Have you ever dove with a bomb ? (6351 Alloy Tanks)

[Mike]

I took the challenge from Skip to start a new thread about these tanks.

I don't know how many of them are still in use & was wondering if anybody who posts on this forum has any & also if they have been refused fills when they went to a certain shop.

I own 2 & have no problem using them, (I haven't turned them into wind chimes just yet) I know other people who have heard all the horror stories of them blowing up on the fill operators, it keeps any of them from wanting to use them if I offer it to them free of charge, if they don't have a tank.

The talk about these tanks seems to have quelled a little & I think it's because there has not been an accident with them in a long time, or is it because people have gotten rid of them from the hysteria of owning a tank that might explode on their back.

The thing is, They won't explode on your back, it is a filling problem only & was very random.

If they pass hydro (hydro mainly tests the side walls) & visual eddy(which checks the neck), then they should be treated as any other tank & be filled , but that's up to the shop & the fill operator & they should be doing a some what exterior visual inspection on every tank before they fill it, but if you have 20 people waiting for fills, this ain't gonna' happen.

Luxfer started making these tanks with ALCAN 6351 alloy aluminum in 1971 & Water Kiddie introduced them in 1979.

In 1986, they started seeing cracks in the necks of these tanks & in 1988 Luxfer changed to 6061 alloy, Walter Kiddie ceased production of these tanks in 1989, the problem is these tanks have a higher lead content & are more brittle.

The tanks in question that have a problem were made from 1984 to 1988,
Actually the problem ended in August of 1987, but any shop that won't fill them is not going to split hairs over 4 months, they just won't fill them.

I have never turned either of these tanks into a stage bottle, only because I had newer tanks to do this with & kept these if I ever wanted to do a single tank dive sometime, which I never have done, mainly because if we do a single tank dive, we started using steel 125's or 130's to get more bottom time.

My tanks were manufactured in 1986, dead in the middle of this mess, but they pass hydro & visual eddy every time, only thing is, visual eddy cost a little more than VIP, which I can do myself for free (I chose not to do vis. eddy class because the equipment used is too expensive for two tanks).

Let me know what you think?
Would you use these tanks to dive with or better yet, as a stage bottle?

Mike M

[FW]

I used them for years with no problems. I have never had any shop refuse to fill them, but some do insist on the VIP+ test, and some won't put O2 in them.

You could get your own compressor

[Me]

I've got a couple. One belongs to my brother who doesn't dive anymore, the other I bought second hand about 8 years ago before the recall. I've got two others that are not on recall, total 4.

To be perfectly honest, I own 4 Faber 85's and 6 Faber 95's (one set doubled), and I never have a need for the AL80's anymore. I am positive they are all, or soon to be all, out of hydro.

They are just taking up space in my storage barn.

[Gibby]

Two of my five 80s that get used for OW stuff and one 50 used for deco are pre 87 I've only had a few skeerdy cat shops not fill them. The retard part of it is that the same shop that wont fill my older tanks will fill an LP tank to 3500+.

[Wizard]

Owned 2 for years, they still pass hydro and VIP. They are used for screwing around locally, not "real" diving. I fill my own, but only put 2000-2200 in those two.

The thing is, They won't explode on your back, it is a filling problem only & was very random.

Yeah, but I'm the poor sap that they'll blow up on.

The retard part of it is that the same shop that wont fill my older tanks will fill an LP tank to 3500+.

That's because there are no documented cases of problems taking LP steels to 3500psi.

Here's the deal: There's maybe a one in 10,000 chance of it blowing up while I'm filling it. That's a chance I choose not to take. I won't fill one.

For gosh sakes, you've got a thousand dollar computer on your wrist, and wearing a $2,000 dry suit. Pony up $75 for a used 6061.

Keith (user: Arnie) just had one blow up one night in his shop just weeks ago. Maybe he can give details if he gets online one day soon. It took out the concrete wall and moved the building a bit. No one was present thank goodness. I trashed the 2 I had laying around after that.

[smaclean]

With the cost of scrap aluminum the way it is right now, you can get about $20 for that 20 year old tank. Add that to the cost of buying a slightly newer 80 and you'll have less invested than a single tri-mix fill. No wories about who will or won't fill it.

[rjack]

All the Walter Kidde 6351 cylinders should be out of service since their special permits were not renewed.

For a risk management prespective, I don't see a good reason to keep these old cylinders around. They may rarely go, but they cause a heck of alot of damage when they do. A used 6061 tank is cheap compared to the building/equipment/life that's shattered by a tank explosion.

[Angie Reim]

I stopped using mine long ago but I had not been able to get my husband who owns three of those tanks to give them up. I was chewing my nails every time he went off to get a fill. Finally, last year the LDSs started refusing his fills and would not hydo. Last time I called the recycling place was shortly after the hurricanes so the waiting line to return for scrap was a couple of hours long. Things have settle down so at $15-20 a pop, I'll take them down soon.

I just don't think it's worth it to hang on to those tanks. Why live with the worry and used tanks 'not' of questionable alloy are far too cheap.