Air Cylinders

[AlBur]

Finally had to take my air cylinder for refilling. 7L, 300barg. As it was out of test a few years ago knew it required a full hydro test. However got a bit of a shock.
First I was informed that the pillar valve was a dive cylinder valve (I bought the complete setup from our sponsors several years ago. I assumed, incorrectly it would seem that the pillar valve was the correct "only to be used out of water" valve. The correct valve has the pressure gauge indicating the pressure in the tank being charged attached to the pillar & not on the connected filling line as mine is).
He added that it did not matter as the current ruling is that ALL cylinders must be hydro tested every 18 MONTHS. No more is it 5 years for an airgun only cylinder. Come August 2017 this may be reduced to hydro testing every 12 MONTHS. Again for ALL air cylinders. There is of course an interim dry internal check which must be carried out mid cycle. Cost for the hydro test is £35. To collect in a week, or so !!.
Anyone heard similar information.

Al

[RobF]

Finally had to take my air cylinder for refilling. 7L, 300barg. As it was out of test a few years ago knew it required a full hydro test. However got a bit of a shock.
First I was informed that the pillar valve was a dive cylinder valve (I bought the complete setup from our sponsors several years ago. I assumed, incorrectly it would seem that the pillar valve was the correct "only to be used out of water" valve. The correct valve has the pressure gauge indicating the pressure in the tank being charged attached to the pillar & not on the connected filling line as mine is).
He added that it did not matter as the current ruling is that ALL cylinders must be hydro tested every 18 MONTHS. No more is it 5 years for an airgun only cylinder. Come August 2017 this may be reduced to hydro testing every 12 MONTHS. Again for ALL air cylinders. There is of course an interim dry internal check which must be carried out mid cycle. Cost for the hydro test is £35. To collect in a week, or so !!.
Anyone heard similar information.

Al

That doesn't sound correct. Here's the PDF from IDEST about ISO DIS 18119 UPDATEdated 12th May 2017

As many of you will know the current Cylinder Testing Standards BS EN 1802:2002 and BS EN 1968:2002 are in the process of being replaced with a new standard ISO 18119.
As this is an International Standard and not just a BS or EN, the adoption of the ISO standard is automatically undertaken by the countries who signed up to the ViennaAgreement in 1991 and this includes the UK.

...

The proposed ISO 18119 calls for annual visual inspections and a hydrostatic test every five years for Self-contained breathing air, O2, etc and Gases for underwater breathing apparatus

The standard now recommends:
“Local regulations will specify the interval of periodic inspections and test. In the absence of any local regulation, as a guide an internal examination every year with a periodic inspection test at 5 yearly intervals should be carried out.
However, if on completion of a risk assessment and the specific use of a cylinder indicates that there is a low risk of internal degradation then the interval for carrying out an internal examination can be increased to a maximum of 2.5 years”

https://www.sita.org.uk/cms-assets/d...119-update.pdf

https://www.sita.org.uk/idest/

It seems from reading the rest of that text that the ISO standard has not been fully decided, but that IDEST have taken that a stance. So all cylinders being hydo'd every 18 seems a bit off. I had a cylinder done for exactly that by my local dive shop recently who is very particular about regs (as he supplies are to the more extreme divers around here) and he made no mention of it.

[lensman57]

Finally had to take my air cylinder for refilling. 7L, 300barg. As it was out of test a few years ago knew it required a full hydro test. However got a bit of a shock.
First I was informed that the pillar valve was a dive cylinder valve (I bought the complete setup from our sponsors several years ago. I assumed, incorrectly it would seem that the pillar valve was the correct "only to be used out of water" valve. The correct valve has the pressure gauge indicating the pressure in the tank being charged attached to the pillar & not on the connected filling line as mine is).
He added that it did not matter as the current ruling is that ALL cylinders must be hydro tested every 18 MONTHS. No more is it 5 years for an airgun only cylinder. Come August 2017 this may be reduced to hydro testing every 12 MONTHS. Again for ALL air cylinders. There is of course an interim dry internal check which must be carried out mid cycle. Cost for the hydro test is £35. To collect in a week, or so !!.
Anyone heard similar information.

Al

I took my cylinder to be refilled a couple of weeks ago and the owner was having a conversation regarding the same matter. He told me that they were to reconsider the ruling as it was not really helpful. So as far as he was concerned the test was to be carried out every five years.
Would be good to see what others have been told.

A.G

[AlBur]

Got in touch with another testing station. Very clear in their reply that the 5 year test validity only applies to "surface only" cylinders. Noted that pressure gauge for such a cylinder is attached to the pillar valve.
So anyone buying a new setup should be aware of the difference .
Al

[angrybear]

Finally had to take my air cylinder for refilling. 7L, 300barg. As it was out of test a few years ago knew it required a full hydro test. However got a bit of a shock.
First I was informed that the pillar valve was a dive cylinder valve (I bought the complete setup from our sponsors several years ago. I assumed, incorrectly it would seem that the pillar valve was the correct "only to be used out of water" valve. The correct valve has the pressure gauge indicating the pressure in the tank being charged attached to the pillar & not on the connected filling line as mine is).
He added that it did not matter as the current ruling is that ALL cylinders must be hydro tested every 18 MONTHS. No more is it 5 years for an airgun only cylinder. Come August 2017 this may be reduced to hydro testing every 12 MONTHS. Again for ALL air cylinders. There is of course an interim dry internal check which must be carried out mid cycle. Cost for the hydro test is £35. To collect in a week, or so !!.
Anyone heard similar information.

Al

Sounds like your dive shop has decided how they are going to interpret the rules & that's that it happens, some shops set a rule & rigidly stick to it even when it's not a legal requirement.

The first thing I would do is look for another test station, because if they test & mark it as due in 18months then that's when the next test is due.
I'd also get a surface only valve fitted by whoever does it, because I think they are very wrong.

Also looking at RobF's post ISO 18119 wouldn't seem to apply to a cyl marked simply as "Compressed air" but would if marked as "Breathing air", I may be clutching at straws but a surface valve should indicate that the cyl is no longer "self contained breathing equipment" but has an "industrial" use.