The collar of a shop recovery cylinder shows a test date many years in the past with no newer date stamped after it. How should that cylinder be handled going forward?
- Take it out of service until a qualified facility hydrostatically retests it and stamps a current date
- BKeep using it, since test dates apply only to cylinders carrying virgin refrigerant from a manufacturer
Retest requirements attach to refillable cylinders regardless of whether the contents are virgin or recovered. A recovery cylinder is a pressure vessel under exactly the same rules.
- CKeep using it as long as it still holds pressure with no audible leak
Holding pressure at ambient temperature is not a strength test. Internal corrosion and wall thinning are invisible from outside and only show up under a controlled hydrostatic test.
- DGrind off the outdated stamp and mark the current date so the collar reads correctly
Restamping a date the cylinder never earned is falsifying a safety record. It puts everyone who later handles that cylinder at risk and creates serious liability.
Why A is correct
Refillable cylinders require periodic hydrostatic retesting by a qualified facility, and the passing date is stamped on the collar. A cylinder whose stamped date has lapsed is out of service for filling or transport until it is retested and re-stamped.
What this question is testing
This item checks whether the candidate knows recovery cylinders are regulated pressure vessels with periodic retest obligations, and rejects both the leak test shortcut and the falsified stamp.
On the job
Shop racks collect old cylinders, and nobody notices the dates until a supplier or reclaimer refuses one. Some suppliers will not exchange or fill a lapsed cylinder at all, which is often the first time a shop discovers half its inventory is out of date. Building a yearly walk of the rack, reading collars and setting aside the lapsed ones, keeps the problem small and predictable instead of showing up mid job.
Memory technique
No current stamp, no fill. The collar is the cylinder license.
Exam tip
Do not get pulled into arguing about the interval. The tested idea is that periodic retesting is required and a lapsed cylinder comes out of service.
Where to look it up
Refillable recovery cylinders require periodic hydrostatic retest with the passing date stamped on the collar.