Creed
Pro Diver
Posts: 189
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Post by Creed on Oct 16, 2005 23:18:45 GMT -8
Neither would do anything for me. The rules have changed so they both claim. Yeah PSS was actually destroying perfectly good 72s and would not sell them to me!!!! The other shop is an OK group but they are the ones I first tried. No---I have not gotten rid of them because I hear Bryan so likes to tumble tanks that I am saving them for him just in case he gets bored one day!!! Nemrod Well, if you would like, I can try to tumble them for you. I built a tumbler to clean up my first 72. It's presently a hack job, but I plan on rebuilding it after the lessons I learned from the first design. Also, what time of the day do you generally go to the pool? I may be in Wichita in the next couple of days.
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Post by william bonney on Oct 17, 2005 9:34:11 GMT -8
beck industries, fire and saftey equipment in Ft. Worth Texas, does DOT hydros and does not distroy 72's cause their old, they just fail them if need be and send them back, I have never had one fail including my 59 model.....they hydro welding bottles, fire bottles etc as well as scuba bottles.........cheaper than a shop also
Point here, find a fire bottle service that has DOT testing.
Fort Worth Scuba, run by Don Reese since 66, will tumble anything......he tumbles my vynil lined ones as well as old nickeled 38's. He may do his own hydro's but I think all lds in the metroplex send their stuff to Beck Ind.
Billy
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Post by nemrod on Oct 17, 2005 10:00:02 GMT -8
SeaRat, that is a great looking set, why ever would you have destryed it? I bet tanks like that are impossible to find now. I have an airplane buddy in the EAA who also dives but he is quite a bit older than me and he has several sets of gear made up using tanks similar to those but he will not sell them to me and recently he had a triple bypass and now I would feel badly to even ask. I don't think thye have been used in years. The two shops here do use a firetesting DOT facility and it is them who are staming out the numbers with a punch!!!
So I guess no one has actually used bushings in a tank at 3000 psi? I am not concerned about filling them because I will either eventually get a working compresor or I will slip Chucko some Ol'Hawk to fill them! I guess if the valve blows out of the tanks and wipes out a cmpground what is the worst that could happen, I guess they could ban me from Florida again! Bryan has a small set of doubles, I think they are twin 30s, aluminum tanks. I am extrapolating on that sorta but the valve I have is a pipe thread. I guess if I run 40s (at 2500) but they are floaers and the 30s are neutral when empty. I guress I will have to do more thunking.
James
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Post by BLT on Oct 17, 2005 10:27:22 GMT -8
If you want to look around for other places to do your Hydros, you can check the DOT's own website. They have a list for each state that lists all the shops that do them in the area and you can contact them yourself and talk to them. There are a surprising number of places that do hydros... hazmat.dot.gov/sp_app/approvals/hydro/hydro_retesters.htm
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Post by JES on Oct 17, 2005 14:56:16 GMT -8
Nemrod, You've had many responses to your original question. I was wondering since your wanting to use aluminum tanks why not use a modern valve? It would sure make matters much easier.
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Post by SeaRat on Oct 17, 2005 21:21:59 GMT -8
Nemrod, I loved those little tanks. They were light, but held the same as a single 72. We used them for years as our scuba jump tanks. While I realize that I've put this photo up a few times, here it is again showing these tanks in action (I took the photo, after my jump in 1968). The problem, I found out from my old unit several years after I got out of the service, was that a number of the threads had broken in the necks of these cylinders, and were caught during hydrostatic testing. The USAF had therefore condemned them all, and my contact recommended that I do the same with mine. At the time I was an active NAUI Instructor, and a safety professional. I also had just requested the local dive shop to drill two old US Navy 90 cubic foot tanks that had shown up from a school welding shop. When one teacher saw them, he recognized that they had been scuba cylinders, and brought them in. But these were the original aluminum cylinders used by the US Navy, and were never made for continued use beyond their original date. They had plugs in the end of them, and would not survive a hydro. So the local dive shop did drill those tanks, and informed the person that they were only good for what they had been sold for, which was practice aluminum welding in a welding shop at a high school. I further recommended, in writing, that all these cylinders from the lot sold to the school be drilled. I had my twin 42's drilled too, telling the LDS their history, and why the USAF had gotten rid of them. But they actually were irreplacable; the USAF never did find a good replacement, and are now jumping with either no scuba, or a Spare Air. That leaves them with less capability than before until they can get to their boat. Yes, they also jump a Zodiac, complete with medical kit and probably scuba too, in a box on its own parachute. But those small tanks were great. We traded the US Navy UDT/SEAL teams for their twin 90s, as we didn't have the big tanks (we had twin 72s), and they really liked the small twin 42s for their lightness and transportability. I thought you'd like that bit of scuba trivia. John
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Post by nemrod on Oct 18, 2005 0:09:30 GMT -8
"Nemrod, You've had many responses to your original question. I was wondering since your wanting to use aluminum tanks why not use a modern valve? It would sure make matters much easier. "
I am being somewhat secretive, I know but I like surprises, and there is no such modern valve as I have and therefore my need for smaller cylinders and thus my original question.
On a side note, when modern divers speak of doubles they are talking wreck and cave diving and are looking for increased air supply. When I, as a vintage diver, speak of doubles or triples or quads I am seeking a more compact and balanced set that will will keep the double hose low on my back and also as close to my back as possible--NOT---more air capacity. My double 50s have done well for me but they are still fairly large and heavy and the tanks themselves are 6.9 inches diameter and I am hoping to get the regulator closer to my back with a smaller diameter tank, say 5ish inches diameter. With the new nozzle Luis is designing for the Royal this would put it very close to perfect since his new nozzle is .6 inches longer than standard.
Why aluminum, well for one thing they do well in salt water and for the other they are much cheaper and available in a myriad of sizes--none of which can be found in steel tanks. No law says I could not take an aluminum cyclinder and arbitrarily run it at a reduced pressure. So what if I loose capacity, that is not what I am looking for.
In any case there are no modern valves that would accomplish what I am seeking, the pipe thread valve does and thus my wanting to use it with an adapter and my question originally, what has been the max pressure used on such things and has anyone here actually used such valves at 3,000 psi, what about 2500 etc? Source for bushings? I guess I could make my own if need be.
Another consideration since I dive without a BC most of the time is finding suitable tanks that will not be excessively negative or bouyant. Modern tanks and equipment assume your going to have 30 ish lbs of lead on you and a BC with enough lift to raise the Titanic, vintage diving has a much more restrictive suitable range.
Oh, SeaRat, thanks for all the pictures and stories.
James
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