So how do you know if you CO2 bottle needs to be reinspected and certified? All you need to do is decipher some of the markings on your bottle. The included diagrams for CO2 and compressed air tanks should help you figure out if your due for reinspection.
Look for any markings that look like a date, with just a month and a year. The oldest date will be the original inspection date from the manufacturer. This may be the only date on your bottle if it is new or an older bottle that has never been reinspected. If there is more than one date, the most recent date is the latest inspection date.
If your latest inspection date is more than five years old, you need to get your bottle reinspected!
That Sucks...Your killer battleship with 12 main guns, 20 secondaries, and 6 torps is ready to go and you just learned you CO2 tank needs inspected. What do you do now? Where do you get your bottle reinspected? Just go to any state certified inspection station. This means going to your nearest SCUBA shop. Most paintball shops (actually all that I contacted) are not set up for inspection of CO2 bottles. This will set you back between 20 and 30 dollars (that was the cost of getting my SCUBA tanks done).
If you need your tank reinspected, what is it they do? What you actually need done is a hydrostatic cylinder test.
HOW HIGH PRESSURE CYLINDERS ARE TESTED
Testing is conducted in accordance with 49CFR and Pamphlet C-1 of the Compressed Gas Association (CGA,C-1), Methods for Hydrostatic Testing of Compressed Gas Cylinders. Translation.....
Once every five years, the viability of the tank structure itself must be tested. This involves a special test in which the tank is overpressurized with water to determine its elasticity. If it passes, then there is a stamp placed on the neck of the tank, indicating a new hydro test date. For obvious reasons, a visual test is done before a hydro.
Steps Include:
HOW AND WHY CYLINDERS FAIL HYDROTESTING
Total failures by all types of cylinder construction during hydrostatic re-test is only 0.65% (so you should have nothing to worry about if you are do for inspection).
VISUAL FAILURES
Of those cylinders failing hydrostatic re-test, the largest single cause of failure is visual rejection (73%). A cylinder fails visual examination when the re-tester, applying his professional judgment, deems the cylinder condition likely to fail pressure test, or whose safety in irretrievably compromised. The causes of visual failure include excessive rust or corrosion, evidence of external welding, cutting, or brazing on the cylinder shell, or mechanical damage to the cylinder wall..
EXCESSIVE PERMANENT EXPANSION
The second greatest cause of failure is by excessive permanent expansion. When a high pressure cylinder is subjected to pressure, the interior volume of the cylinder expands. When the pressure is released, the volume contracts. The difference between the total volume (under pressure) minus the final volume (no pressure) is the amount of permanent expansion caused by the hydrostatic testing pressure. Without going into a lot of exceptions and qualifiers, let us say that this permanent expansion in most cases cannot exceed 10% of the total expansion. Cylinders with a permanent expansion exceeding 10% fail hydrostatic test.
About 26% of all cylinders failing hydrostatic test did so because of excessive permanent expansion.
CYLINDER RUPTURE
When a cylinder ruptures the cylinder is propelled at high velocity along a destructive path that often destroys property and life. Shrapnel can sever limps, cause blinding injuries, and even death. The prevention of cylinder rupture is one of the basic justifications for hydrostatic testing.
The hydrostatic testing method used is the water-jacket method of testing. Cylinders subjected to test are immersed in a sub-surface water-jacketed enclosure to minimize danger in the event of a catastrophic breakdown under pressure.
Fortunately, such failures are relatively few. Only 1.06% of cylinders failing hydrostatic test did so because of cylinder rupture.