Question about a close to 15 year old tank

[Drachen]

So I have a tank that has about 4 years left in it's 15 year life that's out of hydro.

If I get it retested, and the 5 year certification would go beyond the 15 year life by a year, would that be only a 4 year certification?

I don't remember the exact amount of time left on the tank, but it's definitely less than 5 years before the "15 year life". I am planning on buying a new tank at some point, but if I can hold off for a few years and go with a cheaper route, I'd rather do that.

[Flounder]

15 years is a hard stop on the timeline. If you get the hydro it will only be good for 4 years.

[punkncat]

The last tank I had hydro was ~$25 including the hydro and a reg rebuild. Pretty worthwhile for 4 years of use if you like the tank...and IF the place you fill them bothers to look. I mean, certain aspects aside, it's highly doubtful that the tank is going to catastrophically fail that last year just because....

[DocsMachine]

15 years is a hard stop on the timeline. If you get the hydro it will only be good for 4 years.

-Disagree. I'm not certain, and would be happy to hear from somebody who knows for sure, but I generally understood it to be if you hydroed it, it was good to the end of hydro. The 15 year thing simply means that after 15 years, they'll no longer hydro it. So theoretically, if you had it hydroed in the 13th year, and it was a 5-year tank, it'd be legal to keep using 'til the new certification was up.

As Punk notes, it's not like the tank will explode as soon as the clock ticks over to January 1st of the 16th year, or something.

Doc.

[jerryjjackson69]

My understanding was what Flounder had said, 15-year life is the max life regardless of the most recent hydro, but I am also not certain. I have seen companies advertising 15-year lives in product descriptions. As you said, the tank isn't going to suddenly fail. I do know some tanks fail hydro, more so on a 2nd hydro than a first, but I haven't seen a tank "Go bad" during regular use between hydros. Like almost all tank rules, it's up to the person filling it!

I did have a tank that a customer brought in immediately after picking it up from the hydro facility. They had reinstalled his regulator and he just wanted it filled. I slow filled it to ~4300 psi, and when I disconnected it from the fill station I heard a faint hissing. I was sure it was his regulator or the o-ring where the bottle and regulator meet. After feeling and listening all over for it I finally dipped it in a Rubbermaid full of water. The tank was slowly leaking through the fibers. I had been handling it full for around 5 minutes, so I casually loosened the HP burst disc and set it in the backroom until it was empty. The customer gladly let me condemn the bottle. I like sharing the story, but it does teach the point of being cautious as that tank had just passed a hydro, and more likely than not should have failed and just slipped through the cracks. Although it could have just slightly failed during the decompression stage of the hydro test when a leak wouldn't be noticeable, or possibly during my post-test fill. There is just no way to be sure.

Get it tested if you can for a reasonable price and minimal hassle. $25-$35 for almost 4 years of tank use is a reasonable price too pay. If it's a big headache, then it could just be time to buy a new tank.

EDIT: I forgot I was replying to Doc in my initial paragraph and ended up writing what should have been a stand-alone post. My bad.

[Trbo323]

I was told by a hydro shop that its a 15 year hard stop. I ran into this exact scenario before.

And yeah, chances are any field is going to just look at the fresh hydro sticker and pass it but everything I've been told it's is a 15 year lifespan, end of story

Iv had fields check both the hydro and born dates before so even if it's not true, that's how some fields interoperate it

Sent from my Moto Z (2) using Tapatalk

[freedom]

And yeah, chances are any field is going to just look at the fresh hydro sticker and pass it but everything I've been told it's is a 15 year lifespan, end of story

this ^^
i routinely find old tanks and get them re-hydroed. i havent bought a new tank in about 15 years.
the place i go to knows me and i've had this exact same discussion.
i bought a beautiful tank in immaculate 10/10 condition but it was about 14 years old. the guy said hands down "no" he will not re-hydro.
however, when i pressed him on how old a tank would be fro him to re-hydro he was vague, but would re-hydro a 12 y.o. tank...