welding oxygen

[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.

[MORGAN]

you could get a diving wife...

Is there another kind?

Mike

[jlillest]

Is there another kind?

A non-diving ex-wife?

[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!

[JLH]

I've been a welder for 40 years. When I first started tourchs didn't have checks or back flash valves, but they are required now. Not all but most gas houses vacuum scavage all O2 tanks and fill welding and medical together. They only keep batch numbers for the medical tanksbut are filled with the same O2. Avaition O2 is drier then breathing O2. I've used it for years, that being said I wouldn't tell anyone to do it.

Jack

[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.

[FW]

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...

See bletso's post. It is harder now that it once was, since most new rigs have check valves.

[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