If you think that a drained 02 cylinder is safe to handle

[cavediver2]

Boom is REALLY bad............



If you think that a drained O2 cylinder is safe to handle, you may find
these pictures from YouTube enlightening.

Just something to think about when your in a hurry
trying to work or fill cylinders we all know that
this can happen but in a fast past life we get
relaxed some times

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lw_fhNAIQc

[DogDiver]

Wow!!!!

Been there once before, hope I'm never involved in another one...Ken

[rjack]

Actually that cylinder was FULL. The guy tried loosening the valve in the tank to try to drain it. O2 leaking out around the valve threads ignited the aluminum threads and/or the sealant used. Once the combustion started it just blew up. The fact that it fragmented (they are designed not to do that) is also noteworthy.

Richard

[bletso]

Talk about a great training aid!! I run a hydro facility in KY and we run into a lot of bad valves. Very scary. We have never tried that trick, but we have missed bad valves and had some scares. The only way to check if a cylinder is empty is to use a puffer and see that you can blow gas into the cylinder with the valve open. (only takes a second)

Dale

[Kenny P.]

Talk about a great training aid!! I run a hydro facility in KY and we run into a lot of bad valves. Very scary. We have never tried that trick, but we have missed bad valves and had some scares. The only way to check if a cylinder is empty is to use a puffer and see that you can blow gas into the cylinder with the valve open. (only takes a second)

Dale

Dale,
I know you've seen plenty of close calls being in the business for so long. Did you see the pictures I posted to Techdiver SE with the cracked AL 80? It is an interesting business, if you live!
Thanks,
Kenny P.

[bletso]

I know you've seen plenty of close calls being in the business for so long. Did you see the pictures I posted to Techdiver SE with the cracked AL 80? It is an interesting business, if you live!
Thanks,
Kenny P.

I haven't heard from you in a while. No, I didn't see them. I have some squirting water out the crown during hydro though.

One of my workers worked in a fill plant for some time and he had a valve ignite on him during fill. He gets real jumpy at times here. The greatest problem we have is in devalving cylinders preping them for hydro. When you process hundreds of small medicals at a time you have to be real careful not to miss one.

I gave that link to one of our customers and in twenty minutes he had everyone in the plant viewing it!

The problem with Al cylinders with neck cracks (Off topic a bit) is some can pass hydro but leak product. Steve and I have both seen that. (Steve with a scuba tank and me with two D medicals)

Dale

[Kenny P.]

I haven't heard from you in a while. No, I didn't see them. I have some squirting water out the crown during hydro though.

One of my workers worked in a fill plant for some time and he had a valve ignite on him during fill. He gets real jumpy at times here. The greatest problem we have is in devalving cylinders preping them for hydro. When you process hundreds of small medicals at a time you have to be real careful not to miss one.

I gave that link to one of our customers and in twenty minutes he had everyone in the plant viewing it!

The problem with Al cylinders with neck cracks (Off topic a bit) is some can pass hydro but leak product. Steve and I have both seen that. (Steve with a scuba tank and me with two D medicals)
Dale

Dale,
The pictures I posted on Techdiver SE were of an AL cylinder that did that very thing. It had just come back from hydro and was bubbling in the fill vat. We took the pictures really fast and drained the cylinder really fast.
Good to hear from you. Sounds like you're staying busy.
Thanks for the infomation,
Kenny P.

[curtschu]

I haven't heard from you in a while. No, I didn't see them. I have some squirting water out the crown during hydro though.

One of my workers worked in a fill plant for some time and he had a valve ignite on him during fill. He gets real jumpy at times here. The greatest problem we have is in devalving cylinders preping them for hydro. When you process hundreds of small medicals at a time you have to be real careful not to miss one.

I gave that link to one of our customers and in twenty minutes he had everyone in the plant viewing it!

The problem with Al cylinders with neck cracks (Off topic a bit) is some can pass hydro but leak product. Steve and I have both seen that. (Steve with a scuba tank and me with two D medicals)
Dale

Dale,
The pictures I posted on Techdiver SE were of an AL cylinder that did that very thing. It had just come back from hydro and was bubbling in the fill vat. We took the pictures really fast and drained the cylinder really fast.
Good to hear from you. Sounds like you're staying busy.
Thanks for the infomation,
Kenny P.

Isn't this the reason that all the old AL cylinder now have to be EC VIP'd by the Hydro Facility? It makes sense that a cylinder could pass Hydro and have neck cracks Isn't Hydro just looking at Elastic properties? Unless the Operator happens to see the neck cracks they could be missed until the LDS does the Visual.

[bletso]

Isn't this the reason that all the old AL cylinder now have to be EC VIP'd by the Hydro Facility? It makes sense that a cylinder could pass Hydro and have neck cracks Isn't Hydro just looking at Elastic properties? Unless the Operator happens to see the neck cracks they could be missed until the LDS does the Visual.

Yes, hydro is looking at the elastic properties of a cylinder. However, if you have a crack, it will leak water from HP inside the cylinder to the jacket causing an increasing reading. The problem is if the crack is small enough, water being denser than air, won't pass through in the 30 seconds a cylinder is under pressure.

EC was proposed because few facilities did a really good visual, and some dozen or so ruptured catastrophically. IMO, with the optical systems available today, eddy current isn't really needed. I was involved in watering down and clarifying the final legislation. In the 2 years it was under advisement, there were only a dozen hydro facities and dive shops who bothered to get involved. (We were one of them. I found it hard to believe, but most of my recommendations were adopted.)

The original and second iterations would have lead to much higher prices for inspection, without an increase in safety to the public.


Dale