welding oxygen

[phillip1]

This is probably going to sound dumb but, what is the difference between the o2 used to fill welding tanks and medical grade o2?

[FW]

This is probably going to sound dumb but, what is the difference between the o2 used to fill welding tanks and medical grade o2?

No difference at all, but how they clean the tanks is a different matter. Medical O2 (in the US anyway) requires emptying the tank under vacuum, then refilling with O2. For welding tanks, they just refill them as-is. The problem is sometimes acetylene gets in the tanks, if the previous user left toe O2 run out, before the acetylene.

Another option is Aviation O2. They are emptied, but not under vacuum, and are much less likely to have any strange gas in the tanks.

[aainslie]

The problem is sometimes acetylene gets in the tanks, if the previous user left toe O2 run out, before the acetylene.

Forrest, pleast tell me you don't really believe this? Perhaps Raphael will chime in to tell us what happens if you try mixing acetylene and oxygen in a tank like that...

[gasdiver]

Forrest, pleast tell me you don't really believe this? Perhaps Raphael will chime in to tell us what happens if you try mixing acetylene and oxygen in a tank like that...

Just about every torch I've seen has check valves to prevent this.

Forrest is right about dirty tanks, however. I've seen plenty of industrial O2 tanks that were run flat empty.

[Squirrel Girl]

Oh, me, always coming late to the party. I just got around to reading this thread. Not surprisingly, ya'll came up with my answer before I got here:

This is probably going to sound dumb but, what is the difference between the o2 used to fill welding tanks and medical grade o2?

Price

The problem is sometimes acetylene gets in the tanks, if the previous user left toe O2 run out, before the acetylene.

Forrest, pleast tell me you don't really believe this? Perhaps Raphael will chime in to tell us what happens if you try mixing acetylene and oxygen in a tank like that...

That was my thought. Hokey smokes! Literally! Ker... BLOO-ey!

[bletso]

Forrest, pleast tell me you don't really believe this? Perhaps Raphael will chime in to tell us what happens if you try mixing acetylene and oxygen in a tank like that...

Believe it or not, we get a couple of acetylene contaminated cylinders in the hydro station a month. Oh, BTW, they can go whoosh like a jet engine if you try to clean them incorrectly.

They will not auto-ignite, but put a small spark and it can be interesting. We charge the customer $50.00 each to decontaminate them. It's kind of an incentive for him to find out which of his clients are doing it.

Dale

[DA Aquamaster]

Believe it or not, we get a couple of acetylene contaminated cylinders in the hydro station a month. Oh, BTW, they can go whoosh like a jet engine if you try to clean them incorrectly.

They will not auto-ignite, but put a small spark and it can be interesting. We charge the customer $50.00 each to decontaminate them. It's kind of an incentive for him to find out which of his clients are doing it.

Dale

On slow days we'd take a pie tin, put a small hole in the bottom of it and invert it on the floor then fill it with acetylene. Add a small spark and you get a wonderful boom!. Great fun, but a little beer always helps, especially for the guy who lights it.

[MORGAN]

On slow days we'd take a pie tin, put a small hole in the bottom of it and invert it on the floor then fill it with acetylene. Add a small spark and you get a wonderful boom!. Great fun, but a little beer always helps, especially for the guy who lights it.

We used to squirt some acetylene into a beer can, perch it inverted on a workbench with the opening over the edge, and ignite it to see it go poof. Once I got the clever idea of adding a little oxygen. Must have got the mix just right, as with a loud bang the beer can hit the ceiling hard enough to dent it. The can was bulged, and the edge of the workbench was scorched. This was back in the days of substantial beer cans - a modern thin aluminum one would probably have ruptured. Wait - I've got a beer can right here! Maybe I'll test it!

Mike

[aainslie]

Believe it or not, we get a couple of acetylene contaminated cylinders in the hydro station a month. Oh, BTW, they can go whoosh like a jet engine if you try to clean them incorrectly.

They will not auto-ignite, but put a small spark and it can be interesting. We charge the customer $50.00 each to decontaminate them. It's kind of an incentive for him to find out which of his clients are doing it.

Dale

Wow. I had no idea. I stand corrected - sorry Forrest!!

[FW]

Wow. I had no idea. I stand corrected - sorry Forrest!!

I had no idea either, until a year or so ago.