Getting a Chinese air tank filled

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Just an ISSUE & WARNING to those with some China & Foreign HPA bottles :mad:

I just had a very good friend have a couple CF wrapped SCBA bottles hydroed ... If not mistaken the hydro test is at 7500 PSI
Both his bottles passed ( yea right !!! ) and given back to him as Recertified for another 5 years.

NOPE !!!! His big 60 min size bottle was slow leaking, so he and another friend kept changing valve neck o-rings to No avail :(
being frustrated the final test was DUNKING entire tank into water ... LOW & BEHOLD No Less than 15 small bubblers all over the surface of bottle.

In reading the bottles specs it was clearly marked for a TP ( Test Pressure of IIRC was told 6500Psi ) actual Test was at 7500psi .
YUP TEST FRACTURED THE TANK MICROSCOPICALLY.

Many if not all CHINESE and perhaps some KOREA tanks ARE NOT DOT rated and not built to the same specs of those that are DOT rated.

Moral of the story ... Foreign Tanks might be safe, but test techs are following DOT standards & unless made aware & willing to RE-CERTIFY at a sub DOT test pressure marked on tank ? BEWARE :eek:

Merry Christmas ....
 
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Got the tank off Alibaba, Sleazbay of China equivalent, surprisingly I put up a stink in there resolution process and the seller pretty much said screw you but Alibaba gave me back $200 of the $340 I spent getting it to me and I sold getting it back my money and being up front with the buyer about the fill issues.
Sadly a equivalent USA bottle are 2x the price , I'll stick with my Air Venturi EC-3000 Compressor by Hill that will last me years
 
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DesertSilver said:
Sounds to me that he's just explaining the facts. If the tank doesn't have a dot stamp or isn't in hydro they won't fill it. He's also saying you're good to go for you filling it at home.
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Lol. No name calling, he's just referring to the user name of the member who replied.
Merry Christmas all!!!
 
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Goldwing said:
Got the tank off Alibaba, Sleazbay of China equivalent, surprisingly I put up a stink in there resolution process and the seller pretty much said screw you but Alibaba gave me back $200 of the $340 I spent getting it to me and I sold getting it back my money and being up front with the buyer about the fill issues.
Sadly a equivalent USA bottle are 2x the price , I'll stick with my Air Venturi EC-3000 Compressor by Hill that will last me years
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Divers paintballers air gunners its tough . Then the liability cost added in with the dot on ot . It blows up, or diver claims he got sick from the tank contaminated air. Sue city here for millions. In china thete liability is too bad so sad for you.

When i started diving a luxfrr aluminum 80 was cheap last one i bought a few years back seemed like 75- 85$ .

That leisure pro scuba place had all day for that and steel was near 200$.

Just looking now at the aluminum and steel are 200$+. Crazy..

A poor common guy like me has about been priced out of any hobbies

yanks buy at Scuba.com

Shop underwater sports, scuba diving & snorkeling gear. Get wetsuits, spearfishing & freediving equipment from brands like Cressi, Scubapro, Mares, Aqualung, Suunto & more.
www.scuba.com www.scuba.com
 
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Mo-Ron said:
A poor common guy like me has about been priced out of any hobbies
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Mo-Ron said:
Yeah, I hear ya. It seems like we’re going through an economic re-alignment. The average joe, the last ten years or so was able to get into some expensive hobbies relatively easy. Now with inflation out of control “disposable income” is becoming a thing of the past. Glad I got interested in airguns 2 years ago and saw it as a great occupier of spare time when I retired. Gonna say I didn’t anticipate the two Daystates and the springer but the piggybank had enough to cover them.
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I'm curious about the liabilities and legalities with these tanks. I'm not debating the safety margins of using quality in spec tanks. I would just like to know what restrictions are in place for places that fill tanks. As I understand it, the liabilities are tied to life support and life saving measure tanks. I know some places request you sign a form stating that the compressed air is not to be used for breathing. It seems strange to me that all the concern is on the supply bottle. I see PCP guns for sale and in use all the time with never a second thought given to the 20 year old, never DOT certified or respected tank or tube (Huntsman, RAW TM, Marauder etc.). To make matters worse many of these guns have fill pressures much lower than what is available from our fill tanks, relying only on the end user to be responsible. How is one legal and the other is not? I'm not aware of any legal limitations on home use air only pressure vessels. I am also interested in the failure modes of these tanks. I have seen internet examples of catastrophic explosions of tanks filled with pure Oxygen. I have also watched videos (Demolition Ranch I think) of fully pressurized tanks being shot through. Thy fly like a missile but do not explode. To be clear, I'm not suggesting compressed air should not be taken seriously. I am genuinely curious and would like to get more facts. Then we can make decisions for ourselves based on legal requirements and understood risks.
 
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Lewis said:
I'm curious about the liabilities and legalities with these tanks. I'm not debating the safety margins of using quality in spec tanks. I would just like to know what restrictions are in place for places that fill tanks. As I understand it, the liabilities are tied to life support and life saving measure tanks. I know some places request you sign a form stating that the compressed air is not to be used for breathing. It seems strange to me that all the concern is on the supply bottle. I see PCP guns for sale and in use all the time with never a second thought given to the 20 year old, never DOT certified or respected tank or tube (Huntsman, RAW TM, Marauder etc.). To make matters worse many of these guns have fill pressures much lower than what is available from our fill tanks, relying only on the end user to be responsible. How is one legal and the other is not? I'm not aware of any legal limitations on home use air only pressure vessels. I am also interested in the failure modes of these tanks. I have seen internet examples of catastrophic explosions of tanks filled with pure Oxygen. I have also watched videos (Demolition Ranch I think) of fully pressurized tanks being shot through. Thy fly like a missile but do not explode. To be clear, I'm not suggesting compressed air should not be taken seriously. I am genuinely curious and would like to get more facts. Then we can make decisions for ourselves based on legal requirements and understood risks.
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You raise some very valid points/concerns regarding tanks on rifles and pistols. Technically, HPA compressors are supposed to have their pressurized filter containers tested as well. You NEVER hear of that being done.
 
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I am not an attorney, this is not legal council.
I just did a bit of web surfing, most of the regulations I found that applied to OSHA standards were limited to breathing tanks. At what point do we not consider them breathing tanks? For example "Breathing tanks are required to be maintained at 90% or greater fill pressure. We would all be out of compliance any time we didn't tag a tank with 4k PSI as "out of service".
DOT and ANSI standards may be different but may also be applicable only under certain use cases. #lots2learn.
 
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Lewis said:
I am not an attorney, this is not legal council.
I just did a bit of web surfing, most of the regulations I found that applied to OSHA standards were limited to breathing tanks. At what point do we not consider them breathing tanks? For example "Breathing tanks are required to be maintained at 90% or greater fill pressure. We would all be out of compliance any time we didn't tag a tank with 4k PSI as "out of service".
DOT and ANSI standards may be different but may also be applicable only under certain use cases. #lots2learn.
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Doesn’t OSHA relate specifically to the “workplace”? Just asking. You raise a good point.
 
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This is why I've avoided chinese air tanks. I have a compressor, but what if it breaks and I want to get air? And I never have a way to have it safety tested. And if I decide to sell it down the road, I can't offer it for sale with any regard to safety or reliability. At least with a DOT tank I could have it hydro'ed at end of life before deciding to keep running it or pass it on.

And air at this pressure is nothing to sneeze at. The safety concerns for a couple hundred dollars difference (which only boils down to like $30/year of ownership) just isn't worth it.
 
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