dave wrote in
:

okey-dokey, guys, thanks.
snip
regarding hydro retest date: unless charles U, who said "get it filled
before June next year or you will be in the hook for the hydrotest
fee" knows more about tanks than the airco company ? and I'm not
saying he doesn't ? it seems to me (per airco's pdf, and their star
mention, in their diagram) "I'm good till june 2015, hydrotest-wise"

I was going by what the RCM resident welding expert Ernie says on this
topic.

http://en.allexperts.com/q/Welding-3...stamp.htm?rd=1

A literal interpretation of the law (pasted below) and paraphrased he
"five-point star"..."immediately following the test date" could be taken
to mean the plus then star on your tank doesn't meet the immediately
following requirement. Conversely there doesn't seem to be an alternate
meaning for a star following a plus so taking the wording that literally
would be incorrect IMHO. You should be good to 10 years, I think.

Either way it doesn't much matter when it needs testing, it's still
fairly new and a heck of a lot better deal than being stuck with a lease
cylinder for low volume home use. I worked out a 3 year payback on my
little CO2 and 4 years on a medium argon cylinder I own vs. leasing. I
Haven't needed to fill either of them in that time frame either so I'm
welding for free until they're empty.




§ 173.34 Qualification, maintenance and use of cylinders.

(16) DOT-3A or 3AA cylinders. (i) A cylinder made in conformance with
specification DOT-3A or 3AA with a water capacity of 125 pounds or less
that is removed from any cluster, bank, group, rack or vehicle each time
it is filled, may be retested every ten years instead of every five
years, provided the cylinder complies with all of the following --

(A) The cylinder was manufactured after December 31, 1945;

(B) The cylinder is used exclusively for air, argon, cyclopropane,
ethylene, helium, hydrogen, krypton, neon, nitrogen, nitrous oxide,
oxygen, sulfur hexafluoride, xenon, permitted mixtures of these gases
(see § 173.301(a)) and permitted mixtures of these gases with up to 30
percent by volume of carbon dioxide, provided that the gas has a dew
point at or below minus 52 °F at 1 atmosphere;

(C) Before each refill, the cylinder passes the hammer test specified in
CGA Pamphlet C-6;

(D) The cylinder is dried immediately after hydrostatic testing to
remove all traces of free water;

(E) The cylinder is not used for underwater breathing; and

(F) Each cylinder is stamped with a five-point star at least one-fourth
of an inch high immediately following the test date.

(ii) If, since the last required hydrostatic retest, a cylinder has not
been used exclusively as specified in paragraph (e)(16)(i)(B) of this
section, but currently conforms with all other provisions of paragraph
(e)(16)(i) of this section, it may be retested every 10 years instead of
every five years, provided it is first retested and examined as
prescribed by § 173.302(c)(2), (3) and (4).

(iii) Except as specified in paragraph (e)(16)(ii) of this section, if a
cylinder marked with a star is charged with a compressed gas other than
as specified in this paragraph (e)(16), the star following the most
recent test date must be obliterated. The cylinder must be retested five
years from the marked retest date, or prior to the first charging with a
compressed gas, if the required five-year retest period has passed.