MIL-STD-1411 Inspection And Maintenance Of Compressed Gas CylindersThis standard defines the requirements and procedures for the inspection, maintenance, and charging of government-owned cylinders by gas suppliers. This standard is intended to assure that the cylinders are serviced to meet safety standards and to assure that the quality of the gas supplied is not degraded by a government container. This standard is also applicable to cylinders that require reconditioning, repair, and rebuilding to assure a level of renewal that meets the needs of the government and industry in gas handling. This standard is also to be a guide when cylinders are sorted, graded, and classified for storage, salvage, or disposal in depot facilities.

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MIL-STD-1411B

4. GENERAL REQUIREMENTS

4.1 Standard procedures. The general requirements for handling government-owned cylinders cover the procedures for inspection, maintenance, and recharging required to assure that the container used with a gas commodity will maintain the purity set forth in the applicable commodity specification and will assure that the compressed gas can be safely handled by personnel. Procedures for cylinder handling should be as listed in table II and as detailed in

section 5. Procedures shall be in accordance with 49 CFR. When an established procedure, such as the CGA C-1 and C-6 is applicable, it will be referred to and shall be used in detail as a guideline for acceptable practice. A compressed gas or cylinder service contract will include a PID with the applicable gas specification. In addition, the level of cylinder reconditioning required will be specified. Unless otherwise specified in the contract or work order, maintenance will include valve maintenance, internal cylinder maintenance, hydrostatic testing or UE,

external cylinder maintenance as required, and cylinder evacuation to a minimum of 3 inches of mercury as detailed in 5.3. When specified, a contractor should be able to perform or supply authorized repair and rebuild functions (see 3.2) in order to qualify as an acceptable contractor of gas commodity or cylinder service, as applicable by this standard.

4.1.1 Receiving inspection. Government-owned cylinders shall be inspected to assure conformance to the PID provided in the shipping document. Cylinders received by a contractor for reconditioning or recharging with a specific gas or received by a government agency for grading and storage shall be inspected for legible and accurate identifications, markings, dimensions, color-coding, and stenciling. Inspection shall ensure the presence of a valve protection cap, as applicable, the proper cylinder, valve, and valve outlet, and that the cylinder is in the gas service as specified.

4.1.1.1 Rejection and condemnation. At receiving inspection, all cylinders shall be accepted for serviceability inspection and cylinder maintenance as required, except as follows:

a. Cylinders with dimensions or capacities not as specified in the item description shall be rejected and returned to the government.

b. Cylinders with other than government ownership markings shall be rejected and returned to the government for disposition.

c. Any cylinder that cannot be upgraded within a supplier's authorized capability for maintenance, repairing, or rebuilding shall be rejected and returned to the government.

d. Cylinders damaged and unworthy of repair or rebuild procedures shall be rejected and metal stamped "condemned" and returned to the government.

NOTE: All condemned cylinders, as defined above, shall be metal stamped "condemned" with a justification and returned to the government for disposition by the IM and DRMO, or as directed by contract.