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LA dive shops not filling tanks made of 6531 Aluminum alloy. Questions


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Posted by Andy S on January 19, 2007 at 12:20:03:

I have recently found that various dive shops in S. Cal. are no longer willing to fill Aluminum tanks made of the 6531 Alloy. These are the older Luxfer tanks (also sold as US Divers Tanks) from pre 1989. I won’t repeat the whole saga of SLC (sustained load cracking) etc. I had not realized that the USD tanks were actually made by Luxfer. You can go to the company web site to “read all about it.”

http://www.luxfercylinders.com/support/faq/sustainedloadcracking-australia.shtml

I know that Florida went through whole thing about 3-4 years ago where there was a local movement to stop filling these tanks but I don’t know how that turned out and it was played out in Australia more recently.

I checked on 1.19.2007 with Luxfer personally on this issue as I have more than 15 of these tanks (mainly from USD) that we use on the Moby Kate. The company position is that the tanks are fine if they pass the required DOT certifications. They require annual VIP, every 2.5 years “flux (EMF)” testing and every 5-year hydro testing. If the tanks pass, Luxfer says they should be filled. However, Luxfer cannot force companies to fill the tanks if it is “company policy” not to. Luxfer and the stores benefit if dive operations refuse to fill those tanks, as then the person has to purchase new tanks.

As I know divers from all over the State read this BB, I would like to know
1. Have you have run into this issue of stores refusing to fill certified 6531 aluminum tanks.
2. If so, where and what you have done about it.
3. Is this widespread in California or other parts of the country or is this a localized phenomenon here in the LA area.
4. Is this something we should simply acquiesce to?
5. What ever happened in Florida and Australia with this?

Andy S



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