Shipping a VIP'd tank?

[HowardE]

It doesn't make a difference if the tank is new or not. If the tank is empty a new VIP is suppose to be done. The dive shop covered his butt.
BTW, howarde, it is for more than just rust when the tank is new. There are several threads on the same subject and people have found bugs and pieces of plastic in the tanks. These were new tanks with the valve off. Personally I wouldn't want a piece of plastic in my tank.

So take your new tank, and some christmas lights, and look inside. It's a new tank. If the valve is removed, you should cover the threaded area anyway to prevent contaminants from getting in there. It's really pretty simple.

 

[JahJahwarrior]

Keep in mind that VIPing is a scuba shop thing, so it is an industry thing in our industry, but not in the compressed gasses industry.

A tank that is out of vip is less dangerous, in my opinion, than one that is out of hydro. Rust? Aluminum doesn't really rust, right? Water in the tank? It only hurts my regs. Bugs and plastic? Turn the tank upside down for an hour. Shake it a little. If nothing falls out, there is not a huge chance that you have anything inside. If you are still worried about, say, a spider, then spray wasp spray into the tank. Then, you die when you dive next. Sounds fun, don't it?

I think it was rude of him to go "apepoop" on you for it, and I think that the ST vip sticker should be valid. I do not think any empty tank needs a revip, and Ithink that for the most part, there is no point to a visual test.

That said, if I ever doubted a customer's tank, and wanted to vip it, there is no way I'd dare to even think about charging him for it. Infact, I'd volunteer to revip it really fast for free and I'd even give him a free air fill or something to make up for the lost time. If this guy charged you for it, then I'd stop using that dive shop.

 

[mrjimboalaska]

So take your new tank, and some christmas lights, and look inside. It's a new tank. If the valve is removed, you should cover the threaded area anyway to prevent contaminants from getting in there. It's really pretty simple.

Howard, you like those $6.00 lights too.......
you can ship tanks with ~20 psi and be in compliance........and the shop that charged you $20 on a new tank VIP is a place I would not frequent. Now, if you were going to partial pressure blend that tank, ok, I can see checking. Hope I dont run into this kind of (lack of) Customer Service after I have shipped my 10 tanks to Abilene....

 

[shark.byte.usa]

From experience, I spent $10 more per tank on my lp-85's by buying from the LDS. But throw in the VIP and I saved money. My LDS charges MSRP and nothing less.
For the most part, if you have an LDS and can get the tank you want buy it from them and save yourself the hassle.

Great but I'll take an extreme example from my local area, one shop on the other side of town, from what I'm told by my instructor, sells (or is trying to) a new AL80 for $300 :11:, I'm not worried about saving 10-15 bucks when buying online, if I can find what I want for a fair amount less factoring in any additonal costs like a local VIP in the case of a tank, I'll do that, getting a VIP is not a hassle, paying outrageous MSRP or above is...Besides that wasn't really my point that you quoted, I don't like it when shops tell you they would have worked with you after the fact when they realize you made a purchase elsewhere, I'm not going to treat them like a Tijuana street vendor or a used car salesman every time I want a piece of gear. If it's their known policy that they'll price match, come close or heaven forbid just have fair pricing to begin with, I'm there, but I'm not asking for a deal, I'll skip the lectures and go elsewhere, whether that be another shop or online.

 

[HowardE]

If you're buying a tank at your LDS, it should

1) come with a free VIP
2) come with a free fill

 

[mrjimboalaska]

Some of our dive stores do the partial pressure Nitrox fill. They want you to bring in your cylinder empty, ready to fill. They do not VIP the thing, they start adding oxygen.

What's the difference?

If I were the EVIL LDS owner, I would want you to bring your tanks in 1/2 full, that way I was using less 02 and still charging for the fill.
It would be even better if it was trimix, at the cost of helium these days.....
greed is good, I must buy a Dive shop.......
of course, you know air fills are loss leaders..... , so they will tell you.......

 

[realdiver7]

If you're buying a tank at your LDS, it should

1) come with a free VIP
2) come with a free fill

I completely agree. This is what my LDS does, but if I want Nitrox, then I have to pay for the fill. The LDS gives 10 "free" air fills with the purchase of a tank, but the non-negotiable price is inflated to cover the fills.

 

[spectrum]

My shop does PP filling from empty, but I bring my tanks in with 2 to 5 hundred pounds, we drain them the rest of the way there and then fill.

That's what I'd expect. They witness the emptying.

 

[Stu S.]

I get fills at various places, and each takes a different approach. One guy partial pressure filled my 1973 Luxfer that was not oxygen cleaned. He did the wrong one. Another thought he was doing me a favor by filling a LP cylinder to 3,800. I didn't ask for that, either. One fella would fill my tank only if he did the VIP.

This looks like more folklore than science. Fortunately, nothing has blown up.

 

[Scared Silly]

One thing that I have found is that when flying with my pony bottle that shops will give me a fill once I have told them why is it completely empty. I have yet to get a you need a VIP request (of course if the did I would say no problem and whip out my inspection kit and proceed accordingly). That said with a new bottle I can see a shop being a little jacked about it.

Here is a really poor person's whip. I did this a couple of times after flying with pony bottles and got home but did not feel like running down to the shop to get a little gas. Just tightly hold the empty cylinder valve next to a pressurized cylinder's valve and blow gas from one to the other. You will only be able to the get a few psi in there but it is enough to make it be possitive.