carbon fiber tank rules at shoots.

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Richard300

Member
Dec 2, 2015
243
1
Wi, United States
Got a few questions.
If there is a sanctioned shoot. And you have a carbon fiber tank past the 15 year mark can you use it? 
How long is a hydrostatic test good for.
If its past the 15 year mark and has had a hydrostatic test and its ok... is that fine?
How old is to old for a tank?
Any light on this would subject would sure ease my mind....Thanks again 
 
At age 15 carbon fiber tanks are end of life in the US. It doesn't matter about the condition or state of the hydrostatic testing. If you take it to a professional to be filled they are supposed to disable it permanently. ( i.e. Drill a hole in it.). I don't know if they have safety inspections at shooting events, but if they did, they'd likely disqualify you for having an out of date tank.
 
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Dont take the risk. Injuring yourself is one thing, but risking others safety is always a no go.

Consider this, as a tank fills the wrapping stretches out and the tank itself expands, the older the tank the weaker they get in theory.

Now there is a binding glue, the resin holding the tank together as the tank goes through cycles the resin also breaks down minutely, causing tiny tiny tiny micro fractures throughout the tanks wall and structure. Eventually they let go, sometimes slowly leaking out over time. Others exploding violently.

However the end result can be devastating, you can acoid it and just get another tabk. And if luck is on your side you can get in hydro firetanks on ebay that sometimes can accept the valve from your current tank saving money down the road by re using the valve.
 
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Scott air packs have 30 year tanks. I don't know if anyone besides fire/rescue services could even buy one.
Here's a little info on just how strong the 4500 psi tanks really are.




The burst pressure for the tri-dimensional burst disk used in the Scott is 4800 psi. Carbon composite cylinders are made up of an aluminum alloy inner shell with carbon composite wraps and epoxy resin. They have a burst pressure of 12,000 psi, 6,500 without the carbon composite wrap
 
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Rules are rules and expired tanks will not get recertification after 15 years but does that actually make the tank bad or dangerous?(in my opinion) the government could easily raise the lifespan to 20 or even 30 years with proper inspection and testing or even lowering the psi capacity a little each year over 15 .the saftey factor is nearly 3 to 1 ,4500 psi working to a 12000 burst psi.
 
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BigTinBoat
"dodge3500"Scott air packs have 30 year tanks. I don't know if anyone besides fire/rescue services could even buy one.
Here's a little info on just how strong the 4500 psi tanks really are.



Click to expand...
Interspiro actually has 15, 30 and NLL (Non-limited Life) tank. Not sure how this correlates with current DOT regs, but looks like the NLL might only be valid in EU, not the US (for now)

http://www.interspiro.com/FireFighting/31126-03/COMPOSITE-CYLINDERS-br-ALUMINIUM-LINER-br.aspx
Click to expand...

Oooh man oooh man would a nll tank be sweet for sure.:)
 
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There are some significant differences between the 15 and 30 year CF tanks. The 30 year CF tanks cost much more and have more mass than the 15 year tanks. The 15 year tanks might last longer than 15 years, but you can't legally get them tested to make sure that they're safe. Considering that you can get a used one on eBay for less than $200 that's still valid and can be tested, it isn't worth the risk in my opinion to stretch out the life of the tank past it's legal life span. The bottles are labeled with their Date of Manufacture. Make sure that you do your due diligence before putting the tank into service and treat them with respect.
 
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