LDS - pulls the valve off my 02 tank??

[Jack Hammer]

Just because it's in visual+ and current hydro doesn't mean nothing can go wrong with it. I think it sucks. I wouldn't want to own a tank that was bowed and wouldn't accept one that was, regardless of if it's within manufacturers specs. The troubles you're having with it are why I wouldn't want one. The reality is you may have the same problems if you go to a shop that doesn't know you and your tank, like if you travel.

If the shop isn't willing to reclean and refill it, your only real recourse may be to file a civil claim in court. Which will likely cost you more in time, headaches, and costs than just going to a different shop and paying them.

Jack

[mitsuguy]

toss the tank, make it into a lamp, etc... old tank, potentially fatal aluminum alloy... these are not good attributes, and, in the name of safety, if it wasn't your tank and you were standing just a few feet from it while it needed to be filled, are you 100% sure you would feel safe doing so???? if you have any doubt whatsoever, then they had every right to do what they did...

hydro, vis, etc are just inspection processes that tell you something is safe at the time of testing... tanks, along with most everything else in this world go from working to not working pretty much overnight - sure, a cracked tank may have cracked and slowly failed over time, but I guarantee if you were to follow its history, you would find the exact failure point, and it is completely random - it could have happened two seconds after its last visual... it also could have happened right at the end of the last hydro... you just never know when something is going to fail like that and with something that would explode like a bomb, its better to take precautions...

[skdvr]

By the way, I also agree that the shop can refuse to fill any tank that they do not feel safe filling... It could be a brand new purple tank and they may not like the color purple because their dad hit them with a purple paddle. What ever their reason it is their choice to fill or not to fill.

Personally if it was just a slight bow in the tank and everything else looked good I would probably fill it. I may have taken the valve off too to have a look inside and make sure that there was nothing else going on. Just because you remove a valve does not make the tank Not O2 Clean. If you go sticking some dirty nasty light down in there then yes I would think that it needs to be cleaned again, but if they use the light that they use after O2 cleaning a tank then there is no problems.

The other problem would be if then actually condem the tank without allowing you the opportunity to get another opinion.

Phil

[comet24]

It's their shop and their fill station. They can decide to fill or not fill any tank. You can also decide not to do business with them if you choose.

As far as pulling the valve I would be a little pissed and want an explanation. Having a fill station doesn't give them the right to screw with your gear and give you know explanation as to why they did it.

[bsktcase93]

Yea its their shop and fill station they really dont have to fill it if they dont feel safe with the tank. as far as removing the valve to look then ok as laong as you ask me and you explain to me why you are doing what you are.

[Jack Hammer]

On a side note, today as I was waiting for the nitrox analyzer to stabilize at 20.9 so I could check my fill, I heard a pop followed by a loud hissing noise coming from my tank standing between my legs. Neck seal let go, tank is only a year old and very well cared for. I had just gotten out of the water from 50', would've sucked to have it have happened 15 minutes earlier. My tank is only a year old, O2 cleaned, in vis and hydro, and only filled at reliable shops. Point is you never know when something can or will go wrong or bad.

Jack

[CWSWine]

About the same thing happen to us about a month ago and here is how we handled it. The tanks came under 1000 psi for a standard fill - what we did was bleed the tanks down to around 200 psi and told the customer that we would not fill the tanks due to the age (1985 and 1987) and explained the reason why. The customer was happy with our explanations and purchase two new tanks and all end on a happy note. He wasn’t happy with the Ebay seller that sold him the tanks.

[skdvr]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

About the same thing happen to us about a month ago and here is how we handled it. The tanks came under 1000 psi for a standard fill - what we did was bleed the tanks down to around 200 psi and told the customer that we would not fill the tanks due to the age (1985 and 1987) and explained the reason why. The customer was happy with our explanations and purchase two new tanks and all end on a happy note. He wasn’t happy with the Ebay seller that sold him the tanks.

I hope that you gave him a killer deal on the two new tanks... There is no reason to replace them unless they are shown to be defective. If you do not want to fill them that is your choice but I hope you explained that to the customer and not that you just told him because of how old his tanks are they are no good. If you are the only shop around and you do not want to fill the 6351 tanks then I guess that is a decent reason to buy new ones, but if they were my tanks and one shop did not want to fill them I would go to another one that does. There is one shop in the St Louis area the will not fill the 6351 tanks. The others will. One shop told me that they will fill them as long as the customer lets them take the valve off and take a look at the neck. They do not charge for it, unless it is due for a vis and Eddy check.

Phil

[CWSWine]

The guy was told that other shops would fill so he left and tried to get the filled but return without having any luck and purchased tanks from us. We just are not going to fill them and the statement shows why.

Why will you only fill 6351-T6 cylinders that Fill Express has inspected?
According to Luxfer, your 6351-T6 cylinders are safe for us to fill only "as long as your 6351-alloy scuba tank is properly inspected". The problem is some aluminum 6351-T6 SCUBA cylinders are NOT properly inspected, and therefore may be unsafe to fill because of SLC. According to Bill High, President of Professional Scuba Inspectors, Inc. (PSI) only about 10% of the people performing SCUBA cylinder inspections in the US are trained inspectors. Proper inspection of 6351-T6 alloy cylinders requires special tools and additional specialized training.

[skdvr]

Originally Posted by CWSWine

The guy was told that over shops would fill so he left and tried to get the filled but return without having any luck and purchased tanks from us. We just are not going to fill them and the statement shows why.

Why will you only fill 6351-T6 cylinders that Fill Express has inspected?
According to Luxfer, your 6351-T6 cylinders are safe for us to fill only "as long as your 6351-alloy scuba tank is properly inspected". The problem is some aluminum 6351-T6 SCUBA cylinders are NOT properly inspected, and therefore may be unsafe to fill because of SLC. According to Bill High, President of Professional Scuba Inspectors, Inc. (PSI) only about 10% of the people performing SCUBA cylinder inspections in the US are trained inspectors. Proper inspection of 6351-T6 alloy cylinders requires special tools and additional specialized training.

I agree with that statement and I do not hold it against a shop that does not want to fill them. I personally would if I knew that they had been inspected (ie. I did the inspection or someone I knew did the inspection). I was just hoping you did not tell the customer "Your tanks are old you need new ones" It does not sound like that was the case and that is good...

Phil