Question:
Just got 8 tanks hydro'ed and now 7 of them are in for a visual inspection (1 tank is O2 only, so it doesn't need a visual inspection)... The hydro cost $12 (fire extinguisher shop) and the cheepest price I found on visuals around here is $6 for the inspection and $4 for the air fill... Unfortunately that shop's inspection guy was on vacation and they wouldn't be able to get to it until next week, so I took them to another shop which charged me $12 for an inspection + airfill... Most of the local shops charge at least $16 for an inspection + airfill, so I was curious what the going rate is around the country (or even overseas) for this... Turns out that the dive shops around here charge $20-30 for hydros (they don't do it themselves, they send them off to probably the same fire extinguisher shop that I ended up using)..

Answer: Local dive shop here charges $5 for airfill, $25 for hydro, and I think it is $5 for VIP. If your tank is pre'88 Luxfer, Please have the VisualEddy done to the neck area of your tanks. Remember, Luxfer made almost everybody elses tanks also. For the $5, my local shop includes a VisualEddy with every VIP each year. 99% of the time a hydro will not catch neck cracks, the Eddy will. However the Eddy can show false cracks also, so the operator must have a very good working knowledge. Personally, all my old tanks are gone!!!!! Got a 6/97 Luxfer S50, and 2 Catalina 6/97 S80 tanks. Goodbye pre'88 6153 alloy tanks! As Madamme X said on 'The Flintstones' t.v. show "I'm much to young to blow up, darlings". Same reason I never put a hazmat endorsement on my CDL!!!