below is the offical word from the ukpsf
The date of retest is from the date of manufacture, which will be etched into the cylinder in the case of steel or aluminium or on a label that is laminated into the fibre wrap on the cylinder, not from the date you purchased the cylinder. There must be out of test cylinders being used by paintballers so check your cylinder today.
The testing house can test the following cylinders: - HSE-AL-FWI (full wrap composite) HSE-AL-HWI (half wrap composite) BS 5043 Part 3 (Aluminium),BS 5043 part 4 (Steel), HSE-AL-FW2 and EN 12245. All these bottles must be subjected to a hydraulic pressure test to BS 5430 Part 3 (1990) and the new European Pi approval
If your bottle is out of test and you attend a tournament where compressed air is supplied, the organiser will refuse to fill your bottle as they will be breaking the law by filling an out of date cylinder. If you have a DOT cylinder the supplier of air will also refuse to fill your cylinder. If an accident should occur using an out of date bottle it could invalidate any insurance policy the site owner has and any personal policy you might have as a player.
There are several tournaments where air is not supplied by the organiser at these events the marshals have been instructed to check players’ cylinders and players with out of test bottles will not be allowed to play.
It is essential to check your cylinder today to prevent you from being refused permission to play an event. If you need your cylinder testing contact either Quantum products (01908 669468) Paintball Planet (0161 872 5572) or H-pac air services (01902 494988) Testing usually takes about two to three weeks.
Remember, a cylinder not in test can’t be used and will not be filled by a commercial supplier of compressed air.
REMEMBER!!!!
FIVE YEARS FOR FULL-FIBRE WRAPPED BOTTLES - EN12245 and Pi certified.
THREE YEARS FOR FULL WRAPPED BOTTLES - HSE-AL-FW2 manufactured before July 2003 then five years after retesting for SCI and Luxfer cylinders
THREE YEARS FOR FULL WRAPPED BOTTLES - HSE-AL-FW1
FIVE YEARS FOR HALF WARP BOTTLES
FIVE YEARS FOR ALUMINUM OR STEEL BOTTLES
NOTES and amendments
The new European regulations (TPED) came onto the statute book in July 2003 and at that point the UK specification HSE-AL-FW2 became obsolete ie. no new cylinders could be produced to this specification for the UK market.
From July 2003, the European standard EN 12245 became the only acceptable specification for new cylinders.
All cylinders manufactured and certified to the HSE-AL-FW2 specification prior to July 2003 and retested after July 2003 have their retest period extended from 3 to 5 years at their next retest.
If you have a cylinder manufactured before July 2003 then you need to have it tested 3 years from the original manufactured date. The recertified cylinder will then need retesting after a further five year period.
All cylinders manufactured to EN 12245 and Pi certified to comply with the TPED start with a retest period of 5 years from date of manufacture.
Steel and Aluminium cylinders
In March 2002, European standards for cylinder testing were changed. The familiar old BS 5430 part 1 (steel cylinders) & part 3 (aluminium) were withdrawn and replaced by new standards - BS EN 1968:2002 for Steel Gas Containers, and BS EN 1802:2002 for Aluminium Gas Containers.
I should add that any other cylinders manufactured and certified to other specifications e.g. DOT are not legal in the UK
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