Maybe old hat for you serious welders but saw this at my LWS

[Arc weld]

I bet they would fetch a good price if you ever found one. Then you could give it to your 10 year old.

 

[dragoneggs]

I'm wondering if I should go back and see if this thing is for sale. Not to use but just as a collectible? In my mind it pretty cool looking. Reminds me of 'Lost in Space' stuff.

 

[Arc weld]

I would bet the acetylene generator would be pricey. It doesn't look that old compared to the new ones in the link. The cannons are cool! It's comical that Smith's made these "perfectly safe" cannons but then also made a bunch of famous safety posters for O/A equipment.

 

[bigdeano]

I've always wondered, if 15psi is the safe limit, how do we get away with 250psi in the tank valve, the high pressure side of the regulator, and probably the topmost part of the tank? Guess I'll never know.

 

[Arc weld]

The pressure at the tank valve never comes in contact with air and the gas isn't flowing at 250 psi. The regulator lowers it to a safe usable pressure.

 

[Redneck in training]

My father used to have one of the acetylene generators for welding. The white sludge was used to mix with sand to make mortar for building of brick walls.
I used to service control systems in gas factory many years later and remember an accident when one of the generators exploded. There were five generators side by side in the building. Each about 15 feet tall with a pressure controlled variable speed carbide feeder on the top. They never tested safety valves because if they did they usually leaked after the test. I knew, just looking at them, that the safety valves were plugged solid. One day one of the variable drives failed to slow down while pressure in the generator was rising and the generator blew up. The vessel stayed intact but the man hole flange (about 2" thick, bolted by about 20 one 3/4" bolts) flew away and slammed on a big gate valve on the other side of the building and wrapped itself around like play dough. When they pulled it off all the numbers cast in the body of the valve were imprinted in it. The single operator present in the building was killed.

Acetylene cylinder are filled by porous material (crushed bricks) and saturated with acetone. Acetone absorbs acetylene without changing it. That way the acetylene can be stored at 250 psi.

 

[dragoneggs]

My father used to have one of the acetylene generators for welding. The white sludge was used to mix with sand to make mortar for building of brick walls.
I used to service control systems in gas factory many years later and remember an accident when one of the generators exploded. There were five generators side by side in the building. Each about 15 feet tall with a pressure controlled variable speed carbide feeder on the top. They never tested safety valves because if they did they usually leaked after the test. I knew, just looking at them, that the safety valves were plugged solid. One day one of the variable drives failed to slow down while pressure in the generator was rising and the generator blew up. The vessel stayed intact but the man hole flange (about 2" thick, bolted by about 20 one 3/4" bolts) flew away and slammed on a big gate valve on the other side of the building and wrapped itself around like play dough. When they pulled it off all the numbers cast in the body of the valve were imprinted in it. The single operator present in the building was killed.

Acetylene cylinder are filled by porous material (crushed bricks) and saturated with acetone. Acetone absorbs acetylene without changing it. That way the acetylene can be stored at 250 psi.

Whoa! Should be text book stuff there.

 

[Arc weld]

I would imagine the new acetylene generators from Rexarc are a much better and safer design than the old ones. I don't think too many shops use them though. I've seen a lot of rosebuds that are black though that would indicate acetone being drawn out of the cylinder from exceeding the maximum withdrawal rate of acetylene.

I give tech support for a large industrial supplier and a branch manager was pizzed at me because I wouldn't give him a part number for a high flow acetylene regulator without getting some important information. Some guy in the bush was working on heavy equipment with a big rosebud and his regulator was plugging. I asked what rosebud he was using?, a big one, what size of acetylene cylinder?, I don't know. I said he may need to get a bigger cylinder or manifold a couple together. Then he said the guy's being doing this forever, he just needs a high flow regulator. After 5 minutes of this, I just gave him Victor's number so hopefully they will set him straight. My boss seemed a little upset at me when I brought up we shouldn't be giving information out that would lead to dangerous circumstances. I was pretty vocal that it was like giving information on how to make a bomb. I looked on the net and found a perfect article on this exact subject where a welding distributer sold a high flow regulator and it plugged up as well. They said the reg. plugging most likely saved the operators life. The acetone is what plugged the regulator. Acetylene is not something to mess with. Used properly is safe though.

 

[CurlyDave]

We used to have acetylene (carbide) headlamps for caving. All the serious cavers used them and packed the sludge out with them. Only rookie cavers l used electric flashlights.

Has the advent of LED lights, with much longer battery life, changed that at all?

 

[k0ua]

Has the advent of LED lights, with much longer battery life, changed that at all?

I would assume so. I gave up caving when I fell down about 30 feet in Lost Man Cave over in SE Mo many years ago. I still have a nice scar on my right hand. Caving is dangerous.. A lot more dangerous than operating a tractor in my opinion.