Specific federal requirements and manufacturer guidelines govern hydrostatic testing of high pressure cylinders. All compressed gas cylinders must undergo hydrostatic testing every five years. This is mandated by the DOT (Dept of Transportation) and PHMSA (Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration), the government agencies that regulates compressed gas cylinders used for SCUBA and SCBA.

Hawaiian Diving Adventures is the only dive shop on Oahu that has a hydro station at our facility. We are trained and certified to perform this testing, which means you get to talk to the actual technicians who tested your cylinder and can answer your questions. We follow PSI/PCI as well as SDI/TDI standards of hydrostatic testing and visual inspections, as mandated by the DOT and PHMSA.

Many other dive shops bring us their tanks for testing, or some people actually send their cylinders off-island which is an additional time and expense. Shipping off-island also requires a local VIP because shipping the cylinders requires that they are empty with valves removed. If you are on Oahu, you can bring us your tanks directly to save some money and get your tanks back into service sooner.

Federal law requires that all hydrostatic testing includes a Visual Inspection (VIP). We do not charge extra for a VIP at time of hydro, and we will even include a complimentary air fill. If your tank has a current hydro stamp, but simply needs an annual VIP, please check out our VIP cylinder inspections page.

Hydrostatic inspection is $30. The service includes stamping the cylinder with the hydrostatic test date, as well a Visual Inspection with updated VIP sticker and an air fill.

Hydrostatic inspections typically take less than one week, however our schedule can vary by season and demand. We can inform you the day you drop-off your cylinder approximately when it will be available for pickup. We will call you on the day it is ready, or to advise you of any issues we may have discovered during the testing process.

Tank valves are often neglected, and many divers don't service them until there is a problem. We recommend valve servicing at least with a hydro, but if you have not serviced your valve, we can easily perform this service during a VIP. Some older valves do not have o-rings, or if you have an older valve with o-rings, we recommend upgrading to the newer kits that use teflon washers instead of o-rings. Tank valve services and prices depends on your type of cylinder valve and its condition.

Eddy-current testing (also known as "eddy testing" or ECT) is used to detect sustained-load cracking (SLC) in aluminum alloy cylinders. All aluminum alloy 6351-T6 tanks require Eddy-Current Testing at least every five years with each hydrostatic test, however aluminum alloy 6351-T6 has not been used in aluminum SCUBA or SCBA cylinders manufactured after 1990. We generally recommend annual eddy testing for all aluminum alloy 6351-T6 tanks. Steel tanks do not require eddy testing.