If you have a question you would like to ask or have a problem with equipment servicing and need some advice please email: Stewart Meinert - ASSET Technical Advisor
Please note: advice on service and repair will only be given to ASSET trained technicians so please supply your name and ASSET Membership number when emailing
Any information or advice given on this website is correct to the best of our knowledge - It is the responsibility of individuals to check with manufacturers, HSE or British Standards before acting on it.
If this is a commonly asked question you may find the answer to your question on one of the sub pages.
CYLINDER COLOURS
Q. Also just would like confirmation on cylinder painting that the only legal requirement for the cylinders is the triangles on the shoulder !.
The reason for this question is there is a test station that paints the cylinder and doesnot do the triangle as it don't need them acording to him
A. With regard to cylinder colours:
1. EN 1089 only requires a colour code on the shoulder and, so long as the shoulder is coloured then, the body colour has no meaning. However, if the shoulder is not correctly coloured, the body colour implies the contents. For example, a Yellow cylinder with a Black/White quartered top indicates that it contains O2/N2 but an all Yellow cylinder would imply that it contains a Toxic and/or Corrosive Gas.
2. In the UK, by law, Industrial gas cylinders must be both labelled and coloured on the shoulder. BA and SCUBA cylinders only need to be labelled. However, we recommend that BA and SCUBA cylinders used at work should be both coloured and labelled. Please not that due to variations in national legislation in individual EU Countries this advice may vary. If in doubt, cylinders should be both labelled and coloured.
THREAD CHECKING M25, 3/4 - 14 NPSM
We get regular enquiries about how many turns can be allowed on a Not Go Gauge when inspecting cylinder neck and valve stem threads. The following is a reply to this question to one of our members:
The "by the book" answer is that there should be no turns allowed on a Not Go gauge (if you think about it, that's why it's called a Not Go gauge!). However, in many industries, particularly where maintenance activities are concerned, it is common to allow something for reasonable wear and tear.
In the past, the general advice given (and widely accepted) in the UK concerned only the G3/4" thread and that advice was that up to 4 turns on the Not Go gauge could be allowed on the valve, providing that the cylinder thread was good.
However, over the past 20 years or so, M25, G5/8" and 3/4" NPSM threads have become widely used additionally ASSET's membership has become Worldwide, therefore, it has been necessary to revise and rationalise this advice.
To keep matters simple, we believe a reasonable rule of thumb to be as follows: Providing the technician is satisfied that all threads are physically sound and the cylinder neck threads have been gauged and the Not Go gauge does not go then 1 (one) turn on the Not Go gauge might be allowed on the on the valve stem thread for every four good turns engaged. In effect this means approx 1T on a 200 bar Din outlet, 2T an M25 and 3T on a G3/4" and so on.
For 3/4 NPSM threads, there is further guidance in CGA 6.1 2006 as follows:
5.9 Threads an Valving.
Cylinder threads should be examined whenever the valve is removed from the cylinder. Cylinders have a specified number of full threads of proper form as required in the applicable thread standards. Cylinders shall be rejected if the required number of effective threads are materially reduced so that a gas tight seal cannot be obtained by reasonable valving methods. Thread defects include threads that are galled, worn, corroded, broken, cracked, nicked and double threaded (by forcing an incorrect valve into the threads).
This guidance should be applied with caution and is at the discretion of the individual technician who must take into account the circumstances as they present themselves.
Cylinder Labels and Artwork
Q. Could you please send me guidance information and templates for cylinder labels?
We are in the process of building a new workshop for the testing/repair of scuba equipment and cylinders.
The workshop will be ready in about 4 month’s time and I am trying to acquire as much information before hand.
As the majority of divers who come to the Maldives are Europeans we want to be able to work to standards that they are used to receiving.
A. We are able to provide the artwork (including your company details) required for scuba cylinder labels in accordance with HSE advice (Jan 06).
This advice reduces the number required for a possible 6 to 3 labels i.e. Breathing Air, Oxygen, the rest ( one label for nitrox/heliox/trimix)
We can also provide the artwork for an O2 cleaning label
The artwork comes in JPEG format (others can be provided)
Each label design (including your company name and phone number) is £25 or £80.00 for all four.
Click on the icon for Label Artwork where you will find an order form.
TESTING EQUIPMENT/CLEANING PRODUCTS
Q. Where the best place is to buy the following:
Endoscope or Boroscope
Ultrasonic thickness Guage
the gauge for measuring the thickness of zinc?
Biox and the detergent he uses? ( could you tell me the name of the detergent please)
last but not least any advice as to where should get Master Gauge calibrated also thread gauges (calibration and buying) and torque wrench calibrated?
A. It's always worhwhile doing an ebay search
Best price on a U/S thickness guage is on Ebay a new one callled a TM8811 from the States/Canada about $130 + £19 p&p
for a boroscope try www.fibrescope.net about 400 Canadian dollars also a choice on ebay.
Make sure you can see at right angles with whatever you buy.
Coating thickness guage - only required for HOT. Only tackle HOT if your sure it will pay for the cost of thickness guage otherwise cheaper to refuse them. There is an Elcometer 355T on Ebay for £100 (good make)
I get all my gauges etc calibrated at same place in Southport, but you must be able to find somewhere that does them nearer to home. Just try "Instrumentation" or even "pressure guages" in Yell.com
Have no idea what the "scales method" of testing permanent set is. When you find out please send details.
For a list of supplier contacts click on Workshops, then click on Contacts
Q. I've been doing a bit of servicing and am having a bit of a problem with 02 cleaning of cylinders,
I'm filling them with biox leaving them over night washing them through in the morning but I'm getting a black resadue around the top of the neck can you advise thanks
A. The residue is probably caused by the biox foaming and therefore including air at the top of the neck.
You can prove this by filling it plugging the neck with a valve then inverting the cylinder. The usual fix is to is to fill it absolutely full then fit a valve and close it. A small amount of gas and therefore pressure is produced, so open the valve very slowly to release it before removing the valve.
THREAD GAUGES
Is there any British Standard that confirms engineering practice of allowing 2 threads on a 25x2 no go plug thread gauge (4 threads on G3/4)
The only reference I can find is the notes taken during our course and CP2 8.15 note attached to point 2. During my days as a turner any threads manufactured where the no go gauge entered at all were scrapped.
Just want to get things straight in my mind before I start scrapping things I should have passed :-)
A. Any not go allowance would be classed a "custom and practice" as no such allowance can be found (so far as I am aware) in any standards.
It is my understanding that in maintenance, as opposed to manufacture, some not go, typically 1 1/2 - 2 turns is often allowed to take account of wear and tare.
It is my understanding that back in the mid 80's Luxfer tested an 11 thread G3/4" valve unscrewed by as much as 4 turns. It is my understanding that it took some 20 tons to pull it out.
On that basis IDEST issued a bulletin stating that up to 4 threads on not go gauge could be allowed on a G3/4" valve.
If one accepts that this is OK, the 25mm thread is coarser and has fewer turns, therefore, not more than 2 turns should be allowed.
It is my recommendation that if this allowance is employed, then it should only be allowed on one side of the arrangement, i.e. cylinder but not valve, as to do so would put 8 poor threads into engagement.
It is entirely up to the judgement of the technician if such an allowance is used.
FLASH RUST
Q.
I need some advice please on the drying of the cylinders after hydro and shot blasting. I seem to have 50% of my cylinders flash rust when drying. I have a leister air dryer and this is on a setup very much the same asyours in the work shop. I read that drying to quickly is one cause, so I tried a lower heat (i use around 150 deg's temp)but this still did'nt work. I've left the cylinders to drain longer before starting the drying. Tried blowing compressed airaftera kettle of hot water. I've steamed and purged but nothing seems to work.So any advice would be welcomed.
A.
You have me baffled, steam and air usually works fine. Normally the quicker the process, the better the result.
In America you can buy an anti rust wash for cylinders, I believe it contains Sodium Chlorite (not chlorate). However, when I enquired (some time ago) about a similar product in the UK the supplier could not tell me that it was ok to use in breathing cylinders, so I didn't try it.
Q. I have been trying to dry a cylinder after a hydro test and keep getting rust stains inside it when originally it was in pristine condition. I have steamed the inside for 8 minutes and then blown dry with an air gun both lying down and vertically. The rust stains still appear. Can you tell me why please and if I am doing anything wrong. If there is another way I would appreciate your advice.
I have set up a steam cleaning method as yours worked perfectly on the course, thanks again in advance.
A.The problem lies in the water quality.
Flash rust is not a problem in air cylinders but is unacceptable in O2 and Nitrox cylinders.
The anecdotal evidence is that "hard" water causes "flash rust" more readily than "soft" water.
We don't have the problem in Lancaster but in London they do.
The cure is to put deionised or distilled water in the steamer and the problem should go away. Try it and let me know how you get on.
DOT CYLINDERS
Q. Has the situation changed regarding the testing (or rather not testing!) of DOT TPR'S ?
A. As far as I'm aware there is no change in the legality of DOT SCUBA Cylinders. As a non BS, EN, CE or Epsilon type, unless on the HSE's "Approved List" they would be illegal to fill.
The HSE web-site is a nightmare to navigate and the list is seldom up to date, so the best way to check would be to ring Graeme Hughes (or his successor) at the HSE Pressure Vessels Section, Magdalene House, Bootle, Merseyside (not sure if this is up to date phone no. 0151 951 4000)
NECK THREADS AND O RINGS
Q. I have been asked to inspect and test a number of cylindersfor some guys that have recently bought up a dive centre here in Cyprus. The majority are Luxfer and Catalina allys, (several failures already for excessive pitting) but I also have 2 15L Heiser steels, with a G3/4" neck thread, however there is no O-ring groove on either cylinder. I don't want to try and hydro them as I'm sure the O-ring will blow out as there is nowhere for it to sit and seal. The word ARIA appears at the 200/300 working and test pressure figures, I've seen the same on Faber's for the European market.
I wondered if you could provide me with some advice, it appears that Heiser are now part of an American company called Worthington, but nothing about scuba cylinders appears on their website.
A. The Heiser cylinders are manufactured to an Italian spec (the clue is Aria which means Air in Italian!), they are not legal in the UK, but who knows in Cyprus? These cylinder types were manufactured to mate up to a curiously Italian valve arrangement where the O-ring seal is in the flange of the valve! If you can't procure suitable valve, the necks won't seal with a conventional valve, and your right, the O rig will blow out! In order to test them you will also need to have made a test adapter with a suitable O-ring groove in its flange.
By the way the Catalina’s will most likely be American DOT standard with 3/4" NPSM threads not G3/4": if so, do not put British valves in them!
Q: I have 20 cylinders to test made up of 10-12-15 ltr. 14 of the cylinders the go gauge wont go past the neck end of the thread it comes to a dead end. It passes through the neck on the others, of which they are the same cylinder make, I read my notes to say that as long as the gauge goes are far as the valve thread its passable?? am I right in thinking this or should I fail them do you think.
A: You are right, as long as you're satisfied the neck area is sound and you have sufficient threads for the length of the valve stem it should be ok.
PLEASE NOTE: UPDATED INFORMATION JUNE 2009
O2 CLEANING
Q. I have a question that hopefully Stewart can help me with. Most dive centers and filling stations will not fill a Nitrox cylinder if the date of service/O2 cleaning is more than a year old. I know from what Stewart said on the course there is no set government regulation stating this, however it is still very good practice.
I am not at the moment working for a company that has an IDEST approved workshop, however as an ASSET trained Nitrox technician and cylinder testing techniian can I set up a clean area and oxygen clean cylinders and mark them as Nitrox clean, without stamping them as have been visually or hydraulically tested?
A. Technically there is no such thing as an "O2 Cleaning Period". If something is O2 clean, no matter how long since it was last cleaned, it doesn't need cleaning.
If there was such a period, the gas companies would have to regularly retrieve thousands of cylinders from the field just to clean them thus causing havoc.
However, in scuba diving we do not have the same quality control on gas fills or control on usage of cylinders as the gas industry and therefore,
although not a statutory requirement, more regular cleaning is good (and recommended) practice.
The one year period (which we and others originally ascribed to) came from America (where scuba cylinders must be annually inspected)
with all the original info on Nitrox diving. This period was simply adopted, without questioning its validity, by those teaching Nitrox in the UK.
Had Nitrox diving been invented in the UK (using the same logic used in the USA) the cleaning period would have been two years!
While we, in the UK, were inspecting and testing to BS5430 (a two/four year cycle), the "adopted" USA one year cleaning period fitted nicely
but when we changed to EN Standards (a two and a half/five year cycle), the annual cleaning period became unworkable.
Therefore, the HSE provided some guidance which stated that although a more regular cleaning period was still recommended, it should be extended from twelve to fifteen months in order to fit evenly into the current testing period. We have been teaching this for some time, even though the ASSET Manuals are yet to be updated.
Q: I've been doing a bit of servicing and am having a bit of a problem with 02 cleaning of cylinders,
I'm filling them with biox leaving them over night washing them through in the morning but I'm getting a black resadue around the top of the neck can you advise thanks
A: The residue is probably caused by the biox foaming and therefore including air at the top of the neck.
You can prove this by filling it plugging the neck with a valve then inverting the cylinder. The usual fix is to is to fill it absolutely full then fit a valve and close it. A small amount of gas and therefore pressure is produced, so open the valve very slowly to release it before removing the valve.
COMPRESSORS
Q. A question came up recently and I would appreciate some clarification, as I don't know the correct answer, although I suspect that I should. With an HP compressor, used for diving quality air, what are the requirements for testing the filter tower assembly? I would assume that it would follow the requirements for a land based, fixed, pressure vessel, but am not sure.
Similarly, is there any statutory requirement to service/test the interstage relief valves or the filter tower relief valve?
Your guidance would be appreciated.
A. My understanding is: Test every 5 years or replace, depending on manufacturers recommendation. For example, Coltri require the replacement of their filter housing after X thousand hours, would have to look it up.
Q: Could I possible ask Stewart advice on the installation of our Compressor. Our premises consist of one room, 450 sq ft in size, with extremely high eaves. As the compressor is to be located in the same room we have had to build a enclosure around the compressor to dampen the noise levels.
I have followed the advice from the manual and ensured that the compressor is situated a metre from the sides & back of the room to ensure ventilation. The room measures approx 11ft x 8ft with a ceiling height of approx 8ft. Even though the compressor has enough room around all sides, I’m a little concerned that the heat generated from the compressor in such a confined space would cause problems with the running and life expectancy of the compressor. The other issue I have is the air intake, would it be feasible to put an extension to the existing air intake & out through the ceiling (approx 8ft) into the open shop.
I would really appreciate your help and advice.
A: You can't simply enclose a compressor with the recommended distance all round without ensuring adequate air flow into and out of the space. In other words, if you enclose it you'll need to put louvers, preferably in the outside wall to ensure a flow of fresh cooling air in and exhaust the hot air produced out. If you fail to do this, either premature wear, or even catastrophic failure could result.
These things don't happen immediately, all will seem to be well, until one day...
With regard to the air intake, any significant length of pipe run should be a larger bore than the connector to minimise air resistance. check your manual or with your compressor supplier/manufacturer for the maximum length at standard bore. Resistance of flow to the air input can cause significant overheating in the same way that a blocked inlet filter does.
Q2:Many thanks for your advice. Would installing air conditioning in the room solve the problem, for both cooling the compressor & giving an adequate fresh air supply to the air intake
A2: Can't say, It depends upon the ambient temperature, the volume of the space the heat output from the compressor and ultimately the power of the air conditioner. Fresh air is usually cheapest and best. Even if I had the data, I'd need a refrigeration engineer to work out the size of the air con.
Besides one day the air con will break down or run out of gas without you noticing, and then...
PS An air con won't provide fresh air to the intake, it only cools the air, the air intake should be piped to outside.
DRY SUITS
Q: I have a question to ask about fitting of neck seals as per the system in your manual I have the rings but it says two sided tape to hold the suit and neck seal in place the question is do I use carpet tape or is it to strong and is there something else that is more fitting for the job and when taking the tape off is there any simple tricks of the trade, apart from this I have been very pleased with my new job and the base with which you gave me to go forward.
A: Carpet tape will be too strong to hold the seal to the ring, but may be good to hold the disc to the suit. For the neck seal use ordinary office quality double sided tape. I'm glad the job is going well and your time with us has provided you with valuable skills.
CYLINDERS & VALVES
Q. I hydro tested four cylinders today and three of them failed with readings of 10, 11, and 12%, I was concerned at this and so retested them only to get near enough the same results, I then tested one of my new ones and the percentage was 0% , so at least I know that what I was doing was correct and that the hydro itself seems to be working ok.
The only difference was was that when I was testing the failed cylindersthe water in the burret was constantly creeping up but the pressure gauge seem to be holding.
Could you give me a reason for this and whether its usual to get three cylinders fail like these three did.
A. A creeping burette is suspicious. either you have a leak into the rig or the cylinders are expanding.
If the cylinders are expanding a drop in the pressure would be expected, but this may not be much.
It's unusual to have three fail on the trot, although not impossible, it's most unusual.
Were they all the same make, or from the same customer? Have they been repainted with a heat cured paint system?
I'd pick one of the failed ones and retest it. Make sure it is absolutely leak tight before closing the jacket. If it then fails, it is a dodgy cylinder. If not look for a poor seal at the adapter/neck connection.
Q: Can you give me further advice on how to treat an Aluminium Cylinder that came in with Dents/gouge on the outside, the size of :- The Largest being 2mm Wide .75 mm Deep, 5mm Long. There are others and these are two to three inches away from each other, about 4 or 5. These are Smaller about 3 mm long 2.5 mm in width and .75 of a mm deep.
Because they are separate from each other and I calculate that the minimum body thickness is intact according to Standard requirements and the Drawing the Manufacturer emailed me and because its not corrosion am I right in understanding that as long as the Minimum wall thickness allowed is intact the cylinder is fit for purpose and can be returned to service.
A: There are three things to consider.
1. The physical dimentions of the defect, these are clearly set out in EN 1802 and there is a precis of these in the ASSET Cylinder Testers Hand book.
2. The age and cumulative condition of the cylinder
3. The conditions of service
On the basis of individual measurement, if your calculations show that each defect is within limits and you have at least minimum wall thickness, you are correct in saying that the cylinder (on the face of it) can be returned to service.
Before you do, you should consider if the defects are very close or line op in an almost straight line which may cause some cumulative weakness. Then consider the conditions of service, is it harsh or arduous? Finally do you believe that the cylinder is safe "for another period of use"?
If you're satisfied, return it to service, if not you should scrap it.
Q: I'd like to ask about a cylinder that I failed.It was one of a batch that a regular customer (dive shop) gave to me.Faber, serial No 27488, Manufacture's date 27-1-76.
No spec, an 8 ring G3/4 thread reserve Valve held open with a piece of wire, coated inside with red lead paint, cracking with rust Bubbling the red lead.
I've cut the neck off of it, because it failed several inspections.
I've copied the worksheet, and the failure sheet, and I just want your backing, before I tell the customer the bad news.
A: The "red lead" inside the cylinder isn't, its probably a factory applied epoxy coating, intended to provide protection. As you can see, it doesn't! This process was used, most notably by Rothmions" until the 80's, when they saw sense and stopped coating them.
Your decision to scrap is probably the correct one regardless of the depth of penetration, because even if it was within limits, the cost of refurbishment is probably more than the cost of replacement. Having done a few, that coating is a sod to get off.
If the working pressure is 200bar or higher, it shouldn't have an 8 thread G3/4 valve in it.
IDEST BULLETIN ON CYLINDER VALVE MAINTENANCE
Q. In the IDEST Bulletin for January they have made recommendations on the frequency of cylinder valve servicing:
"DfT and UKAS have expressed concern that some technicians fully strip and service the cylinder valve at every inspection while others appear to do so if it appears necessary. We have discussed this matter often and at the two members' symposia held at Luxfor, there was a unanimous vote for all to undertake a full service of the cylinder valve at each inspection/test".
So, from now on, when you have you cylinder tested, the valve will need to be serviced at the same time. This will add on a cost, but what price safety.
A. Whilst IDEST test stations may have "Voted" for this, it is not in line with the Standard.
I paraphrase:
EN14189 requires that the valve be cleaned and inspected (externally) and the airways inspected. If necessary the valve should be refurbished.
Additionally, the Manufacturer may have a maximum period after which time the valve should be refurbished.
The whole purpose of this standard, is to allow the technician discretion and to be able to discriminate between valves which have had heavy or light use or those valves which have recently been replaced and do not need refurbishment, based upon the findings of the inspection the technician acts accordingly. Putting an arbitary "must sevice at every inspection" removes the technicians discretion.
I question the statement "what price safety" when a valve that is not in need of refurbishment is no safer if it is refurbished!
ASSET's advice is:
1. Comply with the requirements of EN14189.
2. Check and comply with the manufacturer's requirements.
3. If in doubt refurbish the valve
Q.I have just taken in a small cylinder that has half of the ID numbers stamped right on the shoulder so half of them are missing and there are a few suspicious on the top of the bottle although I have not inspected inside yet, do you think this would be a failure? Picture sent.
A.I see what you mean, this is badly stamped in manufacture and should have been rejected by the shop that supplied them.
You will recall that the rejection limits call for cylinders whose makings are illegible to be scrapped.
Its obviously an BS 5045/1/CM/S, however, If you can't make out the other info that you need to test it, then you have no other choice but to fail it.
However, if you genuinely can't make out the all the technical info (I can't make much out from the photos), this needs taking up with the supplier and the manufacturer, if this is the first test, the owner should ask for replacements and if they get no joy they should go to trading standards.
Torques. Q. I am having great trouble finding torque settings on the drawings that SITA provided, do all cylinders get torqued at 140nms and ali ones at 130nms? or are they all different? Also had some tools made now and wondered if you only used the cylindrical tool with the half inch hole for torqueing up?
A. You won't usually get torque values in cylinder drawings.
A list of torque values can be found in your ASSET Cylinder Testing pt 1 Manual - section on valves
'HOT' STANDARD CYLINDERS
Q I am now testing B.A cylinders and what I need is more info on hot cylinders ie drawings if pos they seem to be made by IWKA I also have some that are stamped on the shoulder of the cylinder as apposed to the brass collar and your manual says no do is there any form of back up info on this
A. IWKA are no longer trading, except for colleagues in the trade the only source of IWKA drawings is the pack that's available from IDEST.
HOT cylinders date from the 60's and 70's. The HOT Standard 1966 Amendment is clear about the need for an overall zinc coating 0.005" thick if used underwater.
I enquired some years ago about the issue of stamping on the shoulder.
I was advised by the technical dept of Chesterfields (CTCO) not to stamp unless there is a clear indication that the manufacturer had stamped there. i.e. original manufacturers marks on the shoulder.
In addition there's the obvious common sense issue of: "why would a manufacturer fit a neck ring if the metal's thick enough to stamp the shoulder"!
The problem is that this is such an old spec, that many don't realise there is a specific issue relating to them. Many tester's staff weren't even born when the standard was current and many testers don't have a copy of HOT to refer to.
1. Do not stamp an HOT on the shoulder unless the manufacturer did.
2. If its been stamped on the shoulder by anyone other than the manufacturer and there's
no original manufacturer's marks on the shoulder, fail it as if it were stamped on the
parallel.
3. The cylinder must be Zinc coated if used for diving.
4.The coating must be 0.005" overall and checked instrumentally.
5. Do not stamp through the Zinc coating.
6. If it's Zinc coated, there's only one place you can stamp it on the neck ring!
AIR PURITY
Q:I need a little advice on air purity.
Having successfully tested for oil (no trace), CO (no trace) & CO2 (within limits), I’ve got issues with the content of water vapour.
I’m using an Air-Care Breathing Purity Kit which utilises Kitigawa detection tubes. I have taken numerous water vapour tests with differing results each time. Is there a method that I should be adopting, or is the current high humidity playing a major role in the results.
The latest tests are from a cylinder that was filled to about 130 bar in an air conditioned room with surrounding humidity of 34%. I replaced the self packed filter with one supplied from Coltri to enable me to eliminate the possibility of incorrect packing on my part. I conducted 2 tests from this fill, the 1st was about 1 hour after filling, this was conducted outside of the air conditioned room and gave a reading of around 110mg/m3. Several hours later I conducted a further test on this fill, this time in the air conditioned room with lower ambient humidity, the reading for this was then 70 mg/m3.
Is there a special procedure for testing water vapour as I have followed both the instructions for the test kit & those instructions supplied with the kitigawa detection tubes (only difference being the length of purge before connecting test tube, 30 seconds as opposed to 10 minutes). Could it possibly be a fault with the compressor, if so what may this be.
I really appreciate the time you take to reply.
A:Your test method is sound and assuming your test unit is correctly calibrated the results you are receiving are valid. Even taking into account the fact that colourimetric tubes can vary in accuracy by as much as 20% these readings are high.
Having fitted a new cartridge to the compressor, you should initially get dry air even if there's something wrong with the separators and auto dumps that's preventing removal of condensate.
I would be inclined to press the supplier hard on this issue because it just shouldn't happen.
If you get the run around, you can get an independent laboratory test from Aquatron in Glasgow. You will then be able to go to Trading Standards to get something done.
Insurance
Q. Can you please give me a contact name / Insurance company who would be prepared to discuss my insurance needs as an ASSET technician: and your recommendation of what levels of cover are required in what fields:- eg Third party liability while on premises. (never happened in 4 years...) Product Liability on repaired equipment to cover for claims against me for "damage to divers"...not that this SHOULD happen because of the codes of practice, duty of care and QA approach; checks which guarentee that if its not right they don't get it back till it is..(ditto only had 1 off Mares reg returned 'cos it hissed after it settled down... I now let them bed-in for 2 days before I fine tune and final wet test them and return to sender) There are no other employees so that the Employers Liability Insurance act 1969 does not apply.
I've got a bit fed up going round Insurance brokers trying to find someone/anyone who appreciates what a Scuba regulator is, and when you say you service life-support equipment they don't just do a sharp intake of breath.
Thanks in advance,
A. Click on Insurance button for some advice from other ASSET Members
