I have been reading this thread all week and I just have to comment as a current qualified hydro tester. I currently work with two hydro test facilities and have been trained as a scuba VIP inspector numerous times by different organizations. I even ran a facility in the Navy for all the scuba cylinders used by EOD divers back in the 90s. One facility is in a dive shop and the other facility mostly tests fire extinguishers. Both use the water jacket method and both have the ability to test scuba cylinders.
So let me give you a little insight into this industry. At facilities like the fire extinguisher one, the technician is trained mostly on how to run the equipment and how to refill the extinguishers. Even though the technician should be well versed in the CGA's Cylinder inspection guidelines many are not as there is very little formal training out there and it can be very expensive as it is all inclusive and not specific to the cylinders they deal with on a day to day basis. In addition this is not exactly a high paying trade job unless you happen to have some sort of contract with the government and are earning prevailing wages. So there can be a lot of turnover and with that loss of any real expertise.
The dive shop's owner that I work with has a great wealth of knowledge in scuba cylinders, air gun cylinders (fiberglass) and bank cylinders. Since his employees are normally VIP trained, I would say they are better trained than the fire extinguisher personnel. The sad part is they actually may even make less money.
Operating a hydro test test stand is not very difficult to learn. Visually inspecting cylinders correctly and efficiently is an art and skill that takes much more time and experience. I know now that I probably condemned too many steel cylinders during my time in the Navy due to lack of visual inspection training and always erroring on the side of safety. However those cylinders were easily replaced by taxpayer money and in the EOD budget was a minimal expense. Your typical scuba diver has much more attachment to their cylinders due to cost of replacement in respect to their earnings. Which is why I always look for a second opinion or a second set of eyes before condemning a cylinder. As a fellow scuba diver I feel a sense of loss when a cylinder is put out of service as I know there are stories of great dives that that cylinder could tell. Even worse some cylinders are no longer made and are difficult to replace for the owner.
So this is the part that I share what disturbs me about this thread. Why would you take a cylinder that you paid good money for to a hydro tester that can hydrotest it but has very limited experience and training on those cylinders. Most businesses do not want to give up extra work especially in this environment. Do really want to trust your favorite steel cylinder to a brand new hydro tester who has spent all his time hydro testing fire extinguishers and has no idea about the pre stretch requirements of a galvanized cylinder just to save few bucks. Heck I would say you would be lucky to get a plus stamp out of them as they may have learned about it in their initial training but have not seen a cylinder that required one for over a year.
It costs a lot of good money to start a hydrotest facility and as like has been mentioned in the pass, the government penalties can be excessive and a big deterrent for a dive shop. Hence why many dive shops send their cylinders out to other hydro shops. Now once you outsource this work you have less control on the results. I will give the shops the benefit of the doubt and say that if a hydro tester is condemning a lot of cylinders, they would look for another instead of trying to sell more cylinders. However many shops have crazy practices such as not filling cylinders older than a certain date (steel or aluminum) or not making sure a cylinder is properly filled by overfilling it a little to allow the cylinder to cool to the right pressure. So I cannot speak to the mind of all shops.
The bottom line is you get what you pay for. You will be probably be fine taking an aluminum tank to one of these facilities as many extinguishers are similarly constructed. However caveat emptor to anyone who has not interviewed a hydro tester before handing over their precious low pressure galvanized cylinders. Trust me the dive shop is not making a ton of money off hydro testing.
If anyone in the New England area needs a recommendation for a good scuba cylinder hydro tester send me a pm. Heck I can help you get an aluminum cylinder with the bad alloy hydro tested but good luck getting it filled!
So let me give you a little insight into this industry. At facilities like the fire extinguisher one, the technician is trained mostly on how to run the equipment and how to refill the extinguishers. Even though the technician should be well versed in the CGA's Cylinder inspection guidelines many are not as there is very little formal training out there and it can be very expensive as it is all inclusive and not specific to the cylinders they deal with on a day to day basis. In addition this is not exactly a high paying trade job unless you happen to have some sort of contract with the government and are earning prevailing wages. So there can be a lot of turnover and with that loss of any real expertise.
The dive shop's owner that I work with has a great wealth of knowledge in scuba cylinders, air gun cylinders (fiberglass) and bank cylinders. Since his employees are normally VIP trained, I would say they are better trained than the fire extinguisher personnel. The sad part is they actually may even make less money.
Operating a hydro test test stand is not very difficult to learn. Visually inspecting cylinders correctly and efficiently is an art and skill that takes much more time and experience. I know now that I probably condemned too many steel cylinders during my time in the Navy due to lack of visual inspection training and always erroring on the side of safety. However those cylinders were easily replaced by taxpayer money and in the EOD budget was a minimal expense. Your typical scuba diver has much more attachment to their cylinders due to cost of replacement in respect to their earnings. Which is why I always look for a second opinion or a second set of eyes before condemning a cylinder. As a fellow scuba diver I feel a sense of loss when a cylinder is put out of service as I know there are stories of great dives that that cylinder could tell. Even worse some cylinders are no longer made and are difficult to replace for the owner.
So this is the part that I share what disturbs me about this thread. Why would you take a cylinder that you paid good money for to a hydro tester that can hydrotest it but has very limited experience and training on those cylinders. Most businesses do not want to give up extra work especially in this environment. Do really want to trust your favorite steel cylinder to a brand new hydro tester who has spent all his time hydro testing fire extinguishers and has no idea about the pre stretch requirements of a galvanized cylinder just to save few bucks. Heck I would say you would be lucky to get a plus stamp out of them as they may have learned about it in their initial training but have not seen a cylinder that required one for over a year.
It costs a lot of good money to start a hydrotest facility and as like has been mentioned in the pass, the government penalties can be excessive and a big deterrent for a dive shop. Hence why many dive shops send their cylinders out to other hydro shops. Now once you outsource this work you have less control on the results. I will give the shops the benefit of the doubt and say that if a hydro tester is condemning a lot of cylinders, they would look for another instead of trying to sell more cylinders. However many shops have crazy practices such as not filling cylinders older than a certain date (steel or aluminum) or not making sure a cylinder is properly filled by overfilling it a little to allow the cylinder to cool to the right pressure. So I cannot speak to the mind of all shops.
The bottom line is you get what you pay for. You will be probably be fine taking an aluminum tank to one of these facilities as many extinguishers are similarly constructed. However caveat emptor to anyone who has not interviewed a hydro tester before handing over their precious low pressure galvanized cylinders. Trust me the dive shop is not making a ton of money off hydro testing.
If anyone in the New England area needs a recommendation for a good scuba cylinder hydro tester send me a pm. Heck I can help you get an aluminum cylinder with the bad alloy hydro tested but good luck getting it filled!
(not to mention it's obvious you really didn't read the whole thread). But like I said, lots of great information and I don't really read through all the threads myself....
