Acetylene rationing

[JDdude]

We have a large rail yard here and the guys claim that Acetylene is being rationed because of a large plant explosion down south..

Just a FYI..

Sorry if this is a repost..

 

[YesDeere]

Welder friend of mine was telling me that last week. Said his supply house had about two weeks worth and they had no restock date insight

He claimed there is only one place in the country that produces it. And it burned. Don't know for sure

 

[slowzuki]

I switched to oxy propane 10 years ago, just another benefit!

 

[jml755]

Local Praxair here in Michigan was out last Friday. Said "3-4 wks" before they get any more, but I don't know what they were basing that on. Didn't take long to dry up supply. I think the explosion happened 2d or 3rd wk of March. I've got a 100# propane tank I'm going to get filled. Probably be a run on propane tips from Victor. LOL. Not sure how much acetylene I've got left, so I'll just run off propane for awhile. If I like it as much as people say I will, maybe never go back. Guess I'll just run through more oxy on it.

 

[sandman2234]

I helped dismantle an acetylene plant here a few years ago. Wasn't that much to it that I would think it to be a big deal to build another, so a shortage is probably an EPA/etc effect or a shortage of the raw materials, or just finding somebody willing to work at one.
David from jax

Acetylene Plants are probably like cars, that at one time you could build one from scratch in your garage and start driving it. No way can that happen today due to all the requirements sanctioned by our government.
David from jax

 

[Car Doc]

Back in the old days (and thats really not that far back) every welder made his own acetylene they had no choice.

They all had what they called acetylene generators they didn't amount to much and carbide and water is all it takes that and no fear of death by fire and explosion.

 

[JDdude]

When we were kids we would fill ballons with acetylene out them in a paper bag and light the bag...You better run very fast the other way and cover your ears..Boy was that stupid..

I got all of ours traded in today for full tanks..Hope we can wait it out..

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I think it is being blown out of proportion by opportunists. There may be some lack of supply, but I have just talked with my local welding supplier and it does not seem to have affected them or their prices, besides an overall 5% increase on all products that was planned anyway.

Sending out flyers and announcements, is a sure fire way of guaranteeing a shortage by creating a panic. Someone posted this information he received about it from AirGas about it from the Everlast forum on our site today.

 

[JDdude]

Ill-Mo here has been out for 1 1/2 weeks(The Deere dealers are drop off points for alot of them and planting season is about to start) and been trying to buy from airgas..Of course Airgas will not sell to them or take any new accounts at this time..

Time will tell..

 

[lostcause]

i haven't needed to swap bottles for a while, but if in fact your local dealer cannot fill your needs, at the least i'd be asking for a rebate of any lease fees for the duration that it cannot be supplied.

 

[JDdude]

I have lifetime lease on those bottles and the mig..The tig is 125$ for 7 yrs..Airgas is a good outfit..

 

[dstig1]

It was supposedly a plant that makes calcium carbide, not acetylene. But Ca carbide is what is used to make Acetylene, so that directly impacts production of the gas. The plant supposedly supplied 75% of the calcium chloride in the US.

That was the way I heard it. If true, then a shortage is inevitable in today's JIT environment...

 

[yomax4]

Be prepared. Acetylene is going to be hard to get and the prices will be double at least if you can even get it. All of the distributors are buying up the Propylene, Chemoline, Chemtane etc. They don'rt want Propane because you can buy it anywhere.. There will be a shortage of those gasses because of the acetylene shortage. Gear up and switch to Propane and ride it out.

 

[hayraiser]

I think it is being blown out of proportion by opportunists. There may be some lack of supply, but I have just talked with my local welding supplier and it does not seem to have affected them or their prices, besides an overall 5% increase on all products that was planned anyway.

Sending out flyers and announcements, is a sure fire way of guaranteeing a shortage by creating a panic. Someone posted this information he received about it from AirGas about it from the Everlast forum on our site today.

Here is the story 2 dead, 2 injured after Rubbertown explosion; cause under investigation | WHAS11.com | Louisville news, Kentucky news & breaking news | WHAS11.com | News for Louisville, Kentucky
I work at their sister plant in OK there are only 2 carbide plants producing in the USA well one now we are getting carbide in from other countries to help fill orders but will be slow going for a while. I do believe some will take advantage of the situation but this is not a hoax.

 

[Jim in ICT]

As I've been told, this was only one of two plants that produced calcium carbide in the country, so yes it will affect the supply. Any supplier that's already notified their customer is only being proactive. It's the same with any other product that could experience supply issues, they take care of the current customers as best they can and have to turn away the ones that come looking during the shortage.
Same thing happened with Helium a few years back. Customers had to be prioritized and supplied as such. The hospitals, labs and manufacturing came first and the balloon folks were at the tail end of the line.
Doubtfull that it's blown out of proportion, look for the supply to be scarce for a while.

 

[mjncad]

So that explains the email I received from Harris about the benefits of their alternate fuels products (e.g. tips, hoses, and regulators).

 

[Mark @ Everlast]

I think there is a fine line between informing customers of an issue, and alarming them into a panic to go "stock" up. All that does is increase demand and price, and shorten supply abnormally fast. At a point gouging due to "expected" shortages begin. It happens nearly every time something like this happpens....And the companies supplying the gas laugh all the way to the bank, because the increased sales price, offset the volume drop, and actually reduce costs of operation. While no one planned for this to happpen (what incentive was there to have a back up system?), it is typically an opportune time for some companies to sensationalize an issue for profit. As I said earlier, my local branch guy told me that their supplies have been stable as well as their price, and weren't forseeing any near future shortages even though they were aware of the problem that occurred a month ago. They are a smaller chain, with several dozen stores on the east coast and I use them more frequently for day to day things, and keep my cylinder account with airgas. The lws down the road gives me a great price, but cylinder leasing is a little weird. However the guy assured me he would work out something IF I needed it, even offering to loan me a cylinder if I ran out on a weekend with the air gas cylinder. Now that's service.

I imagine this will spike sales for alternative cutting methods. Propane will likely be the cheapest and most commonly available gas for the customer to get hold of. Some torches are ready to go with propane with a tip change (my smith is) and maybe a hose change. I have my tip and propane cylinder ready to go, should I have an issue with my air gas cylinders. Its times like this that people get creative and come up with an alternative. When they find out they don't "need" something, the market starts to dry up even when the product becomes available again.

One of the problems with propane and other gas substitutes, is that acetylene still ranks best for heating and welding.

There has been a huge spike in interest lately at our company in plasma cutters. I would guess that people are being pushed over the edge to try it now.

 

[Bird]

When we were kids we would fill ballons with acetylene out them in a paper bag and light the bag...You better run very fast the other way and cover your ears..Boy was that stupid..

Yep, we did some stupid things when we were kids, didn't we?:laughing: In the late '40s my dad drove a truck selling and delivering welding supplies in southwestern Oklahoma; bottles of oxygen and acetylene, cans of carbide, and hoses, gauges, torches, etc. A customer spilled a can of carbide on the ground and I got most of it for cleaning it up. As I'm sure you know, you can dump a tablespoon full of carbide in a coffee can of water and watch the water boil. And if you're quick, you can light a match and watch flames on top of the water. Now my dad told me to never use more than a tablespoon full of carbide at a time, but that meant the boiling and/or burning was very brief; just didn't last long enough. So one day, I very quickly dumped about 3 tablespoons full of carbide in the water and struck my match. There was a quick WHOOM! and the hand with the match in it felt like it was on fire. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a day or two and I had to be careful to not let my parents see that red hand because dad would have probably set my other end on fire.:laughing:

 

[EuropaChris]

I imagine this will spike sales for alternative cutting methods.
One of the problems with propane and other gas substitutes, is that acetylene still ranks best for heating and welding.

For purely cutting purposes, check out Petrogen Gasoline cutting torches

I've not used nor seen one in person, but after reading through the information, it's quite fascinating and makes you wonder why anyone would screw with acetylene for cutting ever again???

Chris

 

[JDdude]

Yep, we did some stupid things when we were kids, didn't we?:laughing: In the late '40s my dad drove a truck selling and delivering welding supplies in southwestern Oklahoma; bottles of oxygen and acetylene, cans of carbide, and hoses, gauges, torches, etc. A customer spilled a can of carbide on the ground and I got most of it for cleaning it up. As I'm sure you know, you can dump a tablespoon full of carbide in a coffee can of water and watch the water boil. And if you're quick, you can light a match and watch flames on top of the water. Now my dad told me to never use more than a tablespoon full of carbide at a time, but that meant the boiling and/or burning was very brief; just didn't last long enough. So one day, I very quickly dumped about 3 tablespoons full of carbide in the water and struck my match. There was a quick WHOOM! and the hand with the match in it felt like it was on fire. Fortunately, the pain only lasted a day or two and I had to be careful to not let my parents see that red hand because dad would have probably set my other end on fire.:laughing:

About like a military parachute flare..Don't every strap one to a power pole and shoot it off at night...We never told anyone we did that for 35 yrs..Police were hunting who did that for along time around our county.. Lit the night sky up for miles that night.