Cylinder test date checker.

How it works

In the United States, the Department of Transportation rule at 49 CFR 180.209 sets how often specification cylinders are requalified with a pressure test. For DOT 3AL aluminium cylinders it is every 5 years. For DOT 3AA steel cylinders the rule lists 5, 10 or 12-year periods depending on conditions, and the 10-year option is not open to cylinders used for underwater breathing. The rule also requires a separate eddy current examination every 5 years for 6351-T6 aluminium cylinders in scuba service. It does not set an annual visual inspection for scuba cylinders. Luxfer, a cylinder maker, says DOT and the US scuba industry suggest a yearly visual inspection for 6351-alloy cylinders. PSI-PCI is reported to describe yearly visuals as required, but we could not open its page to confirm that.

In the United Kingdom, BSAC, relaying the test body IDEST, says recreational cylinders have a full inspection and hydraulic test every five years and an interim visual inspection about two and a half years after it. BS EN ISO 18119:2018 replaced the earlier BS EN 1968 and 1802 standards, and BSAC says the UK kept these intervals on a risk-assessed basis.

In France, the FFESSM's December 2017 bulletin says diving cylinders need requalification every 2 years, or every 6 years from 2018 if they are inspected every year under the TIV scheme.

The tool compares months only. When the date you check falls in the same month an interval ends, it says so rather than guessing, because our sources do not say whether the interval runs to the end of that month.