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(HPA 1)
Basic Guidelines
Never under any
circumstances dismantle your bottle regulator.
Remember the test date on
your bottle is not the be all and end all, just because your bottle is
in date does not mean that it is safe. If you have tampered with the reg
you should not use or fill your cylinder until it has been inspected
by a competent person approved by the manufacturer.
Pressure
vessels should be inspected annually by
the competent person approved by the manufacturer.
Get in touch with the manufacturer to
find out who they are. Although this may not be law, it is highly
recommended.
People who have
played for years are NOT competent people approved by the manufacturer.
Competent is meant in the legal sense, not in the sense that someone is
good at something.
Protect
the fibre wrap on your bottle with a bottle cover, any nicks in the
fibre wrap mean the bottle is useless and should be destroyed.
Always fit a
dust cover on the fill nipple of your bottle to stop dirt getting into
the reg, or the filling station. Dirt is the number one reason for
nipple "O" rings leaking and faults with the reg.
Never ever use
oil or grease anywhere near the fill nipple. If your fill nipple is
leaking, send it off to the manufacturer
to replace, you are not qualified to change the "O" ring yourself
Make sure that the source of
air that you use to fill your bottle is set to deliver air slowly.
Bottle fires require heat to occur, the slower the bottle fills, the
less likelihood there is for heat to be generated. Your bottle should
take around 30 seconds for a 0.8L 3000psi to fill, and much longer for a
4500psi 1.1 or 1.5. Be especially careful if you are using an
unregulated fill station attached to a dive bottle.
If your reg was thread
locked on when you bought it, and for some reason you have removed the
reg from the bottle, maybe to fly to another country, the chances are
that you have damaged the threads in the bottle and it could be useless.
If this is the case, please contact the
manufacturer of the bottle and ask them
to give you the details for the person who can measure the threads for
you to make sure they are still in tolerance.
Regs should NEVER be screwed
in hand tight to the bottle. All regs must be torqued tight to the
manufacturers specifications, again
these will be available from the manufacturer.
Never under any
circumstances use oil or grease in or around your regulator. It is
especially important to ensure that the fill nipple on your regulator is
free of oil and grease. Oil or grease increase the risk of a bottle fire
which can occur under certain conditions, especially when the bottle is
being filled too fast and heat is being produced as a result of the high
flow of air.
Your bottle has a date
either stamped into it, or laminated under the surface. This date is
very important. Bottles need to be hydrostatically tested at set
intervals to be used legally in the
UK . On the
reverse of this guide are details of test dates specific to your bottle
Please remember
that it is YOU who is legally responsible for the maintenance and
compliance of your pressure equipment, not the place you go to to have
the bottle filled or the manufacturer
of the equipment.
Under no circumstances
should you hold a stream of air against your skin. On/Off valves enable
users to vent their cylinders, if you do vent your cylinder (for
traveling etc), you must keep the air flow away from your skin. A
medical condition known as an embolism could occur if the air flow
travels through your skin and into your blood supply. An embolism can be
fatal.
Test Intervals
FIVE YEARS FOR FULL-FIBRE
WRAPPED BOTTLES - EN12245 and Pi certified.
THREE YEARS FOR FULL WRAPPED
BOTTLES - HSE-AL-FW2 manufactured
before July 2003 then five years after re-testing for SCI and Luxfer
cylinders
THREE YEARS FOR FULL WRAPPED
BOTTLES - HSE-AL-FW1
FIVE YEARS FOR HALF WRAP
BOTTLES
FIVE YEARS FOR ALUMINUM OR
STEEL BOTTLES
Notes and
amendments
The new European regulations
(TPED) came onto the statute book in July 2003 and at that point the UK
specification HSE-AL-FW2 became obsolete ie. no new cylinders could be
produced to this specification for the
UK market.
From July 2003, the European
standard EN 12245 became the only acceptable specification for new
cylinders.
All cylinders manufactured
and certified to the HSE-AL-FW2 specification prior to July 2003 and
retested after July 2003 have their re test period extended from
3 to 5 years at their next re test.
If you have a cylinder
manufactured before July 2003 then you
need to have it tested 3 years from the original manufactured
date. The re-certified cylinder will then need re testing after a
further five year period.
All cylinders manufactured
to EN 12245 and Pi certified to comply with the TPED start with a re
test period of 5 years from date of manufacture.
Steel and Aluminium
cylinders
In March 2002, European
standards for cylinder testing were changed. The familiar old BS 5430
part 1 (steel cylinders) & part 3 (aluminium) were withdrawn and
replaced by new standards - BS EN 1968:2002 for Steel Gas Containers,
and BS EN 1802:2002 for Aluminium Gas Containers.
It should be added that any
other cylinders manufactured and
certified to other specifications e.g. DOT are not legal in the
UK
At the end of the cylinders
working life, the cylinder should be destroyed as extensions cannot be
made.
All air systems should be
transported empty.
The filling of Paintball
Cylinders should not be done by anyone under the age of 18.
Remember Safety Starts With YOU
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