How do you transport your gas bottles for refill?

[k0ua]

I cant believe I was doing it all wrong all these year's, this is gonna upset my whole world, I guess from now on, if I want to start cutting when I get home, I'll have to cut a hole in the car's trunk so I can stand it up right, of course, I'm not sure how to explain the hole in the trunk lid to my wife yet.

Sounds like acetylene gas is an unstable gas, know wonder shipyards don't use it anymore. Why does it take so long for acetylene to settle back down, is it lighter than air, is this the only cutting gas that take's a long time to settle down? I don't get it Big Dan.

Acetylene is a special case Dan, it is dissolved into acetone, and that is infused into a filler material inside the cylinder I think it is diamatecaus earth, and some other things. In any case it is a porous compound to hold the acetone which has the acetylene gas dissolved in it. They don't want acetylene to go above 15psi as it is very unstable. When you transport your cylinder horizontal you run the risk of getting the liquid acetone in your regulator as it comes out of the porous "gunk" in the bottom of the cylinder. This is the one gas, you don't want to transport horizontal.

 

[CNC Dan]

I asked a real weldor about this once. He said you could use them right away after turning them upright.
But my text book from a welding class said to wait about ( time interval that I cannot remember) before using them.

As others have stated, acetylene cylinders are packed with porous material. And that porous material is soaked with acetone. The acetylene gas is dissolved into the acetone just like carbon dioxide is dissolved in water to make soda water. The acetylene comes out of the acetone as the pressure drops from use. Above the surface of the acetone, the acetylene is in a gaseous form at high pressure. This is the dangerous part. At high pressure, acetylene is unstable. And it can 'go off' if it's shaken hard enough. That's what the porous stuff is all about. It prevents the gas from being shocked enough to go off. And if it does go off, it will keep the reaction from going very far.

So if you lay your tanks over on their side for transport, let them sit upright for a while before using them, or you might get acetone in your regulator and hoses. Exactly how long depends on who you ask.

 

[Arc weld]

In addition to what has already been said, Acetylene should never be put in a enclosed area such as a trunk! There was a car in BC that blew up about a year ago when the owner used his remote starter. Luckily no one was injured. He was a plumber and had a B acetylene tank in the trunk that must have had a tiny leak. Acetylene is the most unstable gas there is. It's not something to take chances with.

 

[CNC Dan]

That reminds me, unlike a high pressure tank valves acetylene tank valves don't have a safety pressure relief. Instead, they have a low temperature melting plug. So in a car or trunk where it can get very hot, the plug could melt, releasing the gas into an enclosed space.

 

[Gary Fowler]

I don't think inside of a car would ever get hot enough to melt the solder plug from an acetylene tank unless it was on fire that is. It isn't THAT low of a temperature. However, putting acetylene or any flammable gas into an enclosed space is very dangerous. I have seen explosions happen from storing a cutting rig with 50 feet of hose in a gang box.
There is enough residual O2 and Acetylene in the hoses to cause a big bang. After this happened once on a job, Company wide we had to cut vent holes in all the boxes used to store cutting rigs overnight and hoses were left on the bottles (each had a hose rack that fit on the bottle) with torch and gauges removed and locked in gang boxes. Even then, vents were installed to prevent any gas build up.

 

[CNC Dan]

I don't think inside of a car would ever get hot enough to melt the solder plug from an acetylene tank unless it was on fire that is.

That's what I thought too. But that's what my welding instructor said happend once. Someone tried to melt off some ice from the valve with hot water, and the plug let go.
I know there are some bismuth alloys that can melt as low as 150° F.

 

[woodlandfarms]

This

https://www.google.com/search?q=car...JKY_toATRwYKYCg&ved=0CCkQsAQ&biw=1744&bih=980

or this

https://www.google.com/search?q=car...CoDQ&ved=0CAkQ_AUoAQ&biw=1744&bih=980&dpr=1.5

 

[Arc weld]

The fuse plugs melt at around 200 deg's if I recall. Have heard you shouldn't put acetylene cylinders in front of the radiator of a liquid cooled welder cause on a hot day or if the welder overheated, you could have a big problem.

 

[sixdogs]

Acetylene is dangerous beyond dangerous. Even the risk taker that I am I only transport tanks with the cap on and strapped upright in the bed of my open truck.

 

[Reverser]

Acetylene is dangerous beyond dangerous.

Acetylene isn't nitro-glycerin. I think it's danger is being blown out of proportion (no pun intended).

I think some of you guys are overthinking this. If you're going to carry it inside your automobile and it happens to have a leak. Or do something else stupid with it, then yes it has a very dangerous potential. Anything under pressure shouldn't be mishandled, especially combustible gas.

But if you handle it with reasonable care, it's safe. For over 50 years I've been around O/A in railroad shops where many guys were using it on several tracks inside and out. I've seen and used O/A on emergency road trucks night and day in all kinds of weather while on derailments or other emergencies. I've seen cylinders getting bumped and clangity-banged around while loading and unloading on trucks. And all of this in the Texas heat.
Setting in the sun, the bottles would be too hot to touch with your bare hands. If heat were that much of a problem, don't you think the bottles would be painted a bright color instead of black?

We were briefed monthly and yearly on how to safely handle everything we used on our job, which would include O/A as well as many other potentially dangerous equipment. Personally, I've never had any reason to fear it. Everything's dangerous on the RR, and acetylene was one of the least of my worries.

Now that I'm retired, I've thought about swapping my own rig over to propane. But it's not because I'm scared of acetylene, it's because it's handier to get refills and is cheaper.
:drink: