Walter Kidde tank recalls

[mm2002]

I have a walter kidde AL80 that I bought used, and have been using for over a year. Fills have never been an issue. Two weeks ago, a dive op refused to fill it. They said there was some kind of recall due to neck cracking. The original hydro was in '92, and the most recent was in late 2005. It was recently vis'd, and I never thought anything about it. I know about the pre-89 luxfers, but does anyone know anything about these? I'm a little concerned now.

[rox@ucf11]

I think the walter kiddies are the same pre 1988 or so

[mm2002]

Originally Posted by rox@ucf11

I think the walter kiddies are the same pre 1988 or so

That's what I was thinking, but still can't find anything to confirm either way. If there is something out there, I'd like to see what's up.

[scubadiver888]

Originally Posted by mm2002

I have a walter kidde AL80 that I bought used, and have been using for over a year. Fills have never been an issue. Two weeks ago, a dive op refused to fill it. They said there was some kind of recall due to neck cracking. The original hydro was in '92, and the most recent was in late 2005. It was recently vis'd, and I never thought anything about it. I know about the pre-89 luxfers, but does anyone know anything about these? I'm a little concerned now.

My dive op has a warning from our government authorities listing all the cylinders affected. Here is the list: Happy Divers. It is mostly cylinders made with 6351-T6 alloy. Her list does include ALL Walter Kidde DOT-3AL scuba cylinders (with special permit SP7042). There is no date for the Walter Kidde cylinders. You'll have to check and see if there is an SP7042 stamped on the cylinder. If there is, most dive shops in Canada will not fill them.

[captain]

Originally Posted by scubadiver888

My dive op has a warning from our government authorities listing all the cylinders affected. Here is the list: Happy Divers. It is mostly cylinders made with 6351-T6 alloy. Her list does include ALL Walter Kidde DOT-3AL scuba cylinders (with special permit SP7042). There is no date for the Walter Kidde cylinders. You'll have to check and see if there is an SP7042 stamped on the cylinder. If there is, most dive shops in Canada will not fill them.

I think they need to change "All other tanks made before 1990 (except Catalina)" to all other ALUMINUM tanks made before 1990, because steel tanks are not subject to sustained load cracking.

[mm2002]

Thanks for the info. This one does have the 7042 stamped on it. As cheap as AL tanks are, I'm not going to chance it anymore.

[cummings66]

Other than the alloy it's made of, there is no current recall on it. Use it until it blows up. Seriously, many dive ops won't fill the older cylinders like that WK of yours and that's it. I assume it has had an eddy current test? It should have had that done at any rate. Maybe it was missing that notation and that's why they refused it as well.

[baywatch106]

You can now make a wind chime out of it now.

[fire diver]

Since the questio has been answered, I'm going to take this on a tangent.

I see these 6351 AL80s being sold on Ebay every single day. I don't understand it. Are there THAT many divers who don't know that almost all dive shops refuse to fill these anymore? $50-80 bucks plus ~$35 shipping for a useless tank? I have two of these. I got several years of use and now I am trying to figure whether to make lamps or get more and make the giant windchimes that I'm sure will annoy everyone (including the wife).

[IndyDiver]

Originally Posted by fire diver

Since the questio has been answered, I'm going to take this on a tangent.

I see these 6351 AL80s being sold on Ebay every single day. I don't understand it. Are there THAT many divers who don't know that almost all dive shops refuse to fill these anymore? $50-80 bucks plus ~$35 shipping for a useless tank? I have two of these. I got several years of use and now I am trying to figure whether to make lamps or get more and make the giant windchimes that I'm sure will annoy everyone (including the wife).

It is not even just a 6351 issue. I see more and more dive shops (2 in my area) that just have a blanket policy that they don't fill any AL tanks made before 1990. It saves them the trouble of traning the staff, is easy to post and enforce etc. I don't think I would bother with any old AL tank because the one time I wanted it for a "don't miss" dive would be the time I was at a shop that wouldn't fill it.