Hydrostatic testing of an air compressor tank

Hello All,

I recently took ownership of a rather sad looking B.E.N Patents Compressor - a real beast - with a (approx.) 150l tank and operating at 150psi from a wonderful old single cylinder compressor run by a single phase1.5hp Brook Motor ( I am researching it a little more as tags are almost unreadable )

All in all its about 150lbs in weight for the motor and 120lbs for the compressor - I know i carried the little critters and had to check why my back was hurting...) the tank is very well made - very heavy gauge steel and in good condition - on the outside - there is rust on the inside (a few loose flakes) so I would rather play safe. I don’t know the weight of the tank apart from its too much too lift on my own......

My question to you engineering types out there is apart from finding someone to hydro test the old tank have any of you run a test using water and a grease gun?

It may sound daft but reading up on the USA sites it seems pretty normal to use this method. How would you rate this kind of 'self-certification?

I just fancy being able to do these tests myself as I am sure it would be less expensive to buy a new tank rather than paying for a modern firm to test it so a home grown test suits me!

Best

Hamish

SCUBA tanks are tested by filling with water and pressurising, with a dial gauge on a band around the waist to see the stretch as the pressure goes up.

Once pressure is released, the dial gauge must go back to zero otherwise its a fail.