Luxfer calls for retrofit of SCBA cylinders
Dispatches
Anyone finding an air cylinder with the exemption number CTC/DOT-E 7235 4500 that does not have a steel neck ring should immediately depressurize that cylinder and call Luxfer USA Ltd. at 714-684-5110 for further instructions.
All of Luxfer’s 4,500-psi fiberglass hoop-wrapped aluminum cylinders were to have been retrofitted with this chrome-plated steel neck ring as of October 1, 1985. The Department of Transportation (DOT) and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) required this retrofit following an incident in which a cylinder valve separated from its air tank during recharging in early 1984. The accident was due to cracks that had developed in the neck. The neck ring is designed to prevent the cylinder from rupturing in this area.
According to a Luxfer spokesman, over 53,000 of its cylinders have been retrofitted to date, but there are approximately 17,000 that still have not been fitted with a neck ring. The cylinders are used on MSHA/NIOSH-approved self-contained breathing apparatus made by Bendix, Clifton Precision, Draeger, Siebe Gorman, Scott, and Survivair.
At presstime, Luxfer was operating four retrofit centers in Placentia, CA; Indianapolis, IN; Dallas, TX; and Mississauga, Ontario.
