Buying Cylinders

[Jay Tee]

Being fairly new to diving I was discussing buying kit with someone at a dive site a few months back, at the time I was hiring most of my gear. He gave some good advice based on the mistakes he & his buddy had made a few years ago when they were in the same position as me. One of the things he mentioned was buying cylinders especially ponies, he had bought second hand initially but then regretted it later, I assume the cylinder(s) needed clean & test etc. in the near future and the risk of finding corrosion or damage whilst in for this.
What would you advise, is it best just to get the best deal out there & go for new & what's your view on regs?

Any info welcome.

Cheers!!.....

[Digger]

Cylinders are so cheap it's barely worth getting them tested and serviced. My new policy has largely been to get new tins and sell them after 12 months, sometimes less. Then the next owner just has to O2 clean them, or I can clean them before they're sold, and they've got 18 months before testing.

Other option is to buy a secondhand tank that's just been tested. Same as a new one basically. Plus you lose less when you sell them.

Tanks can fail tests, but they shouldn't. If they have been abused you may have problems, but for the large part it's actually quite difficult to break a tank. So buying secondhand shouldn't be an issue.

Oh, and if you're buying tanks you no longer have to choose between customer service and price. Some retailers used to just knock out hundreds of tanks at dirt cheap money and any problems were basically your problems. Now the industry it seems is fighting back, and undercutting the pile em high merchants. Try here, I wouldn't buy from anywhere else: Scuba Diving Equipment in Manchester, Lancashire & Cheshire - PADI, TDI & IANTD Diving Courses

Digs.

[steveharriss]

You can save yourself an awful lot of money by buying good second hand kit. If the cylinders are in test and O2 clean then you can't go too far wrong. Regulators are another matter, I prefer to buy them new and look after them. You can't go too far wrong with any of the better makes. I like Apeks but that's my opinion.

[Jay Tee]

Cheers, I suppose it's common sense really, I did buy Apex regs at the show last year & they do seem popular for sure. It was the pony cylinder scares I've heard about that concerned me.
JT

[Digger]

The scares I presume were from cylinders going pop here and there? Get someone at your local shop to take the valve out and have a look see inside the tank. You'll know in a second if it's been badly treated.

Digs.

[ardhill]

Cheers, I suppose it's common sense really, I did buy Apex regs at the show last year & they do seem popular for sure. It was the pony cylinder scares I've heard about that concerned me.
JT

What pony cylinder scares?
Are you talking about the ONE that blew up recently when being filled at stoney? If so I wouldn't be concerned. A cylinder that is reasonably looked after, which most are, and is tested by a proper shop, is safe to use.

If you get water in a cylinder, get it to a testing shop and let them clean it otherwise you will have corrosion. If a cylinder has just been tested by a reputable technician, it is safe to go.
.

[ak101]

You can buy a new 3 litre pony from Go Dive for 70 quid (plus 10 quid postage). When it comes up for test, you can resell it on E-bay for 75 quid (plus 20 quid postage) to some muppet.