When exactly does my visual inspection (“VIP”) or hydrostatic test (“hydro”) expire?
By law, a US Department of Transportation (DOT) required hydrostatic test expires five years (60 months) following the test and the annual VIP’s expire one year (12 months) following the inspection. Because neither a visual inspection sticker nor hydro retest mark typically show the day of the month performed, a long established and widespread practice in the SCUBA industry has been the valid period expires on the first day of the month shown. Recently, the DOT has issued a clarification statement that the hydrostatic test officially expires on the last day of the month shown. However, we recommend re-qualifying your cylinder before the first day of the expiring month, because most dive shops continue to observe the more conservative expiration date. Fill Express will not fill any cylinder after the last day of the month in which the visual inspection or hydrostatic test expired. Will Fill Express fill my older aluminum 6351-T6 alloy SCUBA cylinders? Fill Express will fill an aluminum
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