NEWS RELEASE

 

Luxfer Announces New Inspection and Replacement Policy
for Scuba Cylinders Manufactured in Australia and U.S.

SYDNEY, Australia (July 17, 2000)—Luxfer Gas Cylinders has announced a new inspection and replacement policy for scuba cylinders manufactured at its facilities in Australia and the United States. The primary purpose for the new policy is to clarify inspection and testing procedures for the two different aluminium 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 Aluminium Alloy

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

·        Australia: 1975 through 1990

·        United States: 1972 through mid-1988

·        England: 1967 through 1995

Luxfer requires that every Luxfer 6351-alloy all-aluminium 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 Australian and New Zealand 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 61-2-9830-0999 or by visiting the Luxfer web site at www.luxfercylinders.com.

 

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

Luxfer began manufacturing scuba cylinders from a proprietary 6061 aluminium alloy in 1990 in Australia, in mid-1988 in the United States and in 1995 in England. 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 Australian and New Zealand 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 61-2-9830-0999 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 65, 75, 85 or 95 cu. ft. cylinder, 3500 psi fill pressure, for A$137.50 or NZ$186 for cylinders manufactured in Australia.

For DOT 80 cu. ft. cylinders, 3000 psi fill pressure, manufactured in Australia or the United States, the replacement prices are A$110 and NZ$152.

For 20 cu ft cylinders, 3100 psi fill pressure, manufactured in Australia, the replacement prices are A$110 and NZ$152.

 

Australian and New Zealand prices include GST.

Luxfer cylinder owners in Australia should contact Luxfer Gas Cylinders at
61-2-98300999 to obtain replacement cylinders.

Luxfer cylinder owners in New Zealand should contact Luxfer’s New Zealand agent, Tank Test Laboratories, at 64-9-2623628 to obtain replacement cylinders.

For more information about this policy, contact Luxfer Gas Cylinders, 350 Vardys Road, Kings Park, NSW 2148 Australia; telephone 61-2-9830-0999; fax 61-2-9622-9227; on the web at www.luxfercylinders.com.