a dive shop) tested my original tank and several of my buddy's and gave us back 3 CUT and condemned. My buddy took the lead on that and brought in someone in the industry who basically said "You *ing moron, those are the normal tool patterns in a threaded neck, who taught you how to inspect tanks?" resulting in three brand new tanks for us, at no further charge. (I decided I wanted no further part of that and sold the new tank that month. I liked my steel tank better anyway.)
What the Alu's are stamped with now...I don't know, I don't look, I only know them as rental tanks where I take what I can get.
The advantage of an old 3AA 3000+ tank, steel or aluminum (and I think they continued to be made after the change in tank materials because of the neck issues) is that no special permit is needed. There was some upset this year about whether the DOT was just slow, or was possibly not renewing one of those.
I've had more than one shop think my tank was an old 72, but side by side they are very different.
What the Alu's are stamped with now...I don't know, I don't look, I only know them as rental tanks where I take what I can get.
The advantage of an old 3AA 3000+ tank, steel or aluminum (and I think they continued to be made after the change in tank materials because of the neck issues) is that no special permit is needed. There was some upset this year about whether the DOT was just slow, or was possibly not renewing one of those.
I've had more than one shop think my tank was an old 72, but side by side they are very different.
Hi Rred, sorry to hear you are having to go through the painful search for a competent re-tester. If you have a link to the PDF I would appreciate it.
I am curious to hear about the exchange you had with Quiescence. I like the shop and had good dealings with them in the past, but couple of years ago I was planning a trip to the keys and wanted to bring and dive my favorite 72s. I called Quiescence to verify that they would honor the + stamp on my steels for a fill, but the employee I spoke with gave me the jazz in the quote above. Knowing that they are also a hydro test facility, I asked to speak with one of the testers. The next employee I spoke with may not have been a tester, but rather one of the VIP inspectors and gave me the same story. After referring to the CFR he finally said, "Perhaps you are correct, but we still will not give you the extra 10% as that is our policy." What a shame. As noted before, I generally like that shop but they lost my three diver family business for 10 days worth of diving. Now, if I lived in the area, I might have pursued the matter further and would have found a way to speak with the owner/manager/janitor but I'm not going to waste my vacation time on that. Scuba Tech, another hydro shop in Key Largo, gave me the same story. I went in and spoke with the owner, and while a nice man, would not budge. Possibly if I would have had a copy of that document I could have persuaded him.
Good luck.
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2airishuman
Contributor
Can anyone document the REE for these cylinders? The only thing I can find is a post on another board where Luis measured the two cylinders he had in hand and came up with REEs of 56 and 54.8 for those specific cylinders. He's one cylinder short of the three needed to characterize the entire production run.
http://vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/3858/plus-ratings-ree-stamp
http://vintagescuba.proboards.com/thread/3858/plus-ratings-ree-stamp
I don't have the DOT URL on hand but let's see if I can attach my PDF of it...Nope, can't see that, let's try embedded a JPG....No, that seems to demand a LINK to a file on the web. If you can tell me how to a copy of an offline PDF or JPG, I'll gladly do it. Or upload it to a file area if we can do that.
Their reply is from 2003 (!) to a Mr. John Hoffler..
Can't speak for what Q had to say. If your tank was + stamped at a hydro, I would think they would + fill it, but there's no telling what a particular guy in the shop might have misunderstood on any particular day. (Which is why I have may laminated copy of the DOT letter with my log.)
2air-
"He's one cylinder short of the three needed to characterize the entire production run."
What would "characterizing" the production run gain? Could the CGA then include the number in their publications? If so, more reason for me to have my tank done IF we can be sure that would gain anything for all of us.
Their reply is from 2003 (!) to a Mr. John Hoffler..
Can't speak for what Q had to say. If your tank was + stamped at a hydro, I would think they would + fill it, but there's no telling what a particular guy in the shop might have misunderstood on any particular day. (Which is why I have may laminated copy of the DOT letter with my log.)
2air-
"He's one cylinder short of the three needed to characterize the entire production run."
What would "characterizing" the production run gain? Could the CGA then include the number in their publications? If so, more reason for me to have my tank done IF we can be sure that would gain anything for all of us.
Found it, thanks:
https://docketsinfo.dot.gov/reports/rspa/2003-06/030011.pdf
Incidentally, if any of the readers in this forum are in the Houston, TX area, I can recommend Western Sales and Testing as a competent hydro test facility.
Western Sales & Testing of Deer Park, Inc
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If Houston wasn't such a small town, it might not take so long to get there, and I'd bring a tank in.(G)
Meanwhile I put an email enquiry in to the DOT HazMat folks (the person who posted that letter has since moved on) to see if I can get some more information from them. Of course, their phones went to the out-of-hours announcement well inside of hours...so I'll just patiently and see. It makes no sense that a REE can be stamped by the mfr, or published in the CGA manual (with no way to add to their listing?) but that it can be documented in some shop's old logs and then used for future reference, but not "documented" i.e. by a copy of that log so others could also use it. I know, the gummint doesn't have to make sense, but if there's no "Papal Dispensation" available on this, I want to hear that directly from "The Pope".
Meanwhile I put an email enquiry in to the DOT HazMat folks (the person who posted that letter has since moved on) to see if I can get some more information from them. Of course, their phones went to the out-of-hours announcement well inside of hours...so I'll just patiently and see. It makes no sense that a REE can be stamped by the mfr, or published in the CGA manual (with no way to add to their listing?) but that it can be documented in some shop's old logs and then used for future reference, but not "documented" i.e. by a copy of that log so others could also use it. I know, the gummint doesn't have to make sense, but if there's no "Papal Dispensation" available on this, I want to hear that directly from "The Pope".
2airishuman
Contributor
CGA rules require measured and calculated REE values for three cylinders of a particular manufacturer and model to allow the REE to be used for other cylinders of the same make and model without again measuring the cylinder wall and calculating the value. In theory once you document the determination of the REE in this fashion, any hydro tester can + rate the cylinder using your documentation, assuming the cylinder passes the REE value, which they almost always do.
Whether any particular hydro test station is willing to go along with this or not is another question entirely.
Thanks, 2Air.
Now, if I could only find Luis H (who has measured two tanks) and enter a little mutual cooperation with him, when I get my tank in for measuring. (Won't need a hydro for another year+, so I'm not running out the door.)
That would make three tanks, and if we had a properly documented way to carve that in stone...any other fossils with these tanks could benefit from it.
Now, if I could only find Luis H (who has measured two tanks) and enter a little mutual cooperation with him, when I get my tank in for measuring. (Won't need a hydro for another year+, so I'm not running out the door.)
That would make three tanks, and if we had a properly documented way to carve that in stone...any other fossils with these tanks could benefit from it.
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