Hydro prices

[divinginn]

taking them to another shop $65 out the door,I am good with that;
I about dropped a load in my shorts on the 150+ price.

 

[flymolo]

About $45/tank, with or without fill depending on who is doing what. If it is another 46 for the fill..OK, $51 easily.

Now here's the rip-off: Every dive shop will tell you that you need a hydro AND a VIP, right? Wrong. A DOT-certified hydro test cannot be performed until AFTER the technician does a VIP of the tank.

So that VIP of a freshly hydro'd tank? Is a totally redundant rip-off. When the shop tells you "Well yeah but they don't know how to do a SCUBA VIP" ask them if they're saying the hydro shop is incompetent, and in that case, why they still use them.

And yes, actually the DOT has said they are open to public requests for revising their regulations on SCUBA tanks which are (paraphrasing) gee, somewhat arcane and dated by now. Which is not to say VIPs in SCUBA shops don't differ radically, depending on who is doing them too.

A hydro involves filling the tanks with water. You need to vip them after that.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

My last batch of tanks was $24 each at the hydro/ fire ext. shop. I do my own vis and stickers.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

You need to vip them after that.

Why? They do a VIP before they hydro. If they think a tank is bad they won't even test it.

The VIP is a scuba tax. It's a way for a shop to make money... that's it.

I'm with @Eric Sedletzky.. I pay for hydro but do my own everything else.

 

[flymolo]

Why? They do a VIP before they hydro. If they think a tank is bad they won't even test it.

The VIP is a scuba tax. It's a way for a shop to make money... that's it.

I'm with @Eric Sedletzky.. I pay for hydro but do my own everything else.

I would think for the case where the hydro facility fills the tank with water and then fails to dry it quickly enough, so it's got rust that needs to be tumbled out before it can be filled with o2 or partial pressure blended into.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I would think for when they fill the tank with water and don't dry it quick enough and it's got rust that needs to be tumbled out before it can be filled with o2 or partial pressure blended into.

I wouldn't say tumbled... either whipped or chemically removed (which is what I do as others on this board have taught).

 

[flymolo]

I wouldn't say tumbled... either whipped or chemically removed (which is what I do as others on this board have taught).

I only very recently became VIP certified so I could be wrong, but I've been o2 cleaning and vip'ing tanks when I get them back from the hydro shop. This also seems to be consistent with what other DIY'ers I know are doing as well.

 

[rob.mwpropane]

I only very recently became VIP certified so I could be wrong, but I've been o2 cleaning and vip'ing tanks when I get them back from the hydro shop. This also seems to be consistent with what other DIY'ers I know are doing as well.

O2 cleaning is different.

You could use phosphoric acid (or whip) to remove any surface rust, but an actual VIP isn't needed. Again, the hydro shop will do a VIP before they hydro.. if they find a fault then they won't test.

You can even double dip and charge for the VIP after the hydro shop already did it (as most do)... still doesn't mean it's needed.

 

[TrimixToo]

What, exactly, is included for the price is important. Hydro, O2 clean, valve rebuild with new parts and burst disc, and VI is a different kettle of fish from remove valve, get hydro, replace valve.

 

[Eric Sedletzky]

I would think for the case where the hydro facility fills the tank with water and then fails to dry it quickly enough, so it's got rust that needs to be tumbled out before it can be filled with o2 or partial pressure blended into.

Sometimes all they have is a slight light brownish stain after hydro and to many this is perfectly fine me included. As long as it’s not brown and no loose scale. Some people insist on them being absolutely bright shiny and spotless, this is OK too. I can be that way sometimes. I know that my standards are higher than my LDS because I took some of my tanks in for fills after they were hydroed and I used my special cleaning tools on them. I told the shop that I just got through giving the inside a quick once over since I didn’t want any staining in this one. The shop looked at me and said “C’mon, did you really look inside and clean it”? I said “pop the valve off and look inside”, so they did and they’re response was “Holy sh_t! we’ve never seen tanks that look that nice inside!”.
They’ve never doubted me ever since. I even gave them a set of my special cleaning tools for them to use in the shop. So now I get free stickers and I earned their trust. I also get free tanks whenever they don’t want a 72 that’s been turned in.
So respect and friendship works both ways.
Too many people think shops are all assholes and all they try and do is constantly think up new ways to screw people. That’s not always true.