nerobro
01-02-2003, 06:58 AM
Well here's my story. This began just before the IAO. Continued through schaterball and is almost concluded with now.....
so.. I had two tanks come to me that needed hydro. Well one that passed it's date and a "new" tank that needed hydro. so i searched around. AA wanted $45 to hydro... that seemed nuts seeing that BBT wanted $30 back when the PVI maxflow needed hydro last.
I brought them there 2-3 weeks before the IAO. Pleanty of time for a hydro.. Well IAO came and went.. and then I finally got a call for the tanks.
I picked them up. My raptor had a damaged guage, the labels they placed on the tanks were virtually unreadable. Now.. 6 months later the ink used to write the date and code for the hydrotesters has completely faded. The epoxy used to cover them was placed on like.. with a popsicle stick, it was ugly and nasty.
Well big deal.. i bent the guage back into shape. so it now functions. and other than the ugly labels for hydro they were "ok"
I went to mount the 68ci raptor back on my cocker. found out the fitting I carfully selected to clear my cradle... didn't clear anymore. I took the fitting off only to find out that the fitting had been snapped off, and had been filed to look ok again. the fitting was toast.
Now I have to resort to a two elbow solution to get the hose in any kind of nice place to play with while on the field. it doens't look bad, but it' s defintley not what I had before. to say the least i wasn't happy.
I finally called them and told them about it. the guy who runs the shop. He was nice and asked me what he could do for me. I told him basicly to scold the hydrotesters. The tanks worked, and I was ok with that. Well... then came schatnerball.
I took my PVI maxflow to schatner. I had arranged with muzikman to use his e-mag. I was going to drop my maxlfow on there..... Well we took the tank to get filled, and we were graced with hissing air. From between the brass valve and the tank.
Well I took the tank back to the scuba shop... and they took the valve off and put it back. There had been a string from a tag in between the tank and valve..... they took it out and said "it's ok here ya go" And sent me on my way. I was gratefull for them doing this for me.. and took them at their word.
So last weekend I took the tank to CCP. And got it filled. Well I tried to get it filled. they started filling it.. and it started hissing from betweent he tank and valve again. I was really upset. So that sunday I brought the tank to the scuba shop. We were there.. and removed the valve.. at the desk, instead of in the back room. We found teflon tape, a destroyed buran-n o-ring. TEFLON TAPE of all things, that has no buisness in a tank. EVER. Behind the rotten o-ring and teflon tape we found a crack that spanned 1/3 of the distance around the valve.
Well she wouldn't admit responcabilty and kept pressing that I had no proof of anything. I was getting upset and was standing my ground. We got the information for the hydrotesting service they used.... and eventually terminal_err asked me to leave. (probally a good thing) Given the situation if he hadn't the police or owner of the shop may have had to remove me. Somebody had to take responcability here.......
So monday I took the info they gave me and tried calling the hydrotesters. The number led me to a spanish speaking ladys place of residence. They had seccond number listed on their website (as an office number) i called that and got a modem or fax machine. So I called the scuba shop again. It came down to the scuba shops owner calling the hydroshops owner's cellphone and leaving a voicemail. The day ended without resolution.
So.. I called another few hydrotesters, to see if this hydro shop did things properly. it comes down to that the other shops would have sent the valve back to me after doing a cursory inspection. they woul dhave also placed a new o-ring on the tank to ensure things would work when aired up.
This crack, is a problem that could easily lead to tank seperation from the valve. This means someone has to do with a 2-3kpsi rocket. and that someone would have been me.... and i wouldn't by typing this now.
I need advice... any legal routes I might pursue? Or help spreading the word about this particuar hydro service.
so.. I had two tanks come to me that needed hydro. Well one that passed it's date and a "new" tank that needed hydro. so i searched around. AA wanted $45 to hydro... that seemed nuts seeing that BBT wanted $30 back when the PVI maxflow needed hydro last.
I brought them there 2-3 weeks before the IAO. Pleanty of time for a hydro.. Well IAO came and went.. and then I finally got a call for the tanks.
I picked them up. My raptor had a damaged guage, the labels they placed on the tanks were virtually unreadable. Now.. 6 months later the ink used to write the date and code for the hydrotesters has completely faded. The epoxy used to cover them was placed on like.. with a popsicle stick, it was ugly and nasty.
Well big deal.. i bent the guage back into shape. so it now functions. and other than the ugly labels for hydro they were "ok"
I went to mount the 68ci raptor back on my cocker. found out the fitting I carfully selected to clear my cradle... didn't clear anymore. I took the fitting off only to find out that the fitting had been snapped off, and had been filed to look ok again. the fitting was toast.
Now I have to resort to a two elbow solution to get the hose in any kind of nice place to play with while on the field. it doens't look bad, but it' s defintley not what I had before. to say the least i wasn't happy.
I finally called them and told them about it. the guy who runs the shop. He was nice and asked me what he could do for me. I told him basicly to scold the hydrotesters. The tanks worked, and I was ok with that. Well... then came schatnerball.
I took my PVI maxflow to schatner. I had arranged with muzikman to use his e-mag. I was going to drop my maxlfow on there..... Well we took the tank to get filled, and we were graced with hissing air. From between the brass valve and the tank.
Well I took the tank back to the scuba shop... and they took the valve off and put it back. There had been a string from a tag in between the tank and valve..... they took it out and said "it's ok here ya go" And sent me on my way. I was gratefull for them doing this for me.. and took them at their word.
So last weekend I took the tank to CCP. And got it filled. Well I tried to get it filled. they started filling it.. and it started hissing from betweent he tank and valve again. I was really upset. So that sunday I brought the tank to the scuba shop. We were there.. and removed the valve.. at the desk, instead of in the back room. We found teflon tape, a destroyed buran-n o-ring. TEFLON TAPE of all things, that has no buisness in a tank. EVER. Behind the rotten o-ring and teflon tape we found a crack that spanned 1/3 of the distance around the valve.
Well she wouldn't admit responcabilty and kept pressing that I had no proof of anything. I was getting upset and was standing my ground. We got the information for the hydrotesting service they used.... and eventually terminal_err asked me to leave. (probally a good thing) Given the situation if he hadn't the police or owner of the shop may have had to remove me. Somebody had to take responcability here.......
So monday I took the info they gave me and tried calling the hydrotesters. The number led me to a spanish speaking ladys place of residence. They had seccond number listed on their website (as an office number) i called that and got a modem or fax machine. So I called the scuba shop again. It came down to the scuba shops owner calling the hydroshops owner's cellphone and leaving a voicemail. The day ended without resolution.
So.. I called another few hydrotesters, to see if this hydro shop did things properly. it comes down to that the other shops would have sent the valve back to me after doing a cursory inspection. they woul dhave also placed a new o-ring on the tank to ensure things would work when aired up.
This crack, is a problem that could easily lead to tank seperation from the valve. This means someone has to do with a 2-3kpsi rocket. and that someone would have been me.... and i wouldn't by typing this now.
I need advice... any legal routes I might pursue? Or help spreading the word about this particuar hydro service.