NEWS RELEASE

 

Luxfer Announces New Inspection and Replacement Policy
for Scuba Cylinders Manufactured in the United States

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (July 17, 2000)—Luxfer Gas Cylinders has announced a new inspection and replacement policy for scuba cylinders manufactured at its facilities in the United States. The primary purpose for the new policy is to clarify inspection and testing procedures for the two different aluminum alloys from which Luxfer scuba cylinders have been manufactured. The text of the policy is as follows:

Luxfer Scuba Cylinder Inspection and Replacement Policy

Section I: Inspection and Testing of Luxfer Scuba Cylinders
    Manufactured from 6351 Aluminum Alloy

Luxfer scuba cylinders were manufactured from 6351 aluminum alloy during the following periods:

·        United States: 1972 through mid-1988

·        England: 1967 through 1995

·        Australia: 1975 through 1990

Luxfer requires that every Luxfer 6351-alloy all-aluminum scuba cylinder be visually inspected at least every 2.5 years by a properly trained inspector. As part of this inspection, Luxfer further requires that the cylinder neck be tested with an eddy-current device such as Visual Plus, Visual Eddy or equivalent non-destructive testing equipment. When properly used, eddy-current devices contribute significantly to early detection of difficult-to-observe sustained-load cracks in the necks of 6351-alloy cylinders. If the cylinder passes the inspection, the inspector will document that fact. If the cylinder fails the inspection, it must be removed from service immediately. Do not use Luxfer 6351-alloy scuba cylinders that have not been both visually inspected and eddy-current tested and then properly documented.

This Luxfer-required visual and eddy-current inspection is in addition to periodic requalifications (including retesting and inspections) required or recommended by various regulatory agencies around the world. The intervals between retests and inspections vary from country to country.

In addition to the required inspection and testing described above and in keeping with U.S. scuba industry standards, Luxfer recommends that all Luxfer 6351-alloy scuba cylinders be visually inspected at least once each year by a properly trained inspector.
For cylinders in heavy use (for example, those filled five or more times a week), Luxfer recommends visual inspection every four months. For more information, refer to Luxfer’s Scuba Cylinder Inspection Guide, which is available by calling Luxfer at 800-764-0366 or by visiting the Luxfer web site at www.luxfercylinders.com.

 

Section II: Inspection and Testing of Luxfer Scuba Cylinders
      Manufactured from 6061 Aluminum Alloy

Luxfer began manufacturing scuba cylinders from a proprietary 6061 aluminum alloy in mid-1988 in the United States, in 1995 in England and in 1990 in Australia. The majority of Luxfer scuba cylinders currently in service are made from this proprietary 6061 alloy, which Luxfer is still using.

Cylinders made from Luxfer’s proprietary 6061 alloy are not susceptible to sustained-load cracks. Therefore, Luxfer does not deem it necessary to test these cylinders with eddy-current devices such as Visual Plus and Visual Eddy. In fact, field experience has shown that using such eddy-current devices with Luxfer 6061-alloy cylinders can result in misleading “false-positive” readings.

In keeping with U.S. scuba industry standards, Luxfer recommends annual visual inspection of Luxfer 6061-alloy cylinders by a properly trained inspector. For cylinders in heavy use (for example, those filled five or more times a week), Luxfer recommends visual inspection every four months. These recommended inspections are in addition to periodic requalifications (including retesting and inspections) required or recommended by various regulatory agencies around the world. The intervals between retests and inspections vary from country to country.

For more information, refer to Luxfer’s Scuba Cylinder Inspection Guide, which is available by calling Luxfer at 800-764-0366 or visiting the Luxfer web site at www.luxfercylinders.com.

 

Section III: Luxfer Scuba Cylinder Replacement Policy

This replacement policy applies only to the original owner of a Luxfer scuba cylinder. If a properly inspected Luxfer scuba cylinder is found to have either sustained-load cracking (in the case of 6351-alloy cylinders) or a manufacturing defect (i.e., any imperfection that fails to meet product specifications at the time of manufacture), Luxfer will honor the following replacement policy:

·        If the cylinder is 10 years old or less (based on the original hydrotest date), Luxfer will replace the cylinder at no charge with a new 6061-alloy cylinder. However, Luxfer will not replace cylinders that have been damaged, abused or mistreated.

·        If the cylinder is more than 10 years old, the original owner may purchase an equivalent replacement cylinder for $50 (U.S.) for cylinders manufactured in the United States. For cylinders manufactured elsewhere, the purchase price of the replacement cylinder will be determined in the country of origin based on local currency rates.

For more information about this policy or Luxfer scuba cylinders, contact Luxfer Gas Cylinders, 3016 Kansas Avenue, Riverside, California 92507 U.S.A.; telephone toll-free 800-764-0366; fax 909-781-6598; on the web at www.luxfercylinders.com.